Barbara

“Living as he now lived was like reading a good book in a poor translation...”
― Henry James, The Portrait of a Lady

“Isn't it natural that I should belittle all the things I can't offer you?”
― Edith Wharton, The House of Mirth

“She had a bracelet on one taper arm, which would fall down over her round wrist. Mr. Thornton watched the replacing of this troublesome ornament with far more attention than he listened to her father. It seemed as if it fascinated him to see her push it up impatiently, until it tightened her soft flesh; and then to mark the loosening—the fall. He could almost have exclaimed—'There it goes, again!”
― Elizabeth Gaskell, North and South

“I remember when the houses used to whiz by as I walked—nearly running—to and from home. Ma would ask me afterwards about what I’d seen, whether certain neighbours were out, what I thought about someone’s new garden wall. I’d never noticed; it had all gone past in a flash. Now I have plenty of time to look at everything, and no one to tell what I’ve seen.”
― Emma Healey, Elizabeth Is Missing