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The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from The Ball at Sceaux by Honore de Balzac: obliged to recognize a force that attracted her outside herself; she
tried to resist, but she could not chase from her heart the
fascinating image of the young man.
Then came some anxiety. Two of Monsieur Longueville's qualities, very
adverse to general curiosity, and especially to Mademoiselle de
Fontaine's, were unexpected modesty and discretion. He never spoke of
himself, of his pursuits, or of his family. The hints Emilie threw out
in conversation, and the traps she laid to extract from the young
fellow some facts concerning himself, he could evade with the
adroitness of a diplomatist concealing a secret. If she talked of
painting, he responded as a connoisseur; if she sat down to play, he
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