| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Hidden Masterpiece by Honore de Balzac: from a golden tripod by her side: he will be tempted to take the
tassels of the cord that holds back the curtain; he will think he sees
the bosom of Catherine Lescaut,--a model called the Beautiful Nut-
girl; he will see it rise and fall with the movement of her breathing.
Yet--I wish I could be sure--"
"Go to Asia, then," said Porbus hastily, fancying he saw some
hesitation in the old man's eye.
Porbus made a few steps towards the door of the room. At this moment
Gillette and Nicolas Poussin reached the entrance of the house. As the
young girl was about to enter, she dropped the arm of her lover and
shrank back as if overcome by a presentiment. "What am I doing here?"
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The fourth excerpt represents the element of Earth. It speaks of physical influences and the impact of the unseen on the visible world, and is drawn from Lemorne Versus Huell by Elizabeth Drew Stoddard: inquiry, melancholy, and desire; or did I feel the emotions which
these words express? Or was there magnetism stealing into me from
the quiet man beside me? He left me with a bow before the concert
was over, and I saw him making his way out of the hall when it was
finished.
I had been sent in the carriage, of course; but several carriages
were in advance of it before the walk, and I waited there for
William to drive up. When he did so, I saw by the oscillatory
motion of his head, though his arms and whiphand were perfectly
correct, that he was inebriated. It was his first occasion of
meeting fellow-coachmen in full dress, and the occasion had proved
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