| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Turn of the Screw by Henry James: with a quick blankness, seemed to try to take it back.
"But aren't they all--?"
"Sent home--yes. But only for the holidays. Miles may never go
back at all."
Consciously, under my attention, she reddened. "They won't take him?"
"They absolutely decline."
At this she raised her eyes, which she had turned from me;
I saw them fill with good tears. "What has he done?"
I hesitated; then I judged best simply to hand her my letter--
which, however, had the effect of making her, without taking it,
simply put her hands behind her. She shook her head sadly.
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Royalty Restored/London Under Charles II by J. Fitzgerald Molloy: Albermarle.
Now other heralds sound their trumpets with blasts that make all
hearts beat quicker; church bells ring far louder than before;
voices are raised to their highest pitch, excitement reaches its
zenith, for here, mounted on a stately horse caparisoned in royal
purple and adorned with gold, rides King Charles himself; on his
right hand his brother of York, on his left his brother of
Gloucester. Handkerchiefs are waved, flowers are flung before
his way, words of welcome fall upon his ear, in answer to which
he bows with stately grace, smiles most pleasantly, and gives
such signs of delight as "cheared the hearts of all loyal
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Deserted Woman by Honore de Balzac: friendship, I will stay. Let me come, not so very often, if you
require it, to spend a few such hours with you as those stolen
hours of yesterday. The keen delight of that brief happiness to be
cut short at the least over-ardent word from me, will suffice to
enable me to endure the boiling torrent in my veins. Have I
presumed too much upon your generosity by this entreaty to suffer
an intercourse in which all the gain is mine alone? You could find
ways of showing the world, to which you sacrifice so much, that I
am nothing to you; you are so clever and so proud! What have you
to fear? If I could only lay bare my heart to you at this moment,
to convince you that it is with no lurking afterthought that I
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