| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Roads of Destiny by O. Henry: present I will cherish you with all my heart and make your life less
sad. Will you trust your fate to me, mademoiselle?"
"Ah, you would sacrifice yourself from pity!"
"From love. The time is almost up, mademoiselle."
"You will regret it, and despise me."
"I will live only to make you happy, and myself worthy of you."
Her fine small hand crept into his from beneath her cloak.
"I will trust you," she breathed, "with my life. And--and love--may
not be so far off as you think. Tell him. Once away from the power of
his eyes I may forget."
David went and stood before the marquis. The black figure stirred, and
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Village Rector by Honore de Balzac: to the secret delight which all women, even the most religious, feel
when they see themselves courted; and to the satisfaction of living at
last in a circle congenial to her mind, where the pleasure of
exchanging ideas and the happiness of being surrounded by intelligent
and well-informed men and true friends, whose attachment deepened day
by day, had dispersed forever the weary dulness of her life.
Perhaps, however, closer, more perceptive or sceptical observers were
needed than those who frequented the hotel Graslin, to detect the
barbaric grandeur, the plebeian force of the People which lay deep-
hidden in her soul. If sometimes her friends surprised her in a torpor
of meditation either gloomy or merely pensive, they knew she bore upon
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