| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Man in Lower Ten by Mary Roberts Rinehart: he finished, twisting out the corkscrew. Then he came over and sat
down on the bed.
"Well," he said judicially, "since you drag it from me, I think
perhaps it is. You - you're such a confirmed woman-hater that I
hardly knew how you would take it."
"Nothing of the sort," I denied testily. "Because a man reaches
the age of thirty without making maudlin love to every - "
"I've taken to long country rides," he went on reflectively, without
listening to me, "and yesterday I ran over a sheep; nearly went into
the ditch. But there's a Providence that watches over fools and
lovers, and just now I know darned well that I'm one, and I have a
The Man in Lower Ten |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Albert Savarus by Honore de Balzac: repentance she felt that she must confess to the Vicar-General the
horrible machinations by which she had separated Francesca and Albert.
They had been simple, but formidable. Mademoiselle de Watteville had
intercepted Albert's letters to the Duchess as well as that in which
Francesca announced her husband's illness, warning her lover that she
could write to him no more during the time while she was devoted, as
was her duty, to the care of the dying man. Thus, while Albert was
wholly occupied with election matters, the Duchess had written him
only two letters; one in which she told him that the Duc d'Argaiolo
was in danger, and one announcing her widowhood--two noble and
beautiful letters which Rosalie kept back.
Albert Savarus |
