In the middle distance symmetrical mounds of...
In the middle distance symmetrical mounds of woolly green moss bounded by croquet hoops formed the base of shrubs shaped like orange-trees but studded with large pink and red rosesGigantic pansies, considerably larger than the roses, and closely resembling the floral pen-wipers made by female parishioners for fashionable clergymen, sprang from the moss beneath the rose-trees; and here and there a daisy grafted on a rose-branch flowered with a luxuriance prophetic of MrLuther Burbank's far-off prodigies

In the centre of this enchanted garden Madame Nilsson, in white cashmere slashed with pale blue satin, a reticule dangling from a blue girdle, and large yellow braids carefully disposed on each side of her muslin chemisette, listened with downcast eyes to MCapoul's impassioned wooing, and affected a guileless incomprehension of his designs whenever, by word or glance, he persuasively indicated the ground floor window of the neat brick villa projecting obliquely from the right wing

"The darling!" thought Newland Archer, his glance flitting back to the young girl with the lilies-of-the-valley"She doesn't even guess what it's all about And he contemplated her absorbed young face with a thrill of possessorship in which pride in his own masculine initiation was mingled with a tender reverence for her abysmal purity"We'll read Faust together by the Italian lakes he thought, somewhat hazily confusing the scene of his projected honey-moon with the masterpieces of literature which it would be his manly privilege to reveal to his brideIt was only that afternoon that May Welland had let him guess that she "cared" (New York's consecrated phrase of maiden avowal), and already his imagination, leaping ahead of the engagement devil wears prada chanel necklace ring, the betrothal kiss and the march from Lohengrin, pictured her at his side in some scene of old European witchery

He did not in the least wish the future MrsNewland Archer to be a simpletonHe meant her (thanks to his enlightening companionship) to develop a social tact and readiness of wit enabling her to hold her own with the most popular married women of the "younger set," in which it was the recognised custom to attract masculine homage while playfully discouraging itIf he had probed to the bottom of his vanity (as he sometimes nearly did) he would have found there the wish that his wife should be as worldly-wise and as eager to please as the married lady whose charms had held his fancy through two mildly agitated years; without, of course, any hint of the frailty which had so nearly marred that unhappy being's life, and had disarranged his own plans for a whole winter

How this miracle of fire and ice was to be created, and to sustain itself in a harsh world, he had never taken the time to think out; but he was content to hold his view without analysing it, since he knew it was that of all the carefully-brushed, white-waistcoated, button-hole-flowered gentlemen who succeeded each other in the club box, exchanged friendly greetings with him, and turned their opera-glasses critically on the circle of ladies who were the product of the systemIn matters intellectual and artistic Newland Archer felt himself distinctly the superior of these chosen specimens of old New York gentility; he had probably read more, thought more, and even seen a good deal more of the world, than any other man of the numberSingly they betrayed their inferiority; but grouped together they represented "New York," and the habit of logo dolce & gabbana masculine solidarity made him accept their doctrine on all the issues called moralHe instinctively felt that in this respect it would be troublesome—and also rather bad form—to strike out for himself

"Well—upon my soul!" exclaimed Lawrence Lefferts, turning his opera-glass abruptly away from the stageLawrence Lefferts was, on the whole, the foremost authority on "form" in New YorkHe had probably devoted more time than any one else to the study of this intricate and fascinating question; but study alone could not account for his complete and easy competenceOne had only to look at him, from the slant of his bald forehead and the curve of his beautiful fair moustache to the long patent-leather feet at the other end of his lean and elegant person, to feel that the knowledge of "form" must be congenital in any one who knew how to wear such good clothes so carelessly and carry such height with so much lounging graceAs a young admirer had once said of him: "If anybody can tell a fellow just when to wear a black tie with evening clothes and when not to, it's Larry Lefferts And on the question of pumps versus patent-leather "Oxfords" his authority had never been disputed

"My God!" he said; and silently handed his glass to old Sillerton Jackson

Newland Archer, following Lefferts's glance, saw with surprise that his exclamation had been occasioned by the entry of a new figure into old MrsIt was that of a slim young woman, a little less tall than May Welland, with brown hair growing in close curls about her temples and held in place by a narrow band of diamondsThe suggestion of this headdress, which gave her what was then called a "Josephine look," was carried out in the cut of the dark blue velvet gown rather theatrically black chanel quilted caught up under her bosom by a girdle with a large old-fashioned claspThe wearer of this unusual dress, who seemed quite unconscious of the attention it was attracting, stood a moment in the centre of the box, discussing with MrsWelland the propriety of taking the latter's place in the front right-hand corner; then she yielded with a slight smile, and seated herself in line with MrsWelland's sister-in-law, MrsLovell Mingott, who was installed in the opposite cornerSillerton Jackson had returned the opera-glass to Lawrence LeffertsThe whole of the club turned instinctively, waiting to hear what the old man had to say; for old MrJackson was as great an authority on "family" as Lawrence Lefferts was on "form He knew all the ramifications of New York's cousinships; and could not only elucidate such complicated questions as that of the connection between the Mingotts (through the Thorleys) with the Dallases of South Carolina, and that of the relationship of the elder branch of Philadelphia Thorleys to the Albany Chiverses (on no account to be confused with the Manson Chiverses of University Place), but could also enumerate the leading characteristics of each family: as, for instance, the fabulous stinginess of the younger lines of Leffertses (the Long Island ones); or the fatal tendency of the Rushworths to make foolish matches; or the insanity recurring in every second generation of the Albany Chiverses, with whom their New York cousins had always refused to intermarry—with the disastrous exception of poor Medora Manson, who, as everybody knew but then her mother was a Rushworth

In addition to this forest of family trees, MrSillerton Jackson carried between his narrow hollow temples, and under his soft thatch of louis vuitton wien silver hair, a register of most of the scandals and mysteries that had smouldered under the unruffled surface of New York society within the last fifty yearsSo far indeed did his information extend, and so acutely retentive was his memory, that he was supposed to be the only man who could have told you who Julius Beaufort, the banker, really was, and what had become of handsome Bob Spicer, old MrsManson Mingott's father, who had disappeared so mysteriously (with a large sum of trust money) less than a year after his marriage, on the very day that a beautiful Spanish dancer who had been delighting thronged audiences in the old Opera-house on the Battery had taken ship for CubaBut these mysteries, and many others, were closely locked in MrJackson's breast; for not only did his keen sense of honour forbid his repeating anything privately imparted, but he was fully aware that his reputation for discretion increased his opportunities of finding out what he wanted to know

The club box, therefore, waited in visible suspense while MrSillerton Jackson handed back Lawrence Lefferts's opera-glassFor a moment he silently scrutinised the attentive group out of his filmy blue eyes overhung by old veined lids; then he gave his moustache a thoughtful twist, and said simply: "I didn't think the Mingotts would have tried it on
Newland Archer, during this brief episode, had been thrown into a strange state of embarrassment

It was annoying that the box which was thus attracting the undivided attention of masculine New York should be that in which his betrothed was seated between her mother and aunt; and for a moment he could not identify the lady in the Empire dress, nor imagine why her presence created such excitement among the replica santos cartier initi