{"product_id":"2940012254337","title":"The House of Mirth","description":"Chapter 1\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSelden paused in surprise. In the afternoon rush of the Grand Central\u003cbr\u003eStation his eyes had been refreshed by the sight of Miss Lily Bart.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt was a Monday in early September, and he was returning to his work from\u003cbr\u003ea hurried dip into the country; but what was Miss Bart doing in town at\u003cbr\u003ethat season? If she had appeared to be catching a train, he might have\u003cbr\u003einferred that he had come on her in the act of transition between one and\u003cbr\u003eanother of the country-houses which disputed her presence after the close\u003cbr\u003eof the Newport season; but her desultory air perplexed him. She stood\u003cbr\u003eapart from the crowd, letting it drift by her to the platform or the\u003cbr\u003estreet, and wearing an air of irresolution which might, as he surmised,\u003cbr\u003ebe the mask of a very definite purpose. It struck him at once that she\u003cbr\u003ewas waiting for some one, but he hardly knew why the idea arrested him.\u003cbr\u003eThere was nothing new about Lily Bart, yet he could never see her without\u003cbr\u003ea faint movement of interest: it was characteristic of her that she\u003cbr\u003ealways roused speculation, that her simplest acts seemed the result of\u003cbr\u003efar-reaching intentions.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAn impulse of curiosity made him turn out of his direct line to the door,\u003cbr\u003eand stroll past her. He knew that if she did not wish to be seen she\u003cbr\u003ewould contrive to elude him; and it amused him to think of putting her\u003cbr\u003eskill to the test.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Mr. Selden--what good luck!\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eShe came forward smiling, eager almost, in her resolve to intercept him.\u003cbr\u003eOne or two persons, in brushing past them, lingered to look; for Miss\u003cbr\u003eBart was a figure to arrest even the suburban traveller rushing to his\u003cbr\u003elast train.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSelden had never seen her more radiant. Her vivid head, relieved against\u003cbr\u003ethe dull tints of the crowd, made her more conspicuous than in a\u003cbr\u003eball-room, and under her dark hat and veil she regained the girlish\u003cbr\u003esmoothness, the purity of tint, that she was beginning to lose after\u003cbr\u003eeleven years of late hours and indefatigable dancing. Was it really\u003cbr\u003eeleven years, Selden found himself wondering, and had she indeed reached\u003cbr\u003ethe nine-and-twentieth birthday with which her rivals credited her?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"What luck!\" she repeated. \"How nice of you to come to my rescue!\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe responded joyfully that to do so was his mission in life, and asked\u003cbr\u003ewhat form the rescue was to take.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Oh, almost any--even to sitting on a bench and talking to me.  One sits\u003cbr\u003eout a cotillion--why not sit out a train? It isn't a bit hotter here than\u003cbr\u003ein Mrs. Van Osburgh's conservatory--and some of the women are not a bit\u003cbr\u003euglier.\"  She broke off, laughing, to explain that she had come up to\u003cbr\u003etown from Tuxedo, on her way to the Gus Trenors' at Bellomont, and had\u003cbr\u003emissed the three-fifteen train to Rhinebeck.  \"And there isn't another\u003cbr\u003etill half-past five.\" She consulted the little jewelled watch among her\u003cbr\u003elaces.  \"Just two hours to wait. And I don't know what to do with myself.\u003cbr\u003eMy maid came up this morning to do some shopping for me, and was to go on\u003cbr\u003eto Bellomont at one o'clock, and my aunt's house is closed, and I don't\u003cbr\u003eknow a soul in town.\" She glanced plaintively about the station. \"It IS\u003cbr\u003ehotter than Mrs. Van Osburgh's, after all. If you can spare the time, do\u003cbr\u003etake me somewhere for a breath of air.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe declared himself entirely at her disposal: the adventure struck him as\u003cbr\u003ediverting. As a spectator, he had always enjoyed Lily Bart; and his\u003cbr\u003ecourse lay so far out of her orbit that it amused him to be drawn for a\u003cbr\u003emoment into the sudden intimacy which her proposal implied.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Shall we go over to Sherry's for a cup of tea?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eShe smiled assentingly, and then made a slight grimace.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"So many people come up to town on a Monday--one is sure to meet a lot of\u003cbr\u003ebores. I'm as old as the hills, of course, and it ought not to make any\u003cbr\u003edifference; but if I'M old enough, you're not,\" she objected gaily.  \"I'm\u003cbr\u003edying for tea--but isn't there a quieter place?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe answered her smile, which rested on him vividly. Her discretions\u003cbr\u003einterested him almost as much as her imprudences: he was so sure that\u003cbr\u003eboth were part of the same carefully-elaborated plan. In judging Miss\u003cbr\u003eBart, he had always made use of the \"argument from design.\"","brand":"SAP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47069155655920,"sku":"2940012254337","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940012254337_p0.jpg?v=1763554202","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940012254337","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}