James, Henry, 1843-1916 / 2008-09-07 00:00:00

It was the hour at which ladies should come out for an
airing and roll past a hedge of pedestrians, holding their parasols
askance. Here, however, Eugenia observed no indications of this custom,
the absence of which was more anomalous as there was a charming avenue
of remarkably graceful, arching elms in the most convenient contiguity
to a large, cheerful street, in which, evidently, among the more
prosperous members of the bourgeoisie, a great deal of pedestrianism
went forward. Our friends passed out into this well lighted promenade,
and Felix noticed a great many more pretty girls and called his sister's
attention to them. This latter measure, however, was superfluous; for
the Baroness had inspected, narrowly, these charming young ladies.
"I feel an intimate conviction that our cousins are like that," said
Felix.
The Baroness hoped so, but this is not what she said. "They are very
pretty," she said, "but they are mere little girls. Where are the
women--the women of thirty?"
"Of thirty-three, do you mean?" her brother was going to ask; for he
understood often both what she said and what she did not say.
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