Quicksands
John Alexander Steuart
Hardcover
(Forgotten Books, March 6, 2018)
Excerpt from QuicksandsWhen important people condescend upon acts of benevolence which are lightly esteemed they have a right to feel annoyed. All Lady Stapleton's breeding was not proof against the irritating sense of rudeness and impropriety, that increased momentarily, as she waited without greeting or explanation. First she crinkled her calm brows, then tapped impatiently with her fan, and finally sat bolt upright with unmistakable signs of displeasure.I don't understand it, she remarked, looking round the company with an eye of resentment. I don't understand it at all. Instantly, like a forest of autumn leaves, the assemblage of silks rustled and murmured in agreement that what puzzled Lady Stapleton was past finding out, and, moreover, 'in this instance smoked unpleasantly of insult.Here they were, leaders of fashion, devotees of pleasure, assembled at once by invitation and as an act of patronage, yet neither host nor hostess appeared to welcome them. It was enough, they felt, to justify them in washing their hands forever of all deeds of charity.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.