"Every foot of land, every smoke that curls from several blocks of houses in the centre of the city."
"And does Mr. Lee have all this income?"
"Every cent."
Her eyes sparkled. Fresh roses bloomed out on her cheeks. She threw out her arm, and waved it inward, as if gathering the property in one sweeping embrace.
"Ah! what a world of enjoyment you or I could get out of all that if it were ours!" she said, with unaccountable exultation in her voice. "No wonder he lives like a prince."
I answered her with constraint. This enthusiasm disturbed me.
"I am not sure, madam, that either you or I would be happier for possessing so much care as this wealth would bring; for my part, that which I enjoy without responsibility, is enough."
Her beautiful mouth curled with a sneer, the first I ever saw on those lips.
"Ah! it requires taste and habits of power to prepare one for these things; some people are born with them. Some people are born for them, and others—"
"Well?" I said, smiling with satisfaction that she had at last broken loose from her system of crafty adulation.