Eugene Pickering
By Henry James
5 Sep, 2019
Excerpt......Most of the spectators were too attentive to the play to have many thoughts for each other, but before long I noticed a lady who evidently had an eye for her neighbours as well as for the table. She was seated about half-way between my
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Excerpt......Most of the spectators were too attentive to the play to have many thoughts for each other, but before long I noticed a lady who evidently had an eye for her neighbours as well as for the table. She was seated about half-way between my friend and me, and I presently observed that she was trying to catch his eye. Though at Homburg, as people said, “one could never be sure,” I yet doubted whether this lady was one of those whose especial vocation it was to catch a gentleman’s eye. She was youthful rather than elderly, and pretty rather than plain; indeed, a few minutes later, when I saw her smile, I thought her wonderfully pretty. She had a charming gray eye and a good deal of yellow hair disposed in picturesque disorder; and though her features were meagre and her complexion faded, she gave one a sense of sentimental, artificial gracefulness. Less