Quotation from: Villette

Written by: Charlotte Bronte


A letter! The shape of a letter similar to that had haunted my brain
in its very core for seven days past. I had dreamed of a letter last
night. Strong magnetism drew me to that letter now; yet, whether I
should have ventured to demand of Rosine so much as a glance at that
white envelope, with the spot of red wax in the middle, I know not.
No; I think I should have sneaked past in terror of a rebuff from
Disappointment: my heart throbbed now as if I already heard the tramp
of her approach. Nervous mistake! It was the rapid step of the
Professor of Literature measuring the corridor. I fled before him.
Could I but be seated quietly at my desk before his arrival, with the
class under my orders all in disciplined readiness, he would, perhaps,
exempt me from notice; but, if caught lingering in the carre, I should
be sure to come in for a special harangue. I had time to get seated,
to enforce perfect silence, to take out my work, and to commence it
amidst the profoundest and best trained hush, ere M. Emanuel entered
with his vehement burst of latch and panel, and his deep, redundant
bow, prophetic of choler.

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Old Dominion University CS Dept
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Part of a series of experiments in web preservation under the direction of Michael L. Nelson, Ph.D.