...ton A Penn State Electronic Classics Series Publication The Reef by Edith Wharton is a publication of the Pennsylvania State University. This Por- ta... ...h other again, in London, some three months previously, at a dinner at the American Embassy, and when she had caught sight of him her smile had been l... .... Her husband had struck him as a characteristic speci- men of the kind of American as to whom one is not quite clear whether he lives in Europe in or... ...tation as to the issue, but rather that she seemed to wish not to miss any stage in the gradual reflowering of their intimacy. Darrow, for his part, w... ... was false from head to foot!” “False—?” In spite of time and satiety, the male instinct of ownership rose up and repudiated the charge. Miss Viner ca... ...lids; then, with a touch of hauteur: “I’m going to Paris: to study for the stage.” “The stage?” Darrow stared at her, dismayed. All his con- fused con... ...to the veins of the moribund art. He had the impression that the ghosts of actors were giv- ing a spectral performance on the shores of Styx. Certainl... ... all that, long ago; perhaps it was his own fault, rather than that of the actors, that the poetry of the play seemed to have evaporated...But no, he ... ...ace, at the same moment, underwent the same change, shrinking into a small malevolent white mask in which the eyes burned black. “Thank you—thank you ...

Excerpt: The Reef by Edith Wharton.