Read "The Bostonians, Volume I" by Henry James online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
The next time Verena saw Olive she said to her that she was ready to make the promise she had asked the other night; but, to her great surprise, this young woman answered her by a question intended to check such rashness. Miss Chancellor raised a warning finger; she had an air of dissuasion almost as solemn as her former pressure; her passionate impatience appeared to have given way to other considerations, to be replaced by the resignation that comes with deeper reflexion. It was tinged in this case, indeed, by such bitterness as might be permitted to a young lady who cultivated the brightness of a great faith.
"Don't you want any promise at present? " Verena asked. "Why, Olive, how you change!"