Read "The Bostonians, Volume II" by Henry James online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
"Come out with me, Miss Tarrant; come out with me. _Do_ come out with me. " That was what Basil Ransom had been saying to Verena when they stood where Olive perceived them, in the embrasure of the window. It had of course taken considerable talk to lead up to this; for the tone, even more than the words, indicated a large increase of intimacy. Verena was mindful of this when he spoke; and it frightened her a little, made her uneasy, which was one of the reasons why she got up from her chair and went to the window -- an inconsequent movement, inasmuch as her wish was to impress upon him that it was impossible she should comply with his request. It would have served this end much better for her to sit, very firmly, in her place. He made her nervous and restless; she was beginning to perceive that he produced a peculiar effect upon her.
Certainly, she had been out with him at home the very first time he called upon her; but it seemed to her to make an important difference that she herself should then have proposed the walk -- simply because it was the easiest thing to do when a person came to see you in Monadnoc Place.