“Thomas felt like one of the stones from the brook had somehow made it into his stomach, one of the rounded ones the size of a couple of fists.”
Which They Catch in a Minute
“As one Puritan put it, they sin till they’re out of breath.”
No, Really
“That’s the thing about truisms. They are often true.”
An Aggrieved Suitor
“He could not win her heart, as he well knew, but he was pretty sure he could have an impact on her heart. What he wanted to do was leave a rude dent in it.”
Eats Through Anything
“It was not a slight prideful vanity, but a corrosive and acidic pride, the kind that would degrade any intelligence that tried to hold it like a container.”
I Mean, No Telling
“Lambeth was the kind of man who lost his temper down deep inside. When Lambeth lost his temper, nobody knew where it had gotten to.”
Effectual Call
“He certainly didn’t feel like he had decided anything. He felt decided upon. It was more like some kind of strange revolt had overtaken him from behind.”
Looking In, Looking Out
“Lambeth’s eyes were dark to begin with, but in that moment there had seemed to be layers of black malice going all the way down . . . He decided later on that he had realized in that moment, somehow, that if you looked into eyes like that long enough, a time would come when you would be looking out of eyes like that.”
Shady Covers It
“He had an affable face, one that didn’t mind spending time with you, and didn’t mind a couple of shades of dishonesty. Nothing black though. Gray tints were acceptable.”
You’d Be Cheerful Too
“The crowd was still a crowd, and was surging cheerfully back and forth like a large lake on a choppy day.”