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The Bostonians, Vol. I (of II), by Henry James
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Title: The Bostonians, Vol. I (of II)
Author: Henry James
Release Date: November 5, 2006 [EBook #19717]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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THE BOSTONIANS
A NOVEL
BY HENRY JAMES
IN TWO VOLUMES
VOL. I
MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED ST. MARTIN'S STREET, LONDON 1921
First Published in 1886
BOOK FIRST
I
"Olive will come down in about ten minutes; she told me to tell you that. About ten; that is exactly like Olive. Neither five nor fifteen, and yet not ten exactly, but either nine or eleven. She didn't tell me to say she was glad to see you, because she doesn't know whether she is or not, and she wouldn't for the world expose herself to telling a fib. She is very honest, is Olive Chancellor; she is full of rectitude. Nobody tells fibs in Boston; I don't know what to make of them all. Well, I am very glad to see you, at any rate."
These words were spoken with much volubility by a fair, plump, smiling woman who entered a narrow drawing-room in which a visitor, kept waiting for a few moments,