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Enjoyment was pretty general, and so much the more prevailed
in being unhampered by conventional restrictions. Absolute confidence in each
other’s good opinion begat perfect ease, while the finishing stroke of manner,
amounting to a truly princely serenity, was lent to the majority by the absence
of any expression or trait denoting that they wished to get on in the world,
enlarge their minds, or do any eclipsing thing whatever — which nowadays so
generally nips the bloom and bonhomie of all except the two extremes of the
social scale.
Thomas Hardy - The Three Strangers (1883)
4 comments:
I like that.
Been there, a time or two, between 1960 and 1980.
I should add that my in-laws lived at Alderminster a short distance away, so we became acquainted with many local pubs, preferring to avoid those on main roads etc.
Sackers - yes, it's a fair indication of social class.
Demetrius - happy days.
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