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Harte, Bret, 1836-1902

"The Crusade of the Excelsior"

And how is dear Mr.
Banks? and Mr. Crosby? whom I so seldom see now. I suppose, however,
business has its superior attractions."
But Don Ramon, with impulsive gallantry, would not--nay, COULD not--for
a moment tolerate a heresy so alarming. It was simply wildly impossible.
For why? In the presence of Dona Barbara--it exists not in the heart of
man!
"YOU cannot, of course, conceive it, Don Ramon," said Mrs. Brimmer, with
an air of gentle suffering; "but I fear it is sadly true of the American
gentlemen. They become too absorbed in their business. They forget their
duty to our sex in their selfish devotion to affairs in which we are
debarred from joining them, and yet they wonder that we prefer the
society of men who are removed by birth, tradition, and position from
this degrading kind of selfishness."
"But that was scarcely true of your own husband. HE was not only
a successful man in business, but we can see that he was equally
successful in his relations to at least one of the fastidious sex," said
Brace, maliciously glancing at Don Ramon.
Mrs. Brimmer received the innuendo with invulnerable simplicity.
"Mr. Brimmer is, I am happy to say, NOT a business man.


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