The American
by Henry James
- First published
- 1877
- Language
- English
- VocaScene level
- C1
- Genre
- classic
- Length
- About 134k words
Read and learn with The American
This English classic is listed at C1 in the VocaScene catalog. The level is guidance for choosing reading material, not a formal language assessment. Signed-in readers can select unfamiliar words, see meanings and save vocabulary for later practice.
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“The Madonna, yes; I am not a Catholic, but I want to buy it. _Combien?_ Write it here.” And he took a pencil from his pocket and showed her the fly-leaf of his guide-book. She stood looking at him and scratching her chin with the pencil. “Is it not for sale?” he asked. And as she still stood reflecting, and looking at him with an eye which, in spite of her desire to treat this avidity of patronage as a very old story, betrayed an almost touching incredulity, he was afraid he had offended her. She was simply trying to look indifferent, and wondering how far she might go. “I haven’t made a mistake—_pas insulté_, no?” her interlocutor continued. “Don’t you understand a little English?”
The young lady’s aptitude for playing a part at short notice was remarkable. She fixed him with her conscious, perceptive eye and asked him if he spoke no French. Then, “_Donnez!_” she said briefly, and took the open guide-book. In the upper corner of the fly-leaf she traced a number, in a minute and extremely neat hand. Then she handed back the book and took up her palette again.
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