You and Mrs. Touchett must come and breakfast with me
some day, and I'll show you my things; je ne vous dis que ca! There
has been a great deal of talk about London of late; it's the fashion
to cry up London. But there's nothing in it- you can't do anything
in London. No Louis Quinze- nothing of the First Empire; nothing but
their eternal Queen Anne. It's good for one's bed-room, Queen Anne-
for one's washing-room; but it isn't proper for a salon. Do I spend my
life at the auctioneer's?" Mr. Rosier pursued in answer to another
question of Isabel's. "Oh no; I haven't the means. I wish I had. You
think I'm a mere trifler; I can tell by the expression of your face-
you've got a wonderfully expressive face. I hope you don't mind my
saying that; I mean it as a kind of warning. You think I ought to do
something, and so do I, so long as you leave it vague. But when you
come to the point you see you have to stop. I can't go home and be a
shopkeeper. You think I'm very well fitted? Ah, Miss Archer, you
overrate me. I can buy very well, but I can't sell; you should see
when I sometimes try to get rid of my things. It takes much more
ability to make other people buy than to buy yourself.
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