How we cite our quotes: (Book.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
'It can't be vulgar or coarse. And, bless us and save us, it isn't! It's, upon my word, the very finest thing I ever saw in my life, and the most distinguished.' (6.3.70)
Here's another gem of Bilhamian perplexity. When Strether insists that Chad's relationship with Madame de Vionnet must not be "vulgar," Bilham heartily agrees. Of course, Strether means that it can't be sexual. But Bilham doesn't automatically associate sexual with "vulgar." So even though he knows Chad and Madame are having sex, he believes that their relationship is beautiful. So he agrees with Strether's claim, although not for the reasons Strether thinks.
Quote #8
She would come in if he stayed long enough, and he had now more than ever the sense of her success in leaving him a prey to anxiety. (9.3.1)
Sarah Pocock is full of little mind games, probably because she learned from the best, Mrs. Newsome. For example, she knows that the longer she makes Strether wait to speak to her, the more anxious he'll get. This postponement of communication is just one of the many tricks Sarah has up her sleeve for times when she needs to make men do what she wants.
Quote #9
'Fortunate?' she echoed again. And indeed she was prepared. 'I call it hideous.' (10.3.30)
Throughout the book, Strether has never gotten a clear answer from Sarah on what she makes of Chad's transformation. Up to this point, she's just been silent on the issue. But now that he's being direct with her, she's forced to say that she thinks Chad has changed for the worse—for the hideous, in fact. It's only when he finally hears this that Strether decides there is no longer any common ground between him and the Newsomes.