Quotes from "Roman Fever"

“It always will be, to me,” assented her friend Mrs. Ansley, with so slight a stress on the “me”
that Mrs. Slade, though she noticed it, wondered if it were not merely accidental, like the
random underlinings of old-fashioned letter-writers.

“Grace Ansley was always old-fashioned,” she thought.

Mrs. Slade waited nervously for another word or movement. None came, and at length she
broke out: “I horrify you.”

Mrs. Ansley’s hands dropped to her knees. The face they uncovered was streaked with tears.
“I wasn’t thinking of you. I was thinking—it was the only letter I ever had from him!”

These two quotations, both from Edith Wharton’s “Roman Fever” portray the theme of denial that is prominent in the story. The first quote is spoken at the beginning of the story, as Mrs. Ansley and Mrs. Slade are enjoying a view of Rome together from a restaurant terrace. The second quote takes place shortly after Mrs. Ansley learns that Mrs. Slade tried to undermine their friendship the last time they visited Rome. With a cruel intention, Mrs. Slade tells Mrs. Ansley that she fabricated the letter from Delphin telling Mrs. Ansley to meet her at the Colosseum. It is then revealed that Mrs. Ansley actually met with Delphin that night, leading to an affair with him. These quotations show the different manner and tone in which they speak to each other after revealing these things to each other.

For years, Mrs. Slade had believed that Delphin, her late husband, never met Mrs. Ansley. Mrs. Ansley believed that Delphin was actually in love with her. Both women believed in different versions of the same story, as they were both missing key information the other possessed. Both believed that they had successfully undermined the other. But as they reveal their stories with each other, the two connect in a way they never had before. Mrs. Slade admits that she has always been aware of and threatened by Mrs. Ansley, but had constantly denied it. 

Have you ever had a moment like this with a friend of yours?