An American Tragedy Volume 1 Book 1 Chapter XVII

In which a group of young people embark on a frosty January automobile excursion to a rustic inn, their jaunt enlivened by spirited dance and tender flirtations beneath the flicker of firelight. Amidst this gaiety, tensions quietly simmer as Clyde wrestles with unease over the borrowed car and the shifting attentions of Hortense, whose coquettishness both beguiles and unsettles him.