There the want of
tact and discretion on the part of the husbands produces at times indescribable disasters.
But poor father has no
tact, and this defect is especially marked since he has been in Europe.
If he could have once placed me in a ridiculous or mortifying position, he would have forgiven me much, but I was guarded by three faculties--Caution,
Tact, Observation; and prowling and prying as was Edward's malignity, it could never baffle the lynx-eyes of these, my natural sentinels.
The
tact which I find here, the discretion, the rare courage, the wonderful power of memory, the accurate observation of character, the easy grace of style, the charming outbursts of womanly feeling, have all inexpressibly increased my admiration of this sublime creature, of this magnificent Marian.
But no reader of "An Unsocial Socialist " needs to be told how, by the exercise of a certain considerate
tact (which on the outside, perhaps, seems the opposite of
tact), I have contrived to maintain genial terms with men and women of all classes, even those whose opinions and political conduct seemed to me most dangerous.
He had not the
tact, or the art, to effect such a purpose by skilfully drawing out my sentiments or ideas through the real or apparent statement of his own, or leading the conversation by imperceptible gradations to such topics as he wished to advert to: but such gentle abruptness, and such single-minded straightforwardness, could not possibly offend me.
But remembering Edna's whimsical turn of mind of late, and foreseeing that she had immediately acted upon her impetuous determination, he grasped the situation with his usual promptness and handled it with his well-known business
tact and cleverness.
Thus by a judicious exercise of
tact and asperity we re-established the atmospheric equilibrium of the room long before I left them a little before midnight, now tenderly reconciled, to walk down to the harbour and hail the Tremolino by the usual soft whistle from the edge of the quay.
Strickland used her advantage with
tact. You felt that you obliged her by accepting her sympathy.
But to arrange this without catastrophe would need skill and
tact; interference from any outside source would be fatal, and Francis meant to interfere
Although not remarkable for the possession of delicate
tact, Mrs.
To speak of it would be to attach importance to what has no importance." She remembered how she had told her husband of what was almost a declaration made her at Petersburg by a young man, one of her husband's subordinates, and how Alexey Alexandrovitch had answered that every woman living in the world was exposed to such incidents, but that he had the fullest confidence in her
tact, and could never lower her and himself by jealousy.