She had never been pretty, but her whole life, which had been but a
succession of pious works, had eventually cast over her a species
of whiteness and brightness, and in growing older she had acquired
what may be called the beauty of goodness. What had been thinness
in her youth had became in her maturity transparency, and through
this transparency the angel could be seen.--_Les Misérables._

A ray of happiness was visible upon her face. Never had she
appeared more beautiful. Her features were remarkable for
prettiness rather than what is called beauty. Their fault, if fault
it be, lay in a certain excess of grace.... The ideal virgin is the
transfiguration of a face like this. Dèruchette, touched by her
sorrow and love, seemed to have caught that higher and more holy
expression. It was the difference between the field daisy and the
lily.--_Toilers of the Sea._

The glance of a woman resembles certain wheels which are apparently
gentle but are formidable.... You come, you go, you dream, you
speak, you laugh, and all in a minute you feel yourself caught, and
it is all over with you. The wheel holds you, the glance has caught
you.--_Les Misérables._

She had listened to nothing, but mothers hear certain things
without listening.--_Ninety-Three._

She was really a respectable, firm, equitable, and just person,
full of that charity which consists in giving, but not possessing
to the same extent the charity which comprehends and pardons.--_Les
Misérables._