Still, the deck of the yacht was a pleasant refuge from the heat
on shore, and his wife's profile, serenely projected against the
changing blue, lay on his retina like a cool hand on the nerves.
He had never been more impressed by the kind of absoluteness that
lifted her beauty above the transient effects of other women,
making the most harmonious face seem an accidental collocation of
features.

The ladies who directly suggested this comparison were of a kind
accustomed to take similar risks with more gratifying results.
Mrs. Armiger had in fact long been the triumphant alternative of
those who couldn't "see" Alexa Glennard's looks; and Mrs.
Touchett's claims to consideration were founded on that
distribution of effects which is the wonder of those who admire a
highly cultivated country. The third lady of the trio which
Glennard's fancy had put to such unflattering uses, was bound by
circumstances to support the claims of the other two. This was
Mrs. Dresham, the wife of the editor of the Radiator. Mrs.
Dresham was a lady who had rescued herself from social obscurity
by assuming the role of her husband's exponent and interpreter;
and Dresham's leisure being devoted to the cultivation of
remarkable women, his wife's attitude committed her to the public
celebration of their remarkableness. For the conceivable tedium
of this duty, Mrs. Dresham was repaid by the fact that there were
people who took HER for a remarkable woman; and who in turn
probably purchased similar distinction with the small change of
her reflected importance. As to the other ladies of the party,
they were simply the wives of some of the men--the kind of women
who expect to be talked to collectively and to have their
questions left unanswered.