It was the old New York way of taking life "without effusion of blood": the way of people who dreaded scandal more than disease, who placed decency a… - Edith Wharton

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It was the old New York way of taking life "without effusion of blood": the way of people who dreaded scandal more than disease, who placed decency above courage, and who considered that nothing was more ill-bred than "scenes," except the behaviour of those who gave rise to them.