"Oh, don't mention it.--I've not been at all bored! I've been
trying to imagine what I should do to make this room look
comfortable if it were mine!" (_November_ 22, 1892).

The "Things one would rather have expressed otherwise" is a good series
too:

_The Professor_ (to Hostess). "Thank you so much for a most
delightful evening! I shall indeed go to bed with pleasant
recollections--and _you_ will be the very _last_ person I shall
think of!"

And again, of the same series:

_Fair Hostess_. "Good-night, Major Jones. We're supposed to
breakfast at nine, but we're not very punctual people. Indeed the
later you appear to-morrow morning, the better pleased we shall all
be" (_May_ 13, 1893).

"Things one would rather have left unsaid":

_He_. "Yes, I know Bootle slightly, and confess I don't think much
of him!"

_She_. "I know him a little too. He took me in to dinner a little
while ago!"

_He_. "Ah, that's just about all he's fit for!"

_The Hostess_. "Dear Miss Linnet! would you--would you sing one of