Then he says, 'What wretched pens you do keep--'

'Yes,' replies she, 'they are rather bad, but I think you will find some
others in the right hand drawer--have you ever read this?' holding up
her volume.

'The "Epic of Hades," yes, parts of it are very fine. "There is an end
of all things that thou seest. There is an end of wrong and death and
hell,"' quotes he.

'What a melancholy passage,' says Lippa.

'A very grand one I think,' he replies, 'but I should never have thought
you would care for that kind of literature.'

'Why not?--'

'Because, well, I should have thought it would have been too deep for
you--'

'Really,' then after a pause, 'do you know _that_ wasn't very polite--'

'Wasn't it? suppose I say then that I am agreeably surprised--'

'That's nearly as bad, if not quite, it sounds as if you expected me to
read nothing but books like the "Daisy Chain," or "Laneton Parsonage."'

'Very excellent books too--'