“Don’t keep me waiting for the name.”
“It has one of those blind names that you like if you like the book. It is called ‘The Sacrifice.’ It has a heroine who has won me completely. With no disparagement to you, she is an American heroine.”
“What is the book about?”
“Mostly it is about this girl, and I assure you that you will not think there is too much of her. You see, I am particular about my heroines. I can go a little haziness, or a little crudeness, in the heroes I read, but I like the heroines—”
“To be like Mercedes?”
“One can’t complain of Dumas there. Mercedes is one of the most human characters in ‘Monte Cristo.’”
“Is there not a touch of satire in that?”
“You have read that book before,” I declared emphatically.
“A long time ago. But let me hear about ‘The Sacrifice.’”