She sipped some tea, holding the cup in both hands, but with considerable daintiness.
"Tell me an English joke," she said.
He stroked his faded little mustache.
"The House of Lords," he ventured, after some thought.
"Hé! Is that funny?"
"Very."
"I do not laugh. Tell me another."
He broke a corner off a piece of toast.
"One of the richest bits of humor in England," he said, "is the idea that children born into wealthy or titled families are superior clay to their fellows."
Pippa thought tremendously.