"But it's true, mother—she can't read. What did you give her?"
"Well, I gave her a little thing of Annie Swan's. Nobody wants to read dry stuff on Sunday afternoon."
"Well, I'll bet she didn't read ten lines of it."
"You are mistaken," said his mother.
All the time Lily sat miserably on the sofa. He turned to her swiftly.
"Did you read any?" he asked.
"Yes, I did," she replied.
"How much?"
"I don't know how many pages."