"Why quiet and aged?" she said, plunging them on to the keys again. The bell rang.
"Because the lights are low and I'm very old," said Dodo.
Edith forgot to move the machine, and began writing very quickly over the finished line.
"Nonsense!" she said. "You must be fierce and strong and young with all the lights on. I mustn't talk. Something's happened. But all that concerns us now is to be as efficient as we possibly can. We can't afford to make mistakes. We must——"
She pulled out the sheet she had been working on, and gazed at it blankly.
"Dear Sir," she repeated, "'The Marchioness—' is it spelled like March or Marsh, Dodo? Oh, March; yes. I'll correct that. 'Aspirin in graceful conjuring trick,' that should be grains, and then four large Qs in a row. Oh, that was when I made a mistake with the erasing key. Very stupid of me. And what's happened to the last line? It's written over twice. Have you got any purple ink, Dodo? I always like correcting in the same coloured ink as the type; it looks neater. Well, if you have only got black that will have to do."
Edith shook the stylograph Dodo gave her to make it write, and a fountain of pure black ink poured on to the page.
"Blotting-paper," she said in a strangled voice.
Dodo began to laugh.