"I have a sudden thirst for information before I begin my book."
"Your book for mothers? Oh, Laura, the idea of going to the Astor Library about that!"
"Oh, that scheme fell through."
"What a pity! It was such an original one."
"So is sin. But one has to get rid of it."
"Did you write nothing at all?"
"I wrote a little bit. I'll show it to you when my trunk comes. I thought it was a capital idea, and was going to make mamma write a preface for it. How is she, anyhow?"
"Very well, if one may judge by her actions."
"I suppose that means being at everybody's beck and call."
"Yes; first, she had me to nurse, and then she went on a pilgrimage to a family of strangers."