"Alas! if one has not very much of either!"
"It is a very great misfortune, and, I suppose I ought to add, fault."
"I have no doubt it is a misfortune, Miss Walton, but you are not reading."
"Well, make your choice."
"I leave it entirely to you."
"You don't look very well to-day. I will select something light and cheerful from Dickens."
"Excuse me, please. I am in no mood for his deliberate purpose to make one laugh."
"Then here is Irving. His style flows like a meadowbrook."
"No, he is too sentimental."
"Walter Scott, then, will form a happy medium."