"Don't know, I'm sure," replied Jim, with the matutinal good-humour of a healthy animal. "Doctors recommend such rum things nowadays. But it doesn't matter. I'm off to feed."
"Wait for ten minutes, Jim. I have something to say."
"You're not goin' to read, are you? I can't stand readin' on a empty stom--well, on nothin'."
"Have you ever heard of The Woman in White?" asked Leah, irrelevantly.
"No; who is she?"
"It's a novel."
"Don't read 'em. Real life's much more fun."
Lady Jim looked at him steadily. "We might turn this"--she touched the book lightly--"into real life."
"Goin' to make a play of it?" questioned Jim, obtusely.
"Well, you might call it a comedy," she answered. "I certainly do not want it to be a tragedy--though it might come to that," she ended in a lower tone.