"The influence of the hour and the scene, I suppose," he said idly; "one is always silent in Paradise."
"I should think that depended upon the absence or presence of Eve," replied Alizon demurely.
"Or of the serpent. Confess now, Lady Errington, the serpent was a charming conversationalist."
"And a bad companion--for a woman."
"No doubt Adam thought so--after the Fall."
"What a pity there should have been a Fall," said Lady Errington after a short pause. "It would have been a charming world."
"Humph! consisting of what the French call a solitude à deux."
"Oh, but I was supposing the Garden of Eden became populated. It would have been a world without sin or temptation."
"I beg 'your pardon. The trees of knowledge and life would still have been flourishing to tempt the primeval population nor do I suppose the wily serpent would have been wanting."
"Satirical, but scarcely true."