"I said as much," she reminded him.
"Well, but you ought to know better than to quote an author you have not read," he informed her.
"Do you mean that I should read all a man's works before I presume to quote a single passage?"
"I do," he replied. "Women never understand thoroughness," he observed, largely.
"Some of us see a difference between thoroughness and niggling," Beth answered. "I should say, beware of endless preparation! We have heard of Mr. Casaubon and The Key to all Mythologies."
"I understand now what your friend Mrs. Carne meant about the manner in which you take advice," Mr. Alfred Cayley Pounce informed her, in a slightly offended tone.
Beth, wondering inwardly why so many people assume they are competent to advise, prayed that she herself might always be modest enough to wait at least until her advice was asked.
"I hope I have not discussed your opinion impolitely," she said. "Pray excuse me if you think I have."
Mollified, he turned his attention once more to the littered bureau.
"You have a goodly pile of manuscript there," he remarked; "may I ask what it is?"