“Are you blind to mine?”
“You haven't any, Elinor. Beyond your unwillingness to point out to me where I fail, they are undiscoverable.”
“I am afraid you are not very serious, Stephen.”
“I am sure that if I had your opinion of me I should be serious enough. I can read whole volumes of adverse criticism in your eyes.”
“Do you really want me to tell you what I think?”
“I do indeed. I have always desired enlightenment on that one momentous subject, you will never know the speculation it has provoked me to.”
“But I have no right to judge you.”
“That is what we always say, but we judge just the same.”
“I wish you would take an interest in things, then, Stephen, in real things.”
“What are the real things that need my attention?”