'Poor man, indeed! He's an outrageous, horrible, sinister man.'

'Besides, what am I to do about shaving? You know perfectly well that there are no barbers within fifteen miles of this house.'

'Shave yourself, then.'

'But I can't shave myself.'

'What sort of a man are you, if you can't even shave yourself?'

'No, I can't shave myself- so what am I to do?'

'Grow a beard, then.'

'Please, for goodness sake! I shouldn't be able to sleep a wink.'

She was silent for a time, and then, in a voice in which there seemed to be an echo of despair, she cried: 'Well then, you refuse to do what I ask you — you refuse to do it.'

'But, Leda. .'