The money he formerly spent on this had long been saved for the purchase of books.

Egremont's after-dinner coffee had to suffice to make cheer.

It was a little time before Grail could speak freely.

He had suffered from nervousness in undertaking this visit, and his relief at the simplicity of Egremont's rooms, by allowing him to think of what he wished to say, caused him to seem absent.
'I've already begun to jot down lists of obvious books,' Egremont said.
'I have a good general catalogue here, and I mean to go through it carefully.' Gilbert was at length able to speak his thought.
'I ought to have said far more than I did in my letter, Mr.Egremont.

I tried to thank you, but I felt I might as well have left it alone.