Hesper went on.
"Ah!" she said, "your story is not mine.

You are free; I am a slave.
You are alive; I am in my coffin." "That's marriage," said Sepia, dryly.
"It would not matter much," continued Hesper, "if you could have your coffin to yourself; but when you have to share it--ugh!" "If I were you, then," said Sepia, "I would not lie still; I would get up and bite--I mean, be a vampire." Hesper did not answer.

Sepia turned from the mirror, looked at her, and burst into a laugh--at least, the sound she made had all the elements of a laugh--except the merriment.
"Now really, Hesper, you ought to be ashamed of yourself," she cried.
"You to put on the pelican and the sparrow, with all the world before you, and all the men in it at your feet!" "A pack of fools!" remarked Hesper, with a calmness which in itself was scorn.

"I don't deny it--but amusing fools--you must allow that!" "They don't amuse me." "That's your fault: you won't be amused.

The more foolish they are, the more amusing I find them." "I am sick of it all.