Alas! I have no tablecloth." "But you have plenty of paper," Lavinia laughingly said.

"That will do as well." Lancelot laughed in unison and seizing a couple of sheets of foolscap he opened and spread them on the table.
"One for you and one for me, but you see I've put them together," said he with a roguish gleam in his eye.
"No, they must be separate." But he had his way.
Soon the banquet was ready and it delighted Lavinia to see how ravenously the young man ate.

At the same time it pained her for it told of days of privation.

Before long they were perfectly at ease and merrily chatting about nothing in particular, under some circumstances the best kind of talk.

Suddenly he said: "I'm wondering where my next meal is to come from.