"'Nor knew, till seated by thy side, My heart in all save hope the same.'" "Why, save hope, my dear Lord? What may you not only hope, but trust, from my constant devotion?" "I did not mean to tie myself precisely to every word I uttered. It was only a quotation." "And what is a quotation?" "A quotation is the vehicle in which imagination posts forward, when she only hires her Pegasus from memory. Or sometimes it is only a quit-rent, which the intellectual cultivator, who farms an idea, pays to the original proprietor; or rather,"--(seeing that he was not making the matter more intelligible by his explanation,)--"or rather, it is when we convey our own thoughts by the means of the more perfect expressions of some favourite author." "But then, surely _you_ need not be driven to borrow, whose own words always sound to me like a book. As for poor me, I wish I could talk in quotations for ever; then I need not fear to make these mistakes, which, as it is, I am afraid I am always like to do." (A scene at _the Opera_ is richer still: the performance _Semiramide_:) "Lady Gayland took the opportunity of inquiring of Lady Castleton, 'how the opera had amused her?' There was that unmistakable air of real interest in Lady Gayland's manner, whenever she addressed Lucy, which made her always reply in a tone of confidence, different from that which she felt towards any other member of the society in which she moved. "Why, to tell the honest truth," said she, leaning forwards towards her questioner, "I can't say that I could the least understand what it all meant. It's not likely that people should sing when they're in such sorrow; and then I can't guess why that young man should kill the queen that was so kind to him all along." "I don't wonder that that should surprise you, my dear; but he was not aware of what he was doing. It was in the dark." "In the dark! But I could see very well who it was, though I did not know her so well as he did, and was so much farther off." "I am afraid you are in the dark, too, a little as yet," said Lady Gayland, (tapping her gently with her fan.) "But, tell me, did you not admire the singing, though you could not understand the story." "Why, I should, perhaps, if I had known the language; but even then they seemed to me more like birds, than men and women singing words. I like a song that I can make out every word that's said."