"Austen," he admits. "Dickens was later, and considerably grimier. Reading was encouraged as an 'accomplishment,' but neither expected nor considered social. I always thought it unfortunate that music was also considered an 'accomplishment;' otherwise, one could have had the help play while one read." He looks up at the humming, a thought occurring. "Since you have three, try to catch no zest in your knife with the second, and all of it (without, of course, breaking the membrane of the segments) with the third."