"Miss Austen, I admit I am a little surprised by your intonation," he says amusedly. "Of course I read. I hardly have enough time while I am in the city" - due to his other extra-curricular activities, no doubt - "but here, I find myself with little else to do."

He pokes at a clump of mud with his cane haphazardly.

"Mostly prose, some poetry, and a bit of philosophy as well."