“It’s absurd,” cried Wolf excitedly, while his upper-lip began to protrude and tremble so much that an observer might have been reminded of Miss Gault. “It’s absurd to talk of souls being inside things! They’re always on the outside! They’re the glamour of things⁠ ⁠… the magic⁠ ⁠… the bloom⁠ ⁠… the breath. They’re the intention of things!”

His irritation at this moment was not lessened by a furtive taunt of the demon within himself repeating Mr. Urquhart’s biting phrase, “So you have a soul, then, Menelaus?”

“But, Wolf,” protested Mattie, in an obstinate and sulky tone, “you’re contradicting yourself! How can anything be intended and expressed if it isn’t there⁠ ⁠… inside⁠ ⁠… already?”

Wolf bit his lip to restrain himself from an outburst of anger.