Ben listened attentively to his brother speak (he had always valued Aldous' advice, even if it might not have been very apparent in his actions), but his composure broke at the last question and he snorted. "Art Pettigrew's way ahead of you on that one," he said, leaning back on the sofa with a sort of reckless feeling; a well, since it's all fucked, anyway atmosphere. He was looking at the ceiling and not at Aldous as he continued. "That was the first thing he said: don't fuck her. Well, the second thing, actually," he said, shaking his head as he remembered. "The first thing was that he didn't think she really was."

He examined the texture of the ceiling. "She wouldn't lie about it," he said after a moment.