The Canterville Ghost

`That's no reason for being here, and you know you have been a very bad person. The first day we arrived here, Mrs. Umney told us that you had killed your wife.'

`Well, of course I killed her,' said the Ghost , `but that should really interest my family and nobody else.'

`It is very wrong to kill anyone,' said Virginia. Sometimes she could be very sweet and as serious as her ancestors in New England has been.

`Oh, it's very easy to be rude about things that don't have anything to do with you! My wife was not very pretty, she never prepared my clothes properly, and she was a terrible cook. Do you know, I shot a deer in Hogley Woods, a magnificent deer, and do you know how terrible it looked when it came to the table? However, that is not important now, because it's all in the past. But I don't think it was very nice of her brothers to starve me to death, even if I did kill their sister.'

`Starve you to death? Oh, Mr. Ghost, I mean Sir Simon, are you hungry? I have a sandwich in my bag. Would you like to eat it?'

`No, thank you, I never eat anything now; but you are very kind. You are much nicer than the rest of your horrible, rude, noisy, dishonest family.'