Villefaramir looked, and saw that the Count's smoking, which had seemed black, was not so, but was woven of all colours, so that the eye was dazzled and the mind bewildered.
"But, monsieur, can you say that, for you live in Arnor, where Arnorian laws are enforced and fashion imposed still more strictly?" he said.
"Sans doute," replied the Count. "But I know the hearts and minds of mortals better than they do, so that the steuard du roi who durst prosecute me would be far more embarrassed than I."
"Do you mean," said Villefaramir hesitantly, "that all in Terre-moyenne have committed faults?"
"Faults, or crimes," replied Monte Fato, casually.
"Monsieur, by your brilliant conversation you lift me above common levels as a hobbite were to grow wings and fly to the moon, that he might offer pipe-weed unto Tilion. But even at those exalted levels one must sometimes utter cruel truths, such as that the décor on the moon is rather lacking; and so I do now, in telling you that you sacrifice to pride: as you are above the others, so Érou and the Valards are above you."
