It was instead a soft and papery voice, that spoke in cultured accents-yet seemed to have been dipped in venom.

'The Senate must be summoned,' murmured Gesius in his papery voice.

'Come in,' the papery voice whispered.

In dry, papery voices, the four applauded one another's prowess or castigated themselves politely whenever they committed an error.

Given Ptah's already papery voice, the foreman wouldn't be expected to catch his master's muttered comment: "I simply won't warrant how long it will do both."

"Ah, monsieur," a papery voice whispered in French.

I see,' said Gesius, his papery voice so devoid of nuance it was a nuance of its own.

'I've called the priest,' he said, in a papery voice.

Louis asked in a trembling, papery voice.

He spoke in a low, papery voice, but his words had a compelling edge.