Cоnsider the excerpt belоw frоm а work of fiction. The highlighted portion is аn exаmple of _______, a literary device in which characters talk to one another. Far away in a distant city, a man, carelessly looking among some papers, turned over a faded bunch of flowers tied with a blue ribbon and a lock of hair. He paused meditatively awhile, then turning to the regal-looking woman lounging before the fire, he asked: "Wife, did you ever send me these?" She raised her great, black eyes to his with a gesture of ineffable disdain, and replied languidly: "You know very well I can't bear flowers. How could I ever send such sentimental trash to any one? Throw them into the fire." And the Easter bells chimed a solemn requiem as the flames slowly licked up the faded violets. Was it merely fancy on the wife's part, or did the husband really sigh,—a long, quivering breath of remembrance?