[Dorian's first thought: that explains why Manley is the way that he is, which is severely uneducated and Talkative. But he doesn't say that explicitly because he's not a rude person, and he's kind of reeling? Give him a minute.]

That might just be the most... pointless thing I've ever heard of! What, will you be caught red-handed if you so much as open a book? Go to prison for reading a word aloud? [he said, unaware,]