“Why should I ask them what they want, dear fellow, when I am indifferent what they want? Why should I express objection, when I don’t object?”

“You are in your most reckless mood. But you called the situation just now, a ludicrous one; and most men object to that, even those who are utterly indifferent to everything else.”

“You charm me, Mortimer, with your reading of my weaknesses. (By the by, that very word, reading, in its critical use, always charms me. An actress’s reading of a chambermaid, a dancer’s reading of a hornpipe, a singer’s reading of a song, a marine painter’s reading of the sea, the kettledrum’s reading of an instrumental passage, are phrases ever youthful and delightful.) I was mentioning your perception of my weaknesses. I own to the weakness of objecting to occupy a ludicrous position, and therefore I transfer the position to the scouts.”

“I wish, Eugene, you would speak a little more soberly and plainly, if it were only out of consideration for my feeling less at ease than you do.”