"This king," he said, "was very wise in some things, and often kind, but his courtiers were a poor lot—Hypocrisy, Snobbery, Good and Bad Form, and a lot of others. Now the king used to favor the men among his subjects."
"You mean, he liked men?"
"Yes."
"So do I," she said in an outburst of frankness. "They are so droll."
He poured some fresh tea into the cups.
"This King Convention," he said, after a thoughtful pause, "said that men could do a lot of things that women could not, which made the women very angry. Now the king had a jester named Shaw."
"What is a jester?"
"A man who makes jokes that people may laugh."
"Why do they laugh at jokes?"
"Well, in England—especially on the stage—it is from the pleasure of meeting old friends. As a race, we are rather sentimental about our jests, and don't take kindly to new ones."