"Why don't you call it bribery at once?"
"Because bribery's too harsh a term to apply to an editor, mon semblable, mon frère; but in a woman, or a parliamentary candidate, it might possibly be called corruption."
"Thanks. Well, you've made me a very generous offer, Maddox, so generous that I'm glad you've explained yourself before I took it. For after that, you know, it would have been rather awkward for me to have to tell you you're a liar!"
"You consider me a liar, do you?" said Maddox in a mild dispassionate voice.
"Certainly I do, when you say these thing about Jewdwine."
"How about Rankin? He says them."
"Then Rankin's a liar, too!"
"And Stables?"
"And Stables—if he says them."
"My dear Rickman, everybody says them; only they don't say them to you. We can't all be liars."