"Oh dear, I wish he hadn't been so nice," sobbed the girl. "He has made me feel so ashamed that I don't think I'm fit to marry Ernest! I wish he had been nasty to me, and then I wouldn't have cared. But you don't think he cares, do you? Listen to him whistling so merrily!"
"It is not those who whine loudest who feel most."
"But men don't really have any feelings in this sort of thing, do they?"
"Feeling is not peculiar to any section or sex of the community, but to a percentage of all humanity. This is my belief, but I cannot attempt to judge which feel and which do not."
"Who would have dreamt of him being so sweet-natured about it?"
"Nobility of character and unselfishness are also traits we cannot find in any set place."
"I wish I hadn't been such a cat. I can't forgive myself."
I smiled happily as Eweword's action bespoke a character more in keeping with his imposing physique than that betrayed when he had vulgarly spoken of pulling a girl's leg. That had been like seeing a beautiful house occupied by nothing but poachers, and I loved humanity, so that it always hurt to see even the meanest individual do less than their best.
"Well, cheer up," I said. "Take care not to similarly transgress again. We all are constantly committing regrettable actions, but so long as we are careful not to repeat them we may hope to make some headway."
So the knight received a favourable reply, and the man supplanted by him went another way.