"Well, what is all this leading to?"
"Oh, nothing in particular. Only father told me how he took some risks on your account, and I know that you are nothing if not grateful, and honestly I was half afraid lest the rascal had been in some way imposing on your good nature."
"You are quite sure that you know this Mr. Sterne?"
"I know of him, Madeline, which is quite enough for me. Of course, I have seen him dozens of times, but he is not the kind of man I should ever think of speaking to—except of course, as I would speak to a tradesman or a fisherman."
"Yes?"
"You see, those people who are too proud to work, and too ignorant and too poor to be gentlemen, and yet who try to ape the manners of their betters are really the most detestable people of all."
"Is that so?"
"It is so, I can assure you. As an American you have not got to know quite the composition of our English society. But you will see things differently later on. A good, honest working man, who wears fustian, and is not ashamed of it, is to be admired, but your working class upstart, with vulgarity bred in his bones, is really too terrible for words."
"And is there no vulgarity in what you call the upper classes?"
"Well, you see, the upper classes can afford to be anything they like, if you understand."