(Arch.)
“If you could spill the ink any where but on the best table-cloth, Charles dear!”
“But though you must always have your own way, you are not quite faultless, own, Charles dear,” &c.
In this collocation occur many dears, parental as well as conjugal; as—“Hold up your head and don't look quite so cross, dear.”
“Be a good boy for once in your life—that's a dear,” &c.
When the enemy stops in the middle of the sentence, its venom is naturally less exhausted. Ex. gr.
“Really, I must say, Charles dear, that you are the most fidgety person,” &c.
“And if the house bills were so high last week, Charles dear, I should just like to know whose fault it was—that's all.”
“Do you think, Charles dear, that you could put your feet any where except upon the chintz sofa?”
“But you know, Charles dear, that you care no more for me and the children than,” &c.