"And I shall want you to joke me, too. You must satirise me. It does more to show me my faults than anything else, and it will show other people how perfectly submissive I am, and how I think everything you do is just right."
"If I were to beat you a little in company, don't you think it would serve the same purpose?"
"No, no; be serious."
"About joking?"
"No, about me. I know that I'm very intense, and you must try to correct that tendency in me."
"I will, with pleasure. Which of my tendencies are you going to correct?"
"You have none."
"Well, then, neither have you. I'm not going to be outdone in civilities."
"Oh, if people could only hear you talk in this light way, and then know what I know!"
Colville broke out into a laugh at the deep sigh which accompanied these words. As a whole, the thing was grotesque and terrible to him, but after a habit of his, he was finding a strange pleasure in its details.