[ Why does he do it? He opens his mouth, then closes it, feeling beyond frustrated. What can he say that won't sound absolutely awful? I do it because any time anyone is pompous - and you are pompous, Miss Poppell - I cannot not needle them. But that sounds so dreadfully cruel. Because there's also - How else can one be, with others? He never learned the softer arts, how to be kind and gentle. How to speak in a way that makes people glad. He must be nasty. He is nasty.

But also - ]

Because the world deserves to be laughed at. Society deserves to be laughed at. The things that deserve to be treated with reverence are few and far between. And a person's pride certainly doesn't fit that category.