Will you drink some of his honour’s sherry? You are looking quite glum, Maturin. Don’t be mumchance, there’s a good fellow. I have not said an unkind thing since you appeared: it is your duty to be gay and amusing. Though harking back, I was just as pleased to come away too, with my face intact: it is my fortune, you know. You have not paid it a single compliment, though I was liberal enough to you. Reassure me, Maturin – I shall be thirty soon, and I dare not trust my looking-glass.’
