He had a theatrical, deliberately old-fashioned, deeply affected manner of speech—all Oh!s and Ah!s—but it irritated less than it ought: It was both unnatural and genuine, and felt less a pretension than a reflection of an artistic sensibility, a suggestion of liveliness and good humor, as if Edward Bishop were determined to not be too serious, as if seriousness, the kind with which most people greeted the world, was the affectation, and not enthusiasm.
