Throne of Jade (Temeraire, #2)

by Naomi Novik

I am very tired of this Government, which I have never seen, and which is always insisting that I must do disagreeable things, and does no good to anybody.”

Abasement to such a degree could not help but provoke disgust even in a recipient who demanded the gesture, it seemed to him, and only lead to even more contemptuous treatment.

Certainly we ought not be content to leave things as they are, now we know there is a better way.”