nothing he had ever heard in his adult life had so chilled him (upon reflexion) as the admiral’s remarks about post rank. They had been kindly meant; they were totally convincing; they haunted his mind. ‘I wonder you should be so concerned over a mere title – a tolerably Byzantine title,’ observed Stephen. ‘After all, you are called Captain Aubrey now, and you would still only be called Captain Aubrey after that eventual elevation; for no man, as I understand it, ever says “Post-captain So-and-so”. Surely it cannot be a peevish desire for symmetry – a longing to wear two epaulettes?’
