Swann's Way

Naturally, once he saw that Brichot was popular in this house, it was a
way of hitting back at us, of spoiling our party. I know his sort, the
dear, good friend of the family, who pulls you all to pieces on the
stairs as he's going away."

"Didn't I say so?" retorted her husband. "He's simply a failure; a poor
little wretch who goes through life mad with jealousy of anything that's
at all big."

Had the truth been known, there was not one of the 'faithful' who was
not infinitely more malicious than Swann; but the others would all take
the precaution of tempering their malice with obvious pleasantries, with
little sparks of emotion and cordiality; while the least indication of
reserve on Swann's part, undraped in any such conventional formula
as "Of course, I don't want to say anything--" to which he would have
scorned to descend, appeared to them a deliberate act of treachery.
There are certain original and distinguished authors in whom the least
'freedom of speech' is thought revolting because they have not begun
by flattering the public taste, and serving up to it the commonplace
expressions to which it is used; it was by the same process that Swann
infuriated M. Verdurin. In his case as in theirs it was the novelty