Certainly silly things do cease to be silly if they are done by sensible people in an impudent way.

“Mrs. Parker was as evidently a gentle, amiable, sweet-tempered woman, the prope…”

“I should think he must be rather a dressy man for his time of life. Such a numb…”

“This was a letter to be run through eagerly, to be read deliberately, to supply…”

“To wish was to hope, and to hope was to expect”