“Pretending”,' she looked at the garden, 'is not the truth.''But you said two true things, right ? One, you hate this girl. Two, you want her to feel better. If you decide that the wanting truth's more important than the hating truth, just tell her you've forgiven her, even if you haven't. At least she'd feel better. Maybe that'd make you feel better too.'Madame Crommelynck studied her hands, moodily, both sides. 'Sophistry', she pronounced. I'm not sure what 'sophistry' means so I kept shtum.”

British comedian, actor and writer

David James Stuart Mitchell is a British comedian, actor, and writer. He came to prominence with Robert Webb as part of the comedy duo Mitchell and Webb, and is known for playing Mark Corrigan in the Channel 4 sitcom Peep Show. He won the British Academy Television Award for Best Comedy Performance in 2009. Mitchell and Webb have written and appeared in several sketch shows, including Bruiser, The Mitchell and Webb Situation, That Mitchell and Webb Sound, That Mitchell and Webb Look, and Mitchell and Webb Are Not Helping. They also appeared in Apple’s British “Get a Mac” campaign, made their first film, Magicians, in 2007, and later starred in Ambassadors in 2013 and the Channel 4 comedy-drama Back from 2017 to 2021.