Charles sighed. "It’s not as strange as it sounds. You get quite used to it, once you ... well ... give up, and become Conventional. The Conventions have their own kind of beauty, Rodolphe. Not at all like the simple beauty here but ... the Conventions do have a place for human beings. We have a role there, a true function. We ... we personify the Conventional world, Rodolphe! We are its soul!"