XXX
вАФAnd pray, said my uncle Toby, leaning upon Yorick, as he and my father were helping him leisurely down the stairsвБ†вЄЇвБ†donвАЩt be terrified, madam, this staircase conversation is not so long as the lastвБ†вЄЇвБ†And pray, Yorick, said my uncle Toby, which way is this said affair of Tristram at length settled by these learned men? Very satisfactorily, replied Yorick; no mortal, Sir, has any concern with itвБ†вЄЇвБ†for Mrs.¬†Shandy the mother is nothing at all akin to himвБ†вЄЇвБ†and as the motherвАЩs is the surest sideвБ†вЄЇвБ†Mr.¬†Shandy, in course, is still less than nothingвБ†вЄїIn short, he is not as much akin to him, Sir, as I am.вБ†вЄЇвБ†
вЄЇвБ†That may well be, said my father, shaking his head.
вЄЇвБ†Let the learned say what they will, there must certainly, quoth my uncle Toby, have been some sort of consanguinity betwixt the duchess of Suffolk and her son.
The vulgar are of the same opinion, quoth Yorick, to this hour.