In The dead, miss Ivors seems to forgive Gabriel for writing for The Daily Express. Why then does she insult him at the end of the dance by whispering "West Briton!"?
Gabriel says he has planned a cycling trip on the continent with some friends of his. She asks why he vacations in foreign countries before he's seen more of his own land; he speaks of keeping in touch with languages. She tells him he has his own language to keep up with: Irish (Gaelic, but called Irish by the Irish to emphasize its rightful place as the national tongue). He says it's not his language. Miss Ivors continues with her difficult questions, irritating him. He's nervous about how he answers; people are listening. They continue dancing, and Miss Ivors teasingly calls him a West Briton (an Anglo-Irishman who favors Ireland remaining a colony).
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