One of the guests at Mrs. Dalloway’s party was Charles Burt. Mabel was impressed by him and longing for some praise from him. However, he was a malicious person, with no heart, no fundamental kindness and only a superficial appearance of friendliness. He liked to poke fun at people and see their reactions. He probably also liked to gossip about people and discuss them behind their backs, but his opinion made a great difference to Mabel.