`` it is very handsome , '' temeraire said awkwardly , `` and so cleverly done ; i admire the colors very much , '' and tried to drape it carefully over a small rock , by the entrance , but the gesture only made her look more wretched , and she burst out , `` oh , i do beg your pardon ; he would n't understand in the least , and thought i meant i would not like to , and then he said - `` and she stopped abruptly in even worse confusion ; so temeraire was sure that whatever her captain had said , it had not been at all nice .