"He does it apurpose," Iago assures him. "He makes men live up to what he is firm in his belief of them. I won't say I haven't felt it." A slight pause, then, "You will think me a schoolboy begging for stories if I ask you to tell me more, ne?" Not that Cesare has any room to be giving such an epithet as that.
"Aye, well, the word choice was perhaps not quite the thing," Iago laughs too. "Which, may I ask, was which?"
"First of all, you are flattering me by granting me merit you have not yourself witnessed," Iago says, dry but still warm. "Second, no; preferments make generals, and whether they be born of skill or born of who last gave service to his commanding officer when wives were miles away home, why, still 'tis a preferment."
... oh dear. How long have I left this? It got lost in the computer-switch, sorry!