Underlying irony would be for example:

"That dress looks good on you." Then to someone else - "doesn't she look awful in that dress?"

Mo

Jessica you're so curious to know so you repeated this question...I want to read atleast two or three lines before and after the sentence "mr. drew..." that will help me/us to understand it. By that sentence I can say...Mr. drew started off with a self-given authority which is not recognized by others...