Helen Fairbanks is free to make her own choices. Good or ill.”
“That doesn’t follow at all, Lord Kingston,” said Sabine. “She might have chosen to spend one evening with you; that doesn’t make her free. Do you think I chose Godfrey?”
“I should hope not.”
"Do you think I chose to attend the races?”
“If you had, you’d be slopping around in the mud with the rest of the sporting crowd as we speak.”
"It’s true, I chose to stay at home,” Sabine acknowledged. “If you call that freedom, we’ve different definitions of the word.”
"What, exactly, are you getting at?” Kingston bit out, visibly irritated now.
"You took more than you gave, and you took from a woman who had little to spend.”
“I didn’t pursue her,” said Kingston. “I didn’t mislead her. I made no promises and I broke no vows. What, exactly, do you propose I should do? Insist she live up to standards I myself have abandoned? You would make me a hypocrite.”
“I’m not interested in your excuses.” Sabine flicked her fingers as she would at a fly, dismissing his arguments. “What would you do if someone treated your mother or your sister like you’ve treated Mrs. Fairbanks?”
“My mother and my sister both died in a fire nearly ten years ago. If I could see either one of them again, I wouldn’t care one whit about their honor, their chastity, or any other sin they might have committed.”
"You’re missing my point.”
"No, actually, I’m not.”
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