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She insisted on a principle that our biographies had theretofore contested: that we mattered. That girls—even so-called ruined ones—were not a thing that could be thrown away.
And if no woman was safe, what was the point of being cautious?
Sirens, you see, are not born thirsting for justice. Sirens are made.
The woman climbing back up the cliff in a state of scandalous undress laughed at him because she should need no introduction; she was one of the most infamous women in all of England.
Henri was sweet, but men were best left to administering boudoir pleasures and lifting things a woman oughtn’t.
It was one thing to be defiant in the company of people who agreed with you. It was quite another to do so in the world of men who saw your actions as the early symptoms of a coming plague.
His wife had made him read the book in its first printing and he’d thought Miss Arden skillfully made a case for a more equitable state between the sexes. Had he not been so disordered by her near-nudity when she’d said her name, he would have told her so. He wished he had.
To take a lover outside the bounds of wedlock always invites risk, but the burden is not shared equally. If both sinners’ souls are imperiled in the next life for their transgressions, why should women alone pay the price in this one?
“Live up to them? You mean you do corrupt susceptible girls and tempt them to a life of sin, like they claim in the papers?” “No. But I could be called guilty of inviting nice architects to advise me on building costs when advice is not the only thing I’m after.”
She inhaled and let the smoke fan out around her, to shroud her in her own disreputability.
Good pasties were her bloody birthright.
Tompkins pursed her lips, and Seraphina wished she had not been so responsible as to hire a woman of great perception and ability as her secretary.
Men were for displaying wit and cleavage to, not emotions.
If a system relies on one party’s decency—if that decency is the only failsafe protecting the weaker party—it is broken.”
“I suppose a woman could do the work of a draftsman, with proper training,” he allowed.
Surely the draftsman requires proper training as well...
She had not been in this room since returning home. Had her father and stepmother never moved a thing? How strange, to preserve a shrine to a daughter you’d made clear was as good as dead to you.
They were not the same thing. Indulging the body led to release. Indulging the emotions led to its opposite: entanglement. A condition that could not be prevented with a sheepskin condom. There was a name for a man who fell in love with you: a bloody nuisance.
“Don’t mistake me, Sera. I’d love to make love to you properly. I just can’t.” She looked annoyed, but after a brief pause, shrugged. “I suppose we will have to make do with being extremely perverse.”
“Oh, just the toll of unearthing my tragic history,” she said airily. “I am living on wine, tobacco, and malaise.”
Forgive me for not writing in advance, but I am desperate. My elderly aunt has gone mad, and I am looking for a place where she might seek treatment.” The doctor looked delighted.
“Yes, Mr. Anderson,” Tompkins said. “I agree that such a step is prudent.” She shot a glance at Seraphina. “If you don’t want it for yourself, think of your defenseless servants.”
Oh she is GOOD.
Well, yes, of course they were right. She did feel more at ease with people who were distant and reserved than those who wore their emotions openly. But this was not a flaw in character. It was a prejudice for people like herself.
It relieved him that their mood was light. And yet, he wondered what harassment Seraphina and her friends must be accustomed to if they could recover from such a dreadful scene so quickly.
“Sometimes it’s hard to face people that you’ve hurt, even if you long to make amends. He might have been afraid. Or ashamed.” Oh, poor dear man who cast his daughter out. What a pity. She smiled tightly. “One can avoid such difficulty by not hurting people in the first place.”
“Don’t be,” she snapped. This conversation was growing entirely too damp. “It made me what I am. Soft treatment makes soft people.”
For there’s another truth about girls and fathers. A daughter never doubts her father’s power. We are raised to believe he is omnipotent, second only to our Maker.
We. How chilling those words were when used to define a group one was outside of.
She had long made the argument that men took what they wanted until the taking became inconvenient.
Unfortunately, those in possession of unfair advantages see equality as a danger. They believe we want to take their power. They cannot see that we simply ask for parity. Power of our own.”
“You know I cower before your terrifying brain. But Adam is a man, not some theory you can prove with words. You need to talk to him.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t be so sure,” said Thaïs, who was lounging on a sofa in a corner, eating a tart clearly stolen from the heaping tray at Elinor’s feet. “Once he sees you posed like this, he might want you back.” “He can’t have me,” Elinor said with a rather mysterious smile.
And remember—nothing would be a better revenge than you being madly in love with a man who adores you.”
