Men don't apologize to ladies. Whatever they do is correct. - James Clavell

The point is we both know life and understand death — and both believe treatment in hell and everywhere else depends on money.

Godrot opium, he thought. But he knew that his life was inexorably tied to opium — and that without it neither The Noble House nor the British Empire could exist.

So easy now that Elder Sister has explained to her what all young girls in houses are taught — that with care and meticulous acting and tears of pretended pain and fear, and the final modest telltale stains cautiously placed, a girl can, if necessary, be virgin ten times for ten different men.