Your family excels at being a pain in my ass. Are you certain you’re not part Dutch? - Ian Tregillis

I am a pragmatist, said Mab. I do what must be done to make a better world.
“Oh, I’m sure you tell yourself that. But so does the woman who tortured Lilith. You sound exactly like her, in fact. The difference is that Berenice actually means it. She doesn’t use the pretense to justify her cruelty.”

But the speculation was pointless. The past was forever in the past.

“Sergeant,” she said as they mounted the stairs leading to her old apartments, “thank you for treating me like a human being. And, for what it’s worth, I am sorry about how this turned out.”
He grunted. “It can’t be undone,” was all he said.