Tears, thought by some to be a woman’s most powerful weapon, did not of course move him, but he was good at comforting weeping women. There had been quite a number of them in his life, from his mother to older women and young girls who had been foolish enough to expect more than he was prepared to give. He had seen with distaste many a red face working and blotched with tears…Older women especially were most unwise to cry, it was ruination to their appearance.
— The Sweet Dove Died, chapter twenty-four
