"I don't know how honourable they were, but I've never heard of any actual criminals among them."
"That's a great deal." He dropped one lean, well-shaped hand on the arm of his chair. The cigarette burned between his pendant fingers, spicing the air with its aromatic scent.
"It's a great deal to have a clean family record," he said again. "It is the greatest thing in the world—the most desirable.... The other makes existence superfluous."
"You mean dishonour?"
"Yes. The stain spreads. You can't stop it. It taints the generations that follow. They can't escape."
"That's nonsense," said Cleland. "Because a man had a crook for a forebear he isn't a crook himself."
"No. But the stain is in his heart and brain."
"That's morbid!"
"Maybe.... But, Cleland, there are people whose most intense desire is to be respectable. It is a ruling passion, inherent, unreasoning, vital to their happiness and peace of mind. Did you know that?"
"I suppose I can imagine such a person."