"Oh, no, the thing that's against nature is to love too much."
"One's own child?"
"Anyone, one's own child especially."
"He needs me."
"Look at him! Is he thinking of you? He would disown you for a crumb from my wife's hand."
Annette's fingers clenched on the tablecloth. . . . Ah, how she hated him! . . . He had seen her fingers. "I didn't create him just to give him up."
"You didn't create him at all," he replied. "Nature created him. She uses you and casts you aside afterward."
"I shall not let myself be cast aside."
"A battle, then?"
"A battle!"