His nurse had told him all about changelings, and how the little people would always try to steal a beautiful human child out of its cradle and put in its stead one of their own ailing, puking brats […]

[T]he primitive concept of the generative act was one of awe and worship, accorded to a force which was incomprehensible and baffling.

a deliberate opinion; a deliberate measure or result

The benevolence of her heart taught her, in this instance, to sophisticate.