I had been a cad, a scoundrel, first and last. Sofia had been courageous in her misfortune; she had never wished to be a burden on me; she had hidden nothing from me as regards her past; I had sworn that her past no longer mattered, and then I had beaten her nearly to death.

I use they/them pronouns.

Like the typical Udolphan landscape wherein morals are tried and in which natural laws seem to collapse, the retreat proves to be the place where Louise is tested most severely […]

COLD SLAUGH: Select firm, fragile heads of cabbage (no other kinds being suitable for slaugh) ...