I refuse to go along with another of his dangerous schemes.

… he took every precaution that the venereal diſorder ſhould not be communicated to theſe happy, unoffending people; but it appears … that ſome ungenerous Frenchman was baſe enough to plant this dreadful malady, in a country where … it is more likely to ſpread than in any other part of the world, on account of the extreme attachment of the inhabitants to the Cytherean ſports.

“Just the tiniest thimbleful for me,” Annie said, overplaying it, I thought, since she lived on vodka.

A man who is getting ahead tends to seek a lighter mate, and because “a good man is hard to find,” it would be difficult for a lightskin girl consistently to reject darker people. A darker man who offers security, through social position and other advantages, may well be preferred to a lightskin man of little enterprise.