[Dorian is shocked and offended on her behalf. He mutes it as much as he can, having been somewhat tempered by experience in society, but it is still a terrible thing.] It is a bitter thing when family itself betrays the blood. I wonder sometimes if—if perhaps—[Here, he is a frightened game animal. He doesn't know if he has a right to continue.] Don't you think at times that perhaps it . . . it is one's found bonds, more than one's familial bonds, that you can rely on yo support you?

[He rushes to retraction once his moment of bravery is over.] Not, of course, that one can't rely on family to see one through to the end, merely that—that is, family cannot be overvalued. Only that even royal bloodlines have dissent between veins. If you understand what I mean.