"Am I not?" Not for the first time does he wonder what arrangments Ms. Whitlock might be eager to wash her own hands of.

"One thing, your honor," he tries for whimsy but it falls flat. "I'm not ignorant of what I've put him through. I was once kept as a Pet, myself. Though I have ultimately failed, what I did to him, I did because I believed it would make life less painful for him than it was for me. If I must return home, I will try to make amends. I will try to conduct things differently."