The poor girl blushed and ducked her head. Yes, Selena could see Aiden Trewlove delivering a kindness in the form of a bit of flattery to a shy lady with hopeful eyes who probably went without much kindness or flattery bestowed upon her. She’d had three Seasons already and would soon be relegated to the shelf.

“You give him too much credit, Duchess.” It seemed Lady Marrow would not be deterred from her opinion or prone to changing it. “As for the rumors, they are fact. They were born in sin, which makes them immoral.”

Although it wasn’t the first time she’d heard that argument, she had never truly embraced it. Nor had Lushing. He’d always believed in judging people based on their own merits. However now she had to wonder: If Aiden Trewlove fathered her babe, would the little one be immoral? Would the child be condemned to hell? Would Aiden’s sins pass through him to become the sins of her child? “I’ve never quite understood that reasoning. The sin should rest with the parents, surely. The child is innocent of any wrongdoing.”

“The loose morals are passed down through the blood. Sinners give birth to sinners. It is the very reason we have a hierarchy in the social order.”

“I doubt anyone in this room is without sin,” Lady Elverton said quietly, but her eyes still held a challenge. “Which would make the entire aristocracy immoral, would it not? If indeed we follow your logic, Lady Marrow, which I for one do not. I agree with the duchess. Regardless of the circumstances of their birth, babes are pure, without sin, without shame. They are innocence at its most basic. Tabula rasa I believe is how philosophers view it.”

The elderly matron sniffed. “I disagree. The Bible is quite clear. The sins of the father are visited—”

“Are the sins of the father,” Lady Elverton stated emphatically, and Selena wondered if she had indeed been the mistress of the earl and if she might have given him children before they were wed. If she had, where were they now?

Selena could fairly see steam escaping Lady Marrow’s ears as she opened her mouth—

“Lushing had such a forgiving nature that I think he would agree with Lady Elverton,” Selena said, feeling a need to defend those born on the wrong side of the blanket. “I daresay, should I be blessed with a child, I shall hope he inherits none of my sins.”