And the laws are always there, Kelly, always there--fair or unfair, just or unjust--they are always there to govern the world that framed them.

And a woman disobeys them at her peril." She moved slightly in her chair and sat supporting her head on one pretty ringless hand.
"Yet," she said, "although a woman disobeys any law at her peril--laws which a man may often ignore with impunity--there is one law to which no woman should dare subscribe.

And it is sometimes known as 'The Common Law of Marriage.'" She sat silent for a while, her gaze never leaving his shadowy face.
"That is the only law--if it is truly a law--that a woman must ignore.
All others it is best for her to observe.

And if the laws of marriage are merely man-made or divine, I do not know.

There is a din in the world to-day which drowns the voices preaching old beliefs....