Elsie hated to ask for time off.
"To hand a prostitute onto her train?" Carson scoffed.
"She's an honest woman now, with a good reference. You work alongside Thomas."
"Ethel is different."
"Why's Ethel different?" Elsie asked.
"I'd never be like Thomas."
"But I'd be like Ethel?"
"Any woman might, given the wrong circumstances. Women are so –" he searched for the word, "—vulnerable."
"That scares you?"
"I can't protect the girls under this roof."
"No, but you can wish them well after."
Charles bent to his ledgers, hiding his surrender. "Go. Wish her well. In my name, too."