When the inevitable news came that he would be born, the first choice that would determine the rest of his life was taken from him. His father was the kind of man who wanted sons, because daughters would pay for everything he had done to those who were already ghosts of a life of debauchery; so that he could speak of them as one might admire a dusty prize; and so that they could play the sport they were both good at, without either of them ending up ashamed. His mother was th