<em>"Feel better after that?  Hope so"</em><br/><br/>"Actually yes," the matron muttered softly as Doxi asked that.<br/><br/>"As to my daughter," the Matron continued, "If she were a skilled whore, that would be one thing.  But as much as I love my daughter, she's ... well..."<br/><br/>Matron Serra shook her head, "She's my daughter, I shouldn't speak of her with ill words and thoughts, especially not to a stranger."  Then her voice changed slightly and Doxi could hear a hint of mirth in it as she said, "Especially not to a vile and base pirate who's taken me captive, and threatened to throw us to our deaths if we don't obey."<br/><br/>A small chuckle preceeded the next, "But Vera, as much as I love her, would never have been a capable leader for our house.  Some people are born to lead, others to follow.  What I am, my daughter is not.  So my hope was to find a good man who would love her and keep the house up.  Now with her reputation, I'm sure I could find her a husband, but the choices wouldn't be what I'd hope for.   A good and respectable nobleman who could run the house.  The fault doesn't lie with my view of her abilities, but in the way men, noble men at least, look at women like Vera.  She's not much better than a whore at this point."<br/><br/><br/>She sighed and after a short period of silence she answered Doxi's question, "I'll have you know I do plenty of things for fun."