" Mrs. Watson shook her head. “She had a difficult enough task ruling in her son’s stead. The last thing I wanted was to make her the subject of malicious rumors.”
“Which meant you would have had no recourse whatsoever, should things have gone awry. I have little interest in matrimony myself, but being a man’s wife does confer certain rights and powers upon a woman. And even his official mistress enjoys a number of benefits, not the least of which being the recognition of her position. "

― Sherry Thomas , The Art of Theft (Lady Sherlock, #4)