Aristocrats came in several different varieties, but it was a belief shared by all that whenever they conceived a desire that conception was intimately conjoined to a conviction of entitlement — that is, whatever they wanted they deserved…. Anything that he desired, be it a morsel on a tablemate’s dish or another peer’s spouse, immediately became… his. The original owner’s continued possession of the item was from then on tantamount to theft.from “Quartet and Triptych” by Matthew Hughes
