Ben looked from Elijah to Alice as Elijah slipped her arm off her shoulder, and squinted his eyes slightly. Then he sat back and shook his head. "As if there's not enough orphans in t' world. You yourself have seen what it was like when t' bairn was dropped on your doorstep. In our community we don't do that sort of thing. We don't cast off one of our own, just because it's convenient."