The shaking, besotted, bitterly betrayed woman whom he had just left would not be safe left alone with Culpepper. In her savage desire for retribution against a man who had promised her marriage and children she would damage herself and her prospects beyond repair.
-- Strike discussing Lord Parker's mistress (Chapter 1)

Importance: The rich and powerful frequently inflict such pain and suffering upon those they think of as lesser mortals that the victims lash out in all directions, destroying themselves while barely touching the object of their outrage. Strike does well to protect his client from herself.

They boil them [silkworms]," said Robin. "Boil them alive so that they don't damage their cocoons by bursting out of them. It's the cocoons that are made of silk. Not very nice really, is it?
-- Robin (Chapter 7)

Importance: Jerry tells Strike that Quine told him "that the silkworm was a metaphor for the writer who has to go through agonies to get at the...