Humility, she'd called it. He'd told the Baronesse that he was "monsieur", not "Sargent", off-duty, and she'd mistaken it for humility.
Dorian preferred to think of it as realism. That power wasn't his; didn't derive from any personal authority. It was extended to him by an institution, an entity of many individuals that formed this organ of the Council of Brilliance. It was the Council's power, and what the Council giveth, the Council could taketh away. He called himself "monsieur" off-duty because he never, ever wanted to forget that...
Which is not to say he was powerless without his rank. But he wouldn't use his power like Arielle de Bellavance did, screaming useless fury into a hurricane. That path might be more honest; but what would it serve? Whom would it serve?
His mother had loved, and lost; it had broken her. He had lost much, in a short time, as well. Yet he still had hope. He had always been the dutiful son, and as ever, he obeyed her final command.
There is power to devotion; and that power, at least, is his.