Julia Quinn

“He looks like a man.' 'How descriptive,' Susan said in a droll tone. 'Remind me never to advise you to seek work as a novelist.”

“You'll marry the earl and carry on with the nephew on the side.""Grandmother!”

“Dogs deserve proper names.""Cats, too?""Cats are entirely different. They catch mice.”

“I just -- I know my own heart and I love you, Turner. And if you have even the tiniest shred of decency, you'll say something because I've said everything I possibly can, and I can't bear the silence, and -- oh for heaven's sake! Will you at least blink?"He couldn't even manage that.”

“I've always thought that violet ribbons look especially nice with brown hair.”

“Full lips are better for kissing.”

“I'd wager you have a vengeful streak a mile wide," he muttered."I am the least vengeful person I know," she said with a sniff. "And if you think otherwise, then perhaps you ought not to marry me.""You're marrying me," he ground out, "if I have to drag you to the altar bound and gagged."Ellie smiled waspishly. "You could try," she taunted, "but in your condition you couldn't drag a flea.""And you say you're not vengeful.""I seem to be developing a taste for it.”

“I shall freckle.""That doesn't bother me," he said with a shrug."It bothers me!""Don't worry. They'll be on your own face, so you won't have to see them."Ellie gaped at him, astounded by his illogic.”

“I wanted to skewer her with a stare, flay her with a frown, impale her with a—I say, what are you doing?"Charles would have answered her, but he was laughing so hard he was doubled over.”

“Ellie had a feeling he thought she was exaggerating. "I am not jesting. Yesterday she presented me with two lists. The first consisted of chores I must perform in addition to those I already do.""What, did she have you cleaning out the chimney?" Charles teased."Yes!" Ellie burst out. "Yes, and it was not a joke!"”

“Somebody up there is deuced mad at me," she yelled, "and I want to know why!"The heavens opened in earnest and within seconds she was soaked to the skin."Remind me never to question Your purposes again," she muttered ungraciously, not sounding particularly like the God-fearing young lady her father had raised her to be. "Clearly You don't like to be second-guessed."Lightning streaked through the sky, followed by a booming clap of thunder. "Damn!" she grunted, her bonnet sagged against her eyes, blocking her vision. She yanked it off, looked at the sky, and yelled, "I am not amused!"More lightning."They are all against me," she muttered,"All of them." Her father, Sally Foxglove, Mr. Tibbett, whoever it was who controlled the weather—More thunder.”

“"What do you say, Miss Lyndon? Shall we have a go at it?"" 'Shall we have a go at it?' " Ellie choked out. Really, this was not the proposal of her dreams.”

“I believe I told you I am utterly serious. I never lie.""Now that is a clanker if ever I heard one." she retorted."Well, then, I never lie about anything important."Her hands found their way to her hips and she let out a loud, "Harumph.”

“Ellie fought the urge to stamp her foot. "I meant it this time. Do you accept my apology?""It appears," he said, raising his eyebrows, "that you might do me bodily harm if I do not.""Ungracious prig," she muttered. "I am trying to apologize.""And I," he said, "am trying to accept.”

“Your fangs are showing, Miss Lyndon.""Are they?" she asked, reaching up to touch her face. "I shall have to remember to retract them."Charles burst out laughing. "You, Miss Lyndon, are a treasure.""That's what I keep telling everyone," she said with a shrug and a wicked smile, "but no one seems to believe me.”

“Am I not allowed to speak in hyperbole?""Only," he said, a bit too smoothly, "if you are talking about me."Ellie's face slid into a smirk. "Oh, Charles," she exclaimed, "I feel as if we have known each other for a million years." Her tone grew more ironic. "I am that weary of your company.”

“Darling," he said distractedly,"about the moon...""Yes?""I don't think it matters whether you want it or not.""What are you talking about?" "The moon. I think it's yours."Victoria yawned, not bothering to open her eyes. "Fine. i'm glad to have it.""But--" Robert shook his head. He was growing fanciful. the moon didn't belong to his wife. It didn't follow her, protect her. It certainly didn't wink at anybody.But he stared out the window the rest of the way home, just in case”

“Happiness could be like a head cold. Or cholera.Catching.”

“Besides," he said breezily, "were it not for misunderstandings, we would be sadly lacking in great literature."She looked at him questioningly."Where would Romeo and Juliet be?""Alive.”

“Today I glory in my sixdom.""Sixdom?""Sixitude."Annabel started to grin."Sixulation," Louisa proclaimed.”

“You're charm can be terrifying.""I suppose if you put it that way I cannot help but be complimented.”

“But I wouldn't choose to spend time with them." Sebastian considered this, "Especially my father. As he's dead.”

“I like my parents," Olivia said.Sebastian shook his head, "A concept so alien I think it must be unpatriotic.”

“I miss my dog."..."What was his name again?""Mouse.""That was very unkind of you.""Naming him mouse?""Isn't he a greyhound?""I could have named hum Turtle.""Frederick!"..."It's better than Frederic," Annabel said, "Good heavens, that's my brother's name.”

“Sebastian Grey.The worrds rang like a miserable moan in her head. On the list of men she ought not to be kissing, he had to rank at the top, along with the King, Lord Liverpool, and the chimney sweep.”

“When the dead body said, "Good evening," Annabel had to face the grim conclusion that it wasn't as dead as she'd hoped.”

“I'm not sure what it means."Grace frowned. "I don't think I do either.""It sounds bad, though.""Sodding bad." Grace said with a smile, and she patted Amelia's hand.Amelia sighed. "A dammed shame."We are repeating ourselves." Grace pointed out."I know." Amelia said, but with a fair bit of feeling. "But whose fault is ut? Not ours. We've been far too sheltered.""Now that," Grace announced with a flair, "really is a dammed shame!""A bloody inconvenience, if you ask me.”

“It's still horrible. The whole thing.""Dreadful," Grace agreed.Amelia turned and looked at her directly. "Sodding bad."Grace gasped, "Amelia!"Amelia's face wrinkled in thought. "Did I use that correctly?""I wouldn't know.""Oh, come now, don't tell me you haven't thought something just as unladylike.""I wouldn't say it."The look Amelia gave her was clear as a dare. "But you thought it."Grace felt her lips twitch. "It's a dammed shame.""A bloody inconvenience, if you ask me.”

“Five years with the dowager - Good God, she ought to be given a title in her own right as a penance for such as that. No one had done more for England.”

“Grace-" He scowled, then laughed. "What the devil is your middle name?""Catriona." she whispered."Grace Catriona Eversleigh," he said, loud and sure, "I love you.”

“She was so beautiful it made her teeth ache.He made a mental note not to attempt poetry.”

“Until you've lived through all that," he said, "don't you ever complain about what we have. Because to me... to me..." He choked on the words, but he barely paused before he continued. "This - us - is heaven. I can't bear to hear you say otherwise.”

“He leaned down and whispered, “I love you,” in Honoria’s ear.Just because he wanted to.She didn’t look up, but she smiled.And he smiled, too”

“Las mujeres", explicó con paciencia, "se dedican desde los dieciocho a los veintiún años a afinar sus habilidades sociales. Y cuando piensan que están listas, salen al mundo, asisten a unos bailes, pestañean con coquetería y sonríen seductoramente, y atrapan a un marido. Cuanto más encumbrado sea el título y más dinero tenga, mejor. Y la mitad del tiempo, el pobre desgraciado, ni siquiera sabe cómo ha sucedido.”

“You should do that more often,” he said. “Laugh, I mean.”“I know.” But that sounded sad, and she didn’t want to be sad, so she added, “I don’t often get to torture grown men, though.”“Really?” he murmured. “I would think you do it all the time.”She looked at him.“When you walk into a room,” he said softly, “the air changes.”

“What part of his being hunched over a sheaf of papers was sointeresting to her? Because that was all he had been doing all week.Perhaps he ought to liven up the spectacle. Really, it would be the kind thing to do. She had tobe bored silly.He could jump on his desk and sing.Take a bite of food and pretend to choke. What would she do, then?Now that would be an interesting moral dilemma.”

“No one said we had to spend every waking moment together, but at the end of the day and most of the time during, there is no one I would rather see, no one whose voice I would rather hear, and no one whose mind I would rather explore. I love you, Hyacinth Bridgerton. And I always will.”

“You’re going to be my grandmother.”“You silly child. In my heart, I’ve been your grandmother for years. I’ve just been waiting for you to make it official.”

“Gareth?” Hyacinth said softly.He turned to her, wondering how long he’d been standing there, pondering his options. “Hyacinth,” he said.She looked at him expectantly.“Hyacinth,” he said again, this time with a bit more certitude. He smiled, letting his eyes melt into hers. “Hyacinth.”“We know her name,” came his grandmother’s voice.Gareth ignored her and pushed a table aside so that he could drop to one knee. “Hyacinth,” he said, relishing her gasp as he took her hand in his, “would you do me the very great honor of becoming my wife?”Her eyes widened, then misted, and her lips, which he’d been kissing so deliciously mere hours earlier, began to quiver. “I…I…”It was unlike her to be so without words, and he was enjoying it, especially the show of emotion on her face.“I…I…”“Yes!” his grandmother finally yelled. “Yes! She’ll marry you!”“She can speak for herself,” he said.“No,” Lady D said, “she can’t. Quite obviously.”

“‘If you want to know if a gentleman loves you,’ her mother said, ‘there is only one true way to be sure.’”Lady Danbury leaned forward. Even Hyacinth leaned forward, and she was holding the book.“‘It’s in his kiss,’ her mother whispered. ‘It’s all there, in his kiss.’”

“I would give the world to have one more person for whom I would lay down my life.”

“Daphne felt something wild and wicked take hold. “Let’s walk in the garden,” she said softly.“We can’t.”“We must.”“We can’t.”

“Happy endings are all I can do. I wouldn't know how to write anything else.”

“Just be quiet and accept the praise.”

“You are not going to waltz in here and distract me with a clever phrase and a beguiling smile.""You think my smile is beguiling?”

“Do I look like a mess?” she asked.He nodded. “But you’re my mess,” he whispered.”

“Hyacinth,” Lady Bridgerton said in a vaguely disapproving voice, “do try to speak in complete sentences.”Hyacinth looked at her mother with a surprised expression. “Biscuits. Are. Good.” She cocked her head to the side. “Noun. Verb. Adjective.”“Hyacinth.”“Noun. Verb. Adjective.” Colin said, wiping a crumb from his grinning face. “Sentence. Is. Correct.”

“I--" She swallowed, perhaps summoning her courage, then continued, "I would not lie to you and say that I did not want this.""Me," he cut in peevishly. "You wanted me."She closed her eyes. “Yes,” she finally said, “I wanted you.”Part of him wanted to interrupt again, to remind her that she still wanted him, that it wasn’t and would never be in the past.“But I can’t have you,” she said quietly, “and because of that, you can’t have me.”And then, to his complete astonishment, he asked, “What if I married you?”

“I want you. I want you now, in every way a man can want a woman.”

“All I really need,” he continued, “is for you to act as a deterrent.”“A deterrent?” she choked out.“A human shield, if you will.”“What?”“I cannot be left alone with that woman,” he said, and he felt no remorse at the low desperation in his voice. “Please, if you have any care for your fellow man.”Her lips clamped together in a suspicious line. “I’m not certain what I get out of the equation.”“You mean besides the joy of my delightful company?”“Yes,” she said, with an impressive lack of inflection, “besides that.”