“His handsome face is suffused with rage. He stands before me shaking, then to my disgust, bursts into noisy tears; "I shall tell my mother of you!" he sobs and crashes out of the chamber”

“I steel myself to ignore his taunts and his coarse language. I no longer care what he says or does. It doesn't matter anymore. I am detached, contained in my own private world where he cannot reach me. It is my last refuge.”

“If only they would all just leave me alone with my books and my letters, I would be content to let life, and the world pass me by”

“I prefer to be left alone with my books.”

“My lady, for your virtue and goodness, God would receive you in rags.”

“The Burgundian chronicler Philippe de Commines thought the English a choleric, earthy, and volatile people, who nevertheless made good, brave soldiers. In fact he regarded their warlike inclinations as one of the chief causes of the Wars of the Roses. If they could not fight the French, he believed, they fought each other.”

“But I wish you to know that, were I just Edward and you just Jane, I would prefer to marry you. We accord well together, and have similar views… Kings cannot make their own choices. I wished you to know that”