“And in her underthings, no less!" Murder was less scandalous than my corset and pantalettes. She sniffed. "Like mother, like daughter.”

“She preferred her men less intense and less—well, just less. What she was looking for was control. This man wasn’t tame enough for her liking.”

“Lena felt like a child. Worse than a child and less valuable. She felt like a mouse. No, smaller than a mouse and less alive. Her life seemed so small and crumpled you could shoot it through a straw like a spitball.”

“She was like a mother to me...and I betrayed as a daughter will betray her mother and yet, never stop loving her.”

“There was a certain power beautiful mothers held over their less beautiful daughters.”

“But the observers were even more surprised by her thigh boots, black breeches, and the red leather corset she wore over a white shirt. It was a daring outfit, to say the least... She also wore a sword and rode her horse like a man. It was scandalous... Page 37 of ARC”