“They were all dressed in their finest as though life really were some magical stage play in which every moment ought to be illuminated with its own bright spotlight.”

“But in that moment she realized how false most smiles were and what a tremendous waste of time.”

“She was full of some strange energy that morning. Her every movement had purpose and life and she seemed to find satisfaction in every little thing.”

“Elizabeth who was only partially visible to her stared out the window very much awake as though she were contemplating the end of man.”

“That was how the heroine of a book would play it and Diana was still writing her own story the best heroines she'd always believed took their fate into their own hands.”

“They were a society whose chief vocations were to entertain and be entertained ...”

“How she wished she had Elizabeth to herself for a little so they could discuss what Henry's real intentions were and also how high and mighty Penelope had acted at lunch and what a tremendous insult it was that she'd come at all and did anyone really think she was beautiful with those oversize features anyway.”