“Sometimes the measure of a person can only be gleaned through his interactions with others.”

“Marietta is good for you, Gabriel. I quite like her. Don't be a fool and let her go.""I can do nothing but let her go, John. Sometimes love can only be given by setting someone free.”

“Shetouched his hand, and he went stock-still. Sheleaned over to examine it, the top of her headbrushing beneath his nose. Only his suddenimmobility stopped him from violently pulling away.“From the candles?” Had she bathed in bloodyhoney?”

“He had little respect for anyone who was not willing to put in the effort required to survive and thrive. Not everyone needed the same driving ambition that had fueled him. That had led him to being possibly the richest man in London without a title in his lineage -- all earned in under a decade. That had given him the power to change lives. But a person needed to have the drive to change his own life.”

“Sometimes the world is better off if one always defaults to option number two.”

“But it had always been that smile. Not her positionas Henry Wilcox’s possible wife nor the possibilitythat he could take his enemies down by manipulatingher family. Those hadn’t been the things that haddriven him when it came to his feelings for her.It had been that smile. Through the shadows of thetheater that first night. When their eyes had met. Shehad smiled. Simply. Warmly. Looking directly at him,unaware that she should be afraid.”

“Sometimes one appears to have more freedom than one actually possesses. It is easy to see what one wishes to see.”