“But how am I to live in the meantime?' I wailed.'Tis for you to decide,' he said. 'You can be her enemy and make yourself miserable by it, or you can endure it. If 'twere me, I'd choose endurance.”

“He was so much in love with me that I could have asked him for the moon and stars, and he would have gathered them for me.”

“If I must die, then I will die boldly, as I have lived.”

“In difficult times bring to mind my words and the sound of my voice. In that way, I shall always be present for you.”

“I loved her – my enemy – by choosing to not make her a substitute god to which I offered too many waking thoughts – bitter, acrimonious – as if they were a prayer.”

“You want to know why I love you. You brought light into my formerly gray existence.” He touched her cheek. “Until you, I never knew a woman could be both friend and lover. You saved me from the dark. I love you for what you are; strong and brave and kind. When I walk into a room and you are there, my heart lifts. When I’m away, just thinking of you makes me smile. Being with you makes me happy. No one else has ever done that. When I am with you, I am whole. Better than whole, for on my own, I’m a worthless fool.”

“Love overcame reason...I had rather beg my bread with him than to be the greatest queen christened.”