“Some men there were who know how to look at a lady, and make her feel she'd been seen. Or perhaps there was no question of knowing how. Some men just looked at ladies that way. [...] Tell me what absorbs you so, such a man might say. I wonder at your thoughts. He might even guess. It's to do with cards, isn't it?”

“With all the insolence she swallowed, it was a wonder her corsets still laced. Retort after rejoinder after sharp-edged remark: Why do you address me? What can I possibly have to say to a man who would split a pair of fives? Be quiet. Go to sleep. Go away. Come back when you have another erection.”

“How could he claim to love her, when he did not love what was essential in her?”

“Honor is the best part of you, Will Blackshear. And I don't make that pronoucement lightly. No woman could, who's ever seen you naked.”

“I've never asked you to give the least considerations to my feelings." He could picture her holding the word with fingertips at arm's length, like a scullery maid disposing of a dead rat.”

“I love you for your quickness and your brokenness and your sharp edges too.”

“Love makes us all do unaccountable things.”