“You have to love someone completely to be willing to destroy them.”

“I think people are much the same wherever you go. Some of them good, some of them clever, and some of them with the devil in them.”

“I sat down and put my fingertips to my temples, rubbing hard. “We have one fallen tree, one destroyed Rookery, one delusional butler and no good brandy. Is that what you are telling me?” “And the cook’s down with piles and more than half the staff are suffering from catarrh,” she added maliciously.I looked to Brisbane, who was smiling broadly. “God bless us, everyone,” he said, spreading his arms wide.”

“The other travellers do seem to have given us a wide berth,” I admitted.“Can you blame them?” He surveyed our possessions, and I found myself smiling as well.“Not precisely a partridge in a pear tree...”“But we have a raven in a cage, a lurcher on a lead, a Siamese in a basket, and a dormouse in your décolletage. We are a travelling circus.”

“I stepped closer still. He closed his eyes again and covered my hand with his own. 'You smell of violets. You always smell of violets,' he said. 'You've no idea how many times I have walked these moors and smelled them and thought you were near. On and on I walked, following the scent of you, and you were never there. When I saw you in the hall tonight, I thought I had finally gone mad.”

“....Only you mattered in that moment. Only you. And I would have done anything to save you. I would have paid any price committed any sin sold my very soul to do it.”

“You are curious and quick, you have a deft mind, and for some unaccountable reason, people tell you things -- useful things.”