“You're late,' he said.'I'm beautiful.''You're always beautiful.''I'm always late too.”

“I'm the Beast. You're the Beauty," he said. "It's all a story, isn't it?”

“Men's loyalty to their women dies hard - and almost always too late. ("I'm Dangerous Tonight")”

“Ah, Galen! Late as always, I see," Steldor said as he took note of his friend's entry into the room. "I'm never late," Galen returned. "You should know by now that the party doesn't begin until I'm here.”

“I have tried," I said, "but he does not believe me. It is too late for that now" (it is always too late for truth, I thought).”

“He pushed up a little, raising his head to look into her eyes. After a moment, weariness settled into his features. "It's too late regardless. I'm yours now."I'm yours. The beautiful opposite of what Peter White had said to her. You're mine now, he'd crowed, as if she were a purchased treat. The difference, it seemed, between a boy and a man. Just as Jude had promised.”