“But there was something so admirable about her innocence that he would not insult her by tarnishing it.”

“That had been an odd meeting, but reassuring. She need no longer fear the earl-at lest not for his hostility to her father. What danger he might be to her heart was another matter entirely.”

“Will watched her go with regret. His attraction to the dark-haired lady with her execrable embroidery had taken him by surprise. She'd been laughing at his brothers - that was what had done it. Her eyes had sparkled with humor, her smiling lips just begging for a kiss.”

“Handsome young men or books? Hmm. The handsome men win every time”

“My thoughts are wing'd with hopes,My hopes with love.Thoughts, hopes and love return to me no more,Until Cynthia shine as she hath done before.”

“I will only be offended if you refuse to kiss me again, as then I'll be convinced I'm a failure at it.”

“She's everything I want: the key to my lock, the arrow to my bow - oh, and ten thousand other such pathetic poetic tropes, none of which comes close to describing what she means to me.”