“She [Madame Duvall] seems desirious to repair the wrongs she has done, yet wishes the world to believe her blameless.”

“She has failed. She wishes she didn't mind. Something, she thinks, is wrong with her.”

“Here I should like to remark, for the sake of princes and princesses in general, that it is a low and contemptible thing to refuse to confess a fault, or even an error. If a true princess has done wrong, she is always uneasy until she has had an opportunity of throwing the wrongness away from her by saying: 'I did it; and I wish I had not; and I am sorry for having done it.”

“What arguments, what persuasions can I make use of, with any prospect of success, to such a woman as Madame Duval? ...She is too ignorant for instruction, too obstinate for entreaty, and too weak for reason.”

“She hadn't lied. She hadn't betrayed anyone's trust; still, she felt she had done something wrong. Or rather, she had not yet done the right thing. Was there a difference between these two sins?”

“You are so fierce," she whispered. Yet for her. hebled. He, who'd sworn he wouldn't cross Noir, had done so. Not just because Noir had threatened him. She didn't believe that. From the very beginning, he'd protected her in a way few people had. Jericho hated the world, yet he'd been her self-appointed guardian.”