“He came down from the North to Paris with a mind like Aristotle's and a form like mortal sin. We shattered the Commandments on the spot.”

“Well, what family doesn't have its ups and downs?”

“Geoffrey: Why, you chivalric fool—as if the way one fell down mattered.Richard: When the fall is all there is, it matters.”

“I know. You know I know. I know you know I know. We know Henry knows, and Henry knows we know it. We're a knowledgeable family.”

“The Countess was considerably younger than her husband. All of her clothes came from Paris (this was after Paris) and she had superb taste. (This was after taste too, but only just. And since it was such a new thing, and since the Countess was the only lady in all Florin to posses it, is it any wonder she was the leading hostess in the land?)”

“I've snapped and plotted all my life. There's no other way to be a king, alive and fifty all at the same time. ”

“You never loved anyone who loved you back.”