“Somewhere after the dinner was served and before the cake was cut, Isabella lost Ben. Everyone at their table was up dancing and mingling. Isabella sat there and drank wine. She felt like a fool.”

“The fights they had now were much worse. Isabella had never fought like this with anyone before. With Ben, she had all-out, drunken marathon fights that lasted for hours. She was sure the neighbors thought they were crazy.”

“I've never been on a date before," Isabella said to Mary as she got ready that night. "You've been on plenty of dates," Mary said. "No," Isabella said. "I've been out to eat with boys who were my boyfriend, but that's not dating. That's just parelle eating.”

“poor Isabella;—which poor Isabella, passing her life with those she doated on, full of their merits, blind to their faults, and always innocently busy, might have been a model of right feminine happiness.”

“Pirate queens never trip. -Isabella Weston”

“DINNER went off without a hitch up until the part where people actually sat down at the table and began to eat. After that it went horribly wrong.”