“It was funny, he reflected later, how one’s life could alter in aninstant, how oneminute everything could be a certain way, and the next it’s simply ... not”

“He always smelled like warm wood and brandy, even when he hadn't had a drop of drink. Funny how he managed that. Funny how his smell was in her bed.Henry's eyelids fluttered open.Funny how he was in her bed.”

“He ought to buy her a new dress. She would never accept it, of course, but maybe if her current garments were accidentally burned......But how could he manage to burn her dress? She’d have to not be wearing it, and that posed a certain challenge in and of itself...”

“You don't understand how fragile life is. You don't realize that the thread breaks between one moment and the next.”

“But he wanted to smile. He would have done, if he'd been able. Surely that had to be the most important thing.The jabbing at his leg stopped for a bit, then started up again. Then there was a lovely, short pause, and then-Damn, that hurt.But not enough to cry out. Although he might have moaned. He wasn't sure. They'd poured hot water on him. Lots of it. He wondered if they were trying to poach his leg.Boiled meat. How terribly British of them.He chuckled. He was funny. Who knew he was so funny?"Oh, my God!" he heard Honoria yell. "What did I do to him?"He laughed some more. Because she sounded ridiculous.Almost as if she were speaking through a foghorn.Oooorrrrhhhh myyy Grrrrrrrrrd.He wondered if she could hear it,too.Wait a moment..Honoria was asking what she'd done to him?Did that mean she was wielding the scissors now?He wasn't sure how he ought to feel about this.On the other hand...boiled meat!He laughed again,deciding he didn't care.God,he was funny.How was it possible no one had ever told him he was funny before?”

“Something she knew she did not have the right to ask him about. But she wished—oh, how shewished—that when he was ready to face his fears, she could be the one to help him.”

“It was so strange how someone could love another person so much and so well but still not understand what made her happy.”