“There were a lot of things in life to be afraid of, but strangeness ought not be among them.”

“There were rules among friends, commandments, really, and the most important one was Thou Shalt Not Lust After Thy Friend's Sister.”

“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...”

“He wasn’t sure how he ought to feel about this. On the other hand . . . boiled meat!”

“And then what would she say? I just told your brother that I love him, and I'm afraid that he hates me? I can't be alone with Turner because I'm afraid he might ravish me? I can't be alone with Turner because I'm afraid I might ravish him.”

“This thing between them, this bond—it wasn’t just passion,and it wasn’t wicked.It was love, and it was divine.”

“Five years with the dowager - Good God, she ought to be given a title in her own right as a penance for such as that. No one had done more for England.”