“Humanity, I’m sure I do not have to tell Your Grace, is a strange animal.”

“Who do you think keeps this country safe so you can sleep at night?”“I don’t sleep most nights. And to be honest, Your Grace, I don’t feel all that safe.”

“It seemed humans, the scientifically minded ones at least, were either tempting death or trying to prolong life. Surely that was an indication of madness.”

“What I want from you,” he said, and Finley braced herself, “is your trust. Irrevocable and unshakable. I want you to put your life in my hands, and I want to be able to do the same without hesitation.” Disturbed to her very soul, Finley could only shake her head. “You ask too much.” Put his life in her hands? He was deranged! A bedlamite for certain. A crooked grin curved his mouth. “Too much? You strange and wonderful girl, that is the least I’ll ask of you.”

“What would I do without you to give me clarity?""I imagine you'd suffocate yourself by shoving your head too far up your own backside.”

“Just smashing for a girl's confidence, that was. Nothing like having a bloke's attention wander when you were doing your best to divert him.”

“I cannot tell my heart what to feel.”