“You can get lost, pretending to be someone you’re not.”

“If you leave within the hour, you can make it by nightfall. With this rain, I wouldn't wait longer. The stream is close to covering the bridge already."Sophia had to smile. "Anxious to get rid of me?""Aye.I'm tried of seeing your long face over the breakfast table."She laughed a little. "Red,I don't understand. Why are you so insistent about this?""Because if anyone knows the cost of lost opportunities, it's me. Sometimes you have to grab life by the horns and ride it,even if it tries to throw you. I don't want to see you spending the rest of your life wincing every time you say this man's name.”

“But that’s what happens when you allow a nice person to write a news paper serial for you; now the world thinks you’re nice, too, which is silly in the extreme. Sadly, it’s a burden that you must bear.”

“By Ra, you’re an impertinent, saucy—” “Careful, Hurst. We just kissed, so according to you, I shall now interpret every thing you say in a very negative manner and might burst into tears and run shrieking off to a convent.”

“Every time they lost their tempers, storms would gather.""That could be a boon in dry weather.”

“He couldn't have eaten that horrid soup!""He did,and he even pretended to like it.""Pretended?""No one could have liked that meal." She wrinkled her nose. "Mary was mortified.""Mary can be mortified all she wishes; we can't have MacLean da-"Sophia slipped the spoon into his mouth and dumped the contents.Red choked, his face contorting, and he looked around wildly."Do not spit that out."He glared at her, and after what appeared and sounded like a heroic effort, he swallowed the laudanum. "Blech! There! I hope ye're happy!" He grabbed up a hand cloth and began rubbing his tongue vigorously. She calmly replaced the spoon and recorked the bottle. "As I was saying, MacLean swore that he liked every dish at dinner, even the turnips. They were so hard it almost broke my knife to cut one.""Hm.That's very odd,it is.”

“It's funny how many little things you get used to - attached to, even - and never realize until you travel abroad and those things are not available.”