“You have done well, Katie,” Frau Gerlach said. “You would make a fine midwife someday, if you ever wished to learn.”I cast my eyes down, exhausted and shy and afraid and proud all at once. “All I have managed so far is to be a midwife to the puppies.”She reached out to pat my cheek with a bloody hand. “God smiles on those who quietly do his dirty work, my girl.”

“God smiles on those who quietly do his dirty work, my girl.”

“Well now, I'd rather have you than a dozen boys, Anne,' said Matthew patting her hand. 'Just mind you that — rather than a dozen boys. Well now, I guess it wasn't a boy that took the Avery scholarship, was it? It was a girl — my girl — my girl that I'm proud of.”

“Madame Lefoux acted as midwife. In her scientific way, she was unexpectedly adept at the job. When the infant finally appeared, she held it up for Alexia to see, rather proudly, as though she'd done all the hard work herself. 'Goodness,' said an exhausted Lady Maccon, 'are babies customarily that repulsive looking?”

“Artemis smiled. "You have done well, my lieutenant. You have made me proud, and all those Hunters who perished in my service will never be forgotten. They will achieve Elysium, I am sure."She glared pointedly at Hades.He shrugged. "Probably."Artemis glared at him some more.Okay," Hades grumbled. "I'll streamline their application process.”

“I want the brand gone, Cecile," Lesharo said quietly. “I have no wish to have Ducharme’s mark on me. If you will not permit Pierre to do this, will you do it?”“Ducharme said I should put my own mark on you,” she recalled, turning her face away at the memory. “I cannot do what he did.”“His mark is the mark of a pani, set upon me by a man who was less than an animal. I would proudly bear the scar you gave me, for it will be something done to me in friendship.”