“The face staring back at me isn't beautiful but she isn't something that would scare the horses, either.”

“You know, people, just being beautiful isn't enough." Tiara looked confused. "But... it always has been.”

“It isn't the bloody weather!"I've shocked them into silence. I should stop. Apologize for my outburst. Make amends. Blame the climate. But I cannot. Something in me has given way and it cannot be put back again. "Did you know that he had returned to the laudanum? That he couldn't give it up? That our good intentions were not nearly so powerful as his will to die?... No, Thomas. Is this the life you want for me? To be like you? To wear blinders and talk of nothing that matters and drink weak tea with other people who would do anything to hide the truth, especially from themselves?”

“They don't know what they're in for at Spence, getting me, a ghost of a girl who'll nod and smile and take her tea but who isn't really here.”

“They see her differently now, as somebody. And isn't that what everyone wants? To be seen?”

“It isn't that we do what we want. It's that we're allowed to want at all.”

“Kartik places a sovereign in the lady's cup, and I know that it's likely all he has."Why did you do that?" I ask.He kicks a rock on the ground, balancing it nimbly between his feet like a ball. "She needed it."Father says it isn't good to give money to beggers. They'll only spend it unwisely on drink or other pleasures. "She might buy ale with it."He shrugs. "Then she'll have ale. It isn't the pound that matters; it's the hope...I know what it's like to fight for things that others take for granted.”