“Don't rehearse your problems, Dad always said. Meaning, we were only supposed to go through our problems when they were actually upon us.”

“And what of your children?" I gestured to the others at the table. "The only thing that divides us from that laborer who toils far beneath the surface of the earth in our fathers' mines is the blood that runs through our veins.""Or half our blood," Vivian said with a sniff."Vivian,"Mr Kensington warned.I didn't flinch. "Half my blood, then," I said with a prim nod back at Vivian. "But if I cut open my wrist alongside yours, would it not appear as the very same red? Despite your effort to be a blueblood, sister, you are as red-blooded as I.”

“Our faces were overly close, and in that moment something more passed between us. I’d never felt this kind of thing with a guy – such a connection. I knew, in my head, that we were practically strangers; but this thing – whatever it was – made me feel known. Seen. Acknowledged and appreciated and admired.”

“God," she said, her tone gently reproving, "brought Mr.Kensington to you, and with him, a world of potential. As I see it, each of our lives is a journey, Miss Cora. A path that takes us over the mountain or down through a dark valley. But He never abandons us. Never. That is how He cares for us - walking with us every step of the way.”

“Were they laughing at me? I forced myself to block them from my mind, to concentrate on the lake, the water. What were they to me? People I met today, that was all. We shared blood. The One who mattered to me still found me worthy, still loved me, whether I knew when to curtsy properly or not.”

“God calls us to life, to love, to healing. We merely have to find our way home.”

“And sometimes, God asks us to wrestle with the unfamiliar until it becomes our new familiar. Until we can breathe freely in that new place.”