“Is there nothing you want so desperately that you’d be willing to do anything in order to acquire it?”

“Have you ever wanted something so badly that you would do anything, believe anything in order to acquire it?”

“You must love her very much to be willing to do all this.” He twisted his head slightly and held her gaze. “I’m not doing anything for her that I’ve not done for her before.”

“Dreams were the stepping stones to glory.By pursuing them, he had attained a level of success that exceeded most men’s reach and acquired all that he had set out to gain: Land, cattle, and wealth beyond his highest expectations. Yet, desperation gnawed at him like a starving dog that had just discovered a buried bone, and as he gazed at the stars that blanketed the velvety sky, he felt as though he had achieved nothing.”

“They were bound together by the things they’d done. Things the nobility could never comprehend being desperate enough to do”

“How did you get in here?” Sterling asked, wishing his words didn’t sound quite so slurred. He was having more difficulty than usual bringing his shadowed world into focus. Damnation, why hadn’t he lit more lamps or poured himself fewer snifters of brandy?“Not important,” Jack Dodger said. “What is important is for you to realize that you can do nothing to keep us out if we decide we want in.”

“He was lying in bed with the woman he loved . . . a woman he couldn't make love to. He closed his eyes. More than any­thing in this world, he wanted this woman to be happy. He'd give her anything, do anything to make her happy. Even if it made his own life hell.”