“When he entered after her, she saw that he meant to come straight to her, and she raised a hand. "No," she said. "Wait."His footsteps halted. He had always listened to her, hadn't he? Had always heard her."-Emma and Julian”

“I'm here," he said into her ear, as the tears came faster. "Emma, I'm here with you now. Listen to me: I will always be here."Always, she thought. He said "always," but he had forgotten to say finally. Finally you are here. Thank God, finally at last.”

“You came for me,” she whispered.His hand wound through her hair, cradling her. “I will always come for you,” he said.”

“She had always loved him, after all. And perhaps he knew it. Perhaps he saw more than she had suspected. And despite it, he did not look away.”

“After a long moment, the Countess sat back down. "So," she said. "You … do love her. I must say, you look peculiarly resigned to it."He shrugged. "It is not fresh news for me.""And for Emma?""Neither welcomed nor openly acknowledged.""But acknowledged all the same, you believe.""Perhaps," he said. "I cannot know. Not anymore."-Delphinia, Lady Chad and Julian”

“She had told herself she should be reassured by his squeamishness; a man who balked at scars would not give her new ones. Now she suddenly wondered if she’d had it wrong. A man without scars would always underestimate their value. He would not see them as marks of courage.”

“Alex understood such discipline. He knew the rarity of it, and the cost. And on the rare occasions when he happened to touch her, he did wonder what else she might have been, if she had not been so determined to be typical.”