“I told you she had an inconsequent mind. That's putting it much too mildly. When it comes to anything like evidence, she hasn't really got a mind at all - she just dives into a sort of lumber-room and brings out odds and ends.”

“She was a little bit of a thing with a light untidy fluff of hair and a nose which went pink in moments of emotion. It was pink now and it quivered. She dabbed aimlessly at her hair and three of the remaining pins fell out. William stooped to pick them up, and wished he hadn't. He said he thought he would go to bed, and went.”

“Her name is Maud Silver. Louisa says she has solved many difficult cases besides being an extremely expert knitter.”

“Henry, for heaven's sake! You can't propose when I'm fainting!”

“If you could just see your face,” she told me. “You look like a cat in a bathtub.”

“Your woman tells me you will hunt me down and eat my marrow while I live.""Did she?" Charles looked at her, and she saw the approval in his face. She doubted anyone else would have read anything at all. His voice was a caress, just for her. "Would you like that, love?”

“When you put your hands and mind and heart into the knowing of a thing ... there is no room in you for fear.”