“every dream she had ever had, like delicious fruits, and then left her alone to discover that every one was poisoned.”

“He twirled one coppery lock around his finger, and that seemed to rouse her from her stunned silence."Stop that," she whispered, a troubled expression crossing her face."Why?" he smoothed her hair down over one shoulder, thinking that she had the creamiest skin he'd ever seen, skin that was just begging to be touched. She gasped when he stroked one finger up along the curved contours of her neck. "It's not..proper," she said.That made him smile. "Proper? We crossed the line from proper to improper right after you left the Chastity. You're on a pirate ship, remember? You're alone in a cabin with a notorious pirate captain..you've lost your proper little cap..and I'm about to kiss you."As soon as he'd said the words, he knew they were a mistake-and not because of the outrage that filled her face. It would be dangerous to kiss her. She wasn't the woman for him.But he had to taste her once, just a little taste. So before a protest could even leave her lips, he brought his mouth down to hers.”

“You don't appreciate a lot of stuff in school until you get older. Little things like being spanked every day by a middle-aged woman: Stuff you pay good money for in later life.”

“What are you doing here?" she asked."You forgot something when you left Halstead Hall," he said hoarsely."What?"Her heart lept into her throat as he strode purposefully toward her. "Me.”

“No one had ever told them they were worth saving, and they were taught to believe they were forever lost to a world of thievery, prostitution and murder. But it wasn’t true. They were capable of more. She could tell from the way some of them helped each other, the way others sat down at once to begin sewing, the way Ann took aside one of the little boys and patiently showed him how to pick a pocket—”

“Advising Mrs. Harris was the least I could do," David said smoothly. "After all, she was the one who brought me and my late wife together."That was stretching it a bit, since all Charlotte had done was give Sarah lessons in how to avoid fortune hunters, thus ensuring that the recalcitrant girl went right out and married the first one who approached her.”

“To stop Maria before she ruined everything, he grabbed her about the waist, hauled her against him, and sealed his mouth to hers. At first she seemed too stunned to do anything. When after a moment, he felt her trying to draw back from him, he caught her behind the neck with an iron grip."Oh," Gran said in a stiff voice. "Beg pardon."Dimly he heard the door close and footsteps retreating, but before he could let Maria go, a searing pain shot through his groin, making him see stars. Blast her, the woman had kneed him in the ballocks!As he doubled over, fighting to keep from passing out, she snapped, "That was for making me look like a whore, too!”