“Like all children, you would have loved and admired her. You would have named your favorite doll after her....And then you would have poked out the doll's eyes.”

“I would not wish depression on anybody. And yet, it taught me a lot. I have not become suddenly mawkishly grateful for my life but I am more interested in it, more engaged you might say. When you have spent long years in the dark, there is joy in seeing the light and pleasure, above all, in the ordinary.”

“You and I have found something few people ever do.Do you not understand, Matthew? I refuse to let your misguided nobility keep us apart.My life as a princess, or a peasant, is not worth living without you in it.""And mine is without you? I'm willing to go to Avalonia and be your blasted lapdog, if that will keep you in my life. Damn it all, Tatiana, I love you. I have loved you from the moment you went up in my balloon. From the moment I saw the tilt of your smile and the spark in your green eyes. From the first lie to the last, I have loved you. And I love you now!""Then do stop screaming at me!""I am not screaming! I am..." He stopped abruptly and blew a long, frustrated breath. Stark....raving...mad.""I suspected as much." The corners of her lips twitched as if she were about to laugh.His heart leapt.He stared at her for a long moment. "Can you forgive me?""Never." She shrugged. "Perhaps. Possibly. Someday.Years from now.""After a great deal of groveling, I imagine?" He raised a brow. "Begging, beseeching, pleading and so forth as well, no doubt?""Without question.""And how long do you expect the groveling, begging, beseeching and so forth would continue?" He started around the table toward her."A lifetime should do." She cast him the look, and any lingering doubt he had vanished."I see. Exactly where will I be doing this groveling, begging and beseeching?" He reached her and pulled her into his arms and back into his life."Do not forget the so forth." She stared defiantly up at him."I would never forget the so forth." He bent and kissd the hollow of her throat. "The so forth has always been my favorite part.Now,where?”

“They give her tractors and things to play with instead of dolls, just to prove that girls are exactly the same as boys.Mind you, they're a bit illogical, it seems to me, because they have never forced me to play with dolls, which I would have thought would have proved the point just as effectively.”

“You have never felt the weight of disappointing love or of failing to live up to expectations. The only thing you've ever been is lonely by yourself-you have no idea how desperate it is to be lonely in the midst of people who love you, and whom you would have done anything to make happy..”

“I say seduce her, seduce her tonight. Break the door down if you have to. Tell her all those things you said to me about her. You will love her more tomorrow than today and how you want to die with her hand in yours–which is an excellent line, by the way, that I fully intend to borrow when the time comes.”

“If things were different, if there were no revolution, no war, no threads of light, if he were rich, would he go back to London with her and ask for her hand in marriage? He smiled, for the answer was simple. Yes, yes, he would.”