“Men are not nearly as evolved as women are, nor as intelligent, evidently”

“Let me be clear. Last I was aware you were neither my husband nor my father nor my King. Therefore, any control you may imagine you hold over me is just that- imaginary”

“I do not traditionally speak ill of women, but your governess is a cabbagehead”

“Yes, she was a scandal.Her brother simply didn’t know it.“I fell in the Serpentine today.”“Yes, well, that doesn’t usually happen to women in London. But it’s not so much of a scandal as it is a challenge.”

“everyone who sees us -- especially Stanhope, who has been friends with us both for years -- knows we're just out for a ride. Not out for a ride."He looked at her, shaking his head in confusion. "Women truly are strange and unknowable creatures”

“The most confident of women are those who believe in every scrap of fabric they wear. They are the ones who are as happy wih their drawers as they are with their gowns. You can tell the difference between a woman who wraps herself in beautiful silks and satins and she who wears...otherwise.”

“If I were anyone else…your opera singer…the woman across the hall…would you have apologized?”He looked confused. “No…but you are neither of those women. You deserve better.”“Better,” she repeated, frustrated. “That’s just my point! You and the rest of society believe that it’s better for me to be set upon a pedestal of primness and propriety—which might have been fine if a decade on that pedestal hadn’t simply landed me on the shelf. Perhaps unmarried young women like our sisters should be there. But what of me?” Her voice dropped as she looked down at the cards in her hands. “I’m never going to get a chance to experience life from up there. All that is up there is dust and unwanted apologies. The same cage as hers”—she indicated the woman outside—“merely a different gilt.”