“They were forced to remember, however, when thedoors to the church opened, and half the aristocracypoured out into the grey April morning, desperate andfinally, finally able to gossip about the most important partof the double wedding—one missing bride—only todiscover the lady in question was not missing at all.Indeed, she was right outside the church. In the arms of aman to whom she was not affianced.Ignoring the collective gasp of their audience, Crosskissed the tip of her nose and rectified the situation. JasperArlesey, Earl Harlow lowered himself to one knee and—in front of all the world—proposed to his brilliant,bespectacled bluestocking.”

“Sometimes she wished for someone she could tell about her problems, just to be able to say, ‘I’m in love with a man and I can’t have him.’ But that would only lead to questions she couldn’t answer, so she kept the secret and the pain inside, hoping someday she would no longer feel as if half of her were missing.”

“When she didn’t let go, when she buried her freckled nose in his chest and snuggled closer and when she shivered from the cold, he couldn’t stop himself from reaching out and wrapping his arms around her. Hesitant, he lowered his face into her hair and breathed deep.”

“She scrambled to her feet. She knew her sisters were eyeing her strangely, knew that what she was feeling was undisguised. Right then, she didn't care. She turned and ran for him. Bastian! Standing at the door, so tall and proud.When he saw her, his lips parted, then he absently palmed the center of his chest.As she hadn't slowed, he opened his arms - she knew what this meant - but she didn't hesitate to run into them, leaping up and latching onto him. They would have gone reeling if he weren't so strong. The Valkyrie who'd flown down the stairs at the marked lightning saw her. All around them, she heard gasps. One muttered, "She ran to his arms. I saw it.""Bastian, I missed you!" Kaderin whispered."God, I missed you, too," he murmured, clutching her.”

“A few minutes later, Miss Charming gasped. But then, Miss Charming gasped a lot. She gasped when someone shut a door too loudly; she gasped when there were sausages for breakfast. She sometimes gasped and then coughed, as if she'd meant to cough from the beginning and gotten the two confused.”

“If she were Catholic, she could kneel, kneel and bow her head inside a church with brilliant stained-glass windows and streaks of golden light falling over her. Yes, oh yes, she would kneel and stretch out her arms, holding to her Amy and Dottie and Bev.”