“He took her dress in both hands and tore it from neckline to hem.”

“He knelt on one knee, close to the hem of her dress, and looked up at her. She watched him as he kissed her hand.“Beautiful, enchanting Livia, will you marry me today?”

“He took her face in both his hands and kissed her like they weren't even married yet”

“Expiring? Excommunicated? No. Nina'd said expunging. Yes. He was going to expunge in a roomful of angry, perfumed, supernatural females while Nina tore Phoebe limb from limb and he wore a dress. How inhumane.”

“She was a beautiful woman dragging a crippled foot and I was that foot. I was bricks sewn into the hem of her clothes, I was a steel dress”

“She tore off the kerchief from her head and let down her plentiful hair. The weight, the length, the glory was all there. She took careful stock of herself, then combed her hair and tied it back up again.”