Quotes from Sherry Thomas

Charlotte sighed inwardly. The problem was not that she didn't always understand the full spectrum of human emotions. It was that even when she did, she still gave those close to her the opposite of what they wished for.

Then she spied the cauldeon, sitting upright at the very bottom of the crater, filled with the most beautiful exiler she'd ever seen, like distilled starlight.

What is withdrawal?" "Let's see, since you know your scripture so well, was that Onan? Yes, that bugger. What he did." "Spilling his seed on the floor?" "Yes," continued her husband, "it would be lovely if I could take you and spill my seed somewhere else. Not on the floor, mind you. But perhaps on your very soft belly. Perhaps even on your splendid breasts. and perhaps, if I'm in a really terrible mood, I'll make you swallow it. - Vere to Elissande

Miss Holmes smiled. She had dimples. Of course she did—the Good Lord went to ridiculous lengths to make sure that one of the finest minds in existence was housed in a body least likely to be suspected of it.

Come to think of it, he'd been pleased to find out that Lady Ingram had as little interest in breakfast as he did. Had thought it a further sign that they were true soul mates. Which only went to show that the choice of soul mates should not be left to barely post-adolescent young men.

The summer night sky over the Hindu Kush, domed by the Milky Way's mage light, was infinitely splendid. Strewn against this craggy luminosity, millions of tiny stars shone, a diamond heist gone awry.

There was no such thing as a marriage with one happy spouse. Both must be or neither.

A child's voice, as clear and bright as the Angel's clarion, rose with the notes of the Adamantine aria, "For what is the Void but the beginning of Light? What is Light but the end of Fear? And what am I, but light given form? What am I, but the beginning of eternity?

a drunk did not expect the bottle to love him back,and she only wished to drink him in whenever she could.

What stupid children they had been, to cause each other such pain and then to hold on to their wounds so fiercely. She

Mr. Marbleton tilted his head. "Do you really think of happiness as such a fragile entity?" "Mine is," she answered, still smiling. "I don't know that I've ever been properly happy. I simply careen between moments of intense buoyancy and moments of intense misery. Only my anxiety is constant: When I hope, I'm anxious that my hopes will come to nothing; when I fear, I'm anxious that my fears will all come true.

Charlotte Holmes. I thought I might see you here." The voice belonged to Lord Ingram, but slightly raspy, as if he were under the weather?or recovering from a night of hard drinking. She turned around slowly. "Hullo, Ash." A complicated pleasure, this man.

He sighed. The sound conveyed no impatience, only a deep wistfulness. "You are telling me that before you can be sure of your affections, you must be sure of yourself.

Our envy always lasts longer than the happiness of those we envy.

But stupid things have a gravity and a momentum of their own; they crush good thinking and resistance as colonists with guns and cannons overcame spear-throwing natives.

Rain came down in sheets. It had been a miserable spring. Already he despaired of ever again walking under an unclouded sky.

For the thousandth time he wished he'd just met her. That they were but two strangers traveling together, that such lovely, filthy thoughts did not break him in two, but were only a pleasant pastime as he slowly fell under the spell of her aloof beauty and her hidden intensity. … But no, they'd met long ago, in the furthest years of his childhood. Their chances had come and gone. All they had ahead of them were a tedious road and a final good-bye.

For the next three seconds, he still dared to let himself hope. Perhaps she was making a grand entrance. Perhaps she would be carried in like Cleopatra, hidden in a roll of fine carpet. Perhaps— Three porters, grunting, pulled in a handcart. A crevasse opened before him and in fell his heart. No need to remove the tarpaulin wrapping. He recognized the stone slab by its size and weight. She had returned his present. She would have nothing more to do with him.

So far I have restrained myself. For how much longer, I do not know. I have never known such happiness, shot through with such misery. Only four days have passed, they tell me. But that is not true. It has been decades since I saw you last. You will find me a stooped old man when we meet again. Perhaps I might even need a pair of spectacles to recognize your veil. But I remain always, Your servant, C. One of Christian's onesided letters to the Baroness

Wait, here comes Cooper. In which case, carry on with your melodramatic moaning, but put some majesty into it. You know he lives to hear you judge everything as unworthy.

Patience is an overrated virtue. It's much more fun to have what you want now—especially since there is no guarantee that a longer wait will produce better results.

She recognized the signs of danger. When she'd said to the duke that she had a certain effect on men, she hadn't been exaggerating. It was not every man and it was not all the time, but when the effect happened, proposals flew like confetti and all parties involved usually ended up feeling quite mortified.

Many people, women especially, she had observed, responded to a compliment by explaining what they had—or hadn't done—to merit it.

To be thought of as the perfect woman for a man isn't a compliment to a woman, it's more about how a man sees himself. Should we marry, either I will be exhausted trying to keep his illusion intact — or Lord Bancroft will be severely disappointed in his choice. Likely both.