Quotes from Deanna Raybourn

I wore no jewels save the pendant Brisbane had given me with its secret code—the code that had given me my first inkling that he loved me. It had not been so very long since he had given it to me, a year only; twelve leaves of the calendar torn away, a few dozen weeks from then to now. But how much change that year had wrought!

Before I could ask, he caught sight of the garment in my hand. "In the name of bleeding Jesus, what are you sewing? Is that my shirt?" "It is, and I must say, it is in a deplorable state. But at least the material is quite good and will stand up to proper mending. Unfortunately, mending is not one of my skills," I said, holding up the shirt. Somehow I had managed to attach it to my own skirt, and I took up scissors to snip it free.

Julia, why are you smiling?" "Because," I told him happily, "it's only our first night in this house and we already have two mysteries to solve. A most excellent beginning.

He smiled again. "Your reputation undoubtedly precedes you." I bristled. "I am not that curious!" "You are curious as any cat, my love...

Yes, but you usually aren't ... Well, I have to keep them covered or else you lose the power of speech

Children know nothing beyond the upbringing they have. It is only adults who regret what they lacked.

What do you think my chances are there?" she asked. "Maybe he has a geriatric kink," I said, shaking out my napkin. "Dab a little Metamucil behind each ear and go get him, cougar." "No, no," Mary Alice corrected. "She's too old to be a cougar. She's a saber-tooth tiger.

Be brave. You have everything you need," I murmured to no one in particular. "Everything indeed." Excelsior!

What, I began to wonder, was the point of allowing a gentleman access to one's bed and heart if he could not interpret a lady's most irrational moods?

There are times when it is entirely safe to show one's vulnerability, to roll over and reveal the soft underbelly beneath. But there are other times when pain must be borne without a murmur, when the pain is so consuming that if you give in to it, even in the slightest, you have lost everything.

There is nothing more you can do to hurt me now. You have already broken the man you knew, crucified every part of my humanity and left me with nothing except the ruins of what I once was. Why do you look away? Have you developed a conscience? What a burden it must be to you.

Julia Grey, I would rather see you hanged than watch any sister of mine go haring off after a man who will not have her," my brother Bellmont raged.

It's a comfortable place, mediocrity. Never pushing oneself to the limit to see what you can take. Never staring down your fears, never reaching into yourself to find that last bit of courage. You don't even know what it is that you're made of-and what's more, you seem distinctly uninterested in finding out.

God was seldom discussed in our family except in a very distant sort of way, rather like our cousins in Canada.

He was entirely happy alone. He had his books and his music and his specimens, and that was all he needed. He also carried on a wide correspondence. His friends were far flung across the globe, but none of them intimate.

If I were going to play the adventuress, I might as well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb, I supposed.

Africa is a land of dreams and memories. It is rifts of remembrance stitched together with the sighs of time.

Yo no he dicho eso. Tiene usted el don de sacar el peor significado posible de mis palabras. Nicholas Brisbane

Earnshaw is quite a famous name, thanks to Miss Brontë . I did not realise there were Earnshaws in this country." Mrs. Earnshaw gave a sharp nod. "Aye. And Heathcliffs and Eyres, as well. Proper little thieves, those Brontë girls.

tall and beautifully erect, with the sort of posture a gentleman acquires through either generations of aristocratic breeding or enthusiastic beatings at excellent schools.

You do not yet know what it means to love someone more than yourself. I have no pride left, no delicacy. I cannot afford it. So I will tell you the truth: I wanted his happiness above all things.

Do not collect passion into the equation. It is a dangerous foe, Theodora, like keeping a lion in the garden. It might seem safe enough, but it might well destroy you. No, do not yearn for passion. Ask instead for contentment, happiness. Those are to be wished for.

A good wet weep is always just the thing. You will feel better soon. Not just yet, but soon. And when you do, enjoy it. Life is too uncertain, my dear. You must seize happiness where you find it.

My interests are varied. They include natural history, lady detectives, and good hygiene," I said with a significant lift of the brows towards his feet. "What in seven hells does that mean?" he demanded. "It means that if you come to bed smelling like something from a barnyard again, I will scrub you myself with rose soap and a firm hand," I threatened.