Quotes from Mary Balogh

But marriage is forever.' 'Oh, not really,' he assured her. 'Only until one of us dies.' Her eyes widened. 'I do not want you to die,' she said. 'Perhaps you will go first,' he said, 'though I rather think I hope not. I would probably have grown accustomed to you by then and would miss you.

By what right had he come back here to torment her again when she had won a hard-fought battle with her own feelings?

He was as he was, and she would live with him and love him until her dying day—or his—and be ever thankful for the idealist she was about to marry, the man who wanted to be perfect but was gradually learning the painful lesson that nobody was. That nothing was. Everyone and everything was in a state of becoming. That was the terror and the wonder of life.

What had Robert said? Would he have sent any message for her? A message of regret, perhaps, like the very last words he had spoken to her? Would he perhaps have sent her a letter?

A passionate Freyja was a keg of powder exploding. A tender Freyja was far more deadly.

The heavens are about to open. I think you must prepare for a wicked night of sin with me, Mrs. Ingram. We seem to have a habit of getting ourselves into such situations during rain storms, do we not?

If he ever grew to understand himself, Hugo decided, it would be a miracle of the first order. Not

She was feeling almost happy. She allowed herself the qualifier of almost because she had accepted the fact that self-deception was also self-destructive. She would not deceive herself any more or hide behind any mask in an attempt to shield herself from the reality of her life.

Smiles did not come naturally to him. He must learn how to let out the ones that were sometimes there deep inside him.

And you, Elizabeth? he had asked. Do you love me? Will you wait for me? Yes, she had answered with all the ardor of extreme youth. I love you, Robert, and I shall wait forever if I must.

I have gone and done something very silly, Becky, he said, flashing her a grin. I have fallen in love with you. You will think me very foolish, will you not, old friend? I have been fighting it all summer. I don't think you are foolish, Christopher, she said, gazing earnestly back at him. I have loved you for a long time.

There was no conscious thought in her mind, no idea of what she would do if she could reach him in time.

Sometimes our dreams lead us in the wrong direction and it would be foolish to continue pursuing them out of sheer stubbornness or the fear of disappointing others. There are other dreams waiting to be dreamed—the right dreams, the ones that will lead to contentment.

There was such a thing as happiness, and it would be silly not to enjoy it when one felt it rather than shy away from it for fear it would not last.

What was she to do? There seemed to be precious little she could do. She turned back to the ballroom in some dread.

Will you take a chance on me, then, Diana? Will you marry me and give me a chance to shower your universe with stars? And to cram an eternity into what is left of a lifetime? Will you let those children you want be mine too? I would strongly advise you to say no.

He opened his mouth over hers.

But hell need not be eternal unless one chooses to make it so.

She was, of course, aware of him every moment of the evening. She knew exactly with whom he had danced.

This house party was not safe at all.

Do you have anyone in mind, Hugo?" the duke asked. "Not really." Hugo sighed. "I have an army of female cousins and aunts who would be only too

Oh, God, Becky, I want you, he said shakily. I must get you back home quickly, love. It is dangerous to be alone like this.

And in the very center of her vision—and of her heart and her life—Gerard, the man she had always loved and always would.

And you would probably be always telling me that I am angry with you when I am not angry at all but only afraid of losing you.