01c. 1964 ADI don't want adventure.""I think you do. I think in a moment of weakness, you might surprise yourself.Lisa Kleypas / quote ↗
02c. 1964 ADTell me, Miss Hathaway … what would you do if you were invited on a midnight ride across the earth and ocean? Would you choose the adventure, or stay safely at home?” She couldn’t seem to tear her gaze from his. The topaz eyes were lit by a glint of playfulness, not the innocent mischief of a boy, but something far more dangerous. She could almost believe he might actually change form and appear beneath her window one night, and carry her away on midnight wings … “Home, of course,” she managed in a sensible tone. “I don’t want adventure.” “I think you do. I think in a moment of weakness, you might surprise yourself.” “I don’t have moments of weakness. Not that kind, at any rate.” His laughter curled around her like a drift of smoke. “You will.Lisa Kleypas / quote ↗
03c. 1964 AD... But if I spend [all] my time *reading* about adventures, I won't actually be *having* them.Lisa Kleypas / quote ↗
04c. 1964 ADSometimes life has a cruel sense of humor, giving you the thing you always wanted at the worst time possible.Lisa Kleypas / quote ↗
05c. 1964 ADBut I must warn you, Miss Hathaway ... life has a way of fouling up our plans. I speak from experience.Lisa Kleypas / quote ↗
06c. 1964 ADI have a proposition for you,” she said, trying for a businesslike tone. “A very sensible one. You see—” She paused to clear her throat. “I’ve been thinking about your problem.” “What problem?” Cam played lightly with the folds of her skirts, watching her face aleLisa Kleypas / quote ↗
07c. 1964 ADOne never knows what fate has in store.” Turning toward Rohan, Amelia discovered he was glancing over her in a slow inventory that spurred her heart into a faster beat. “I don’t believe in fate,” she said. “People are in control of their own destinies.” Rohan smiled. “Everyone, even the gods, are helpless in the hands of fate.” Amelia regarded him skeptically. “Surely you, being employed at a gaming club, know all about probability and odds. Which means you can’t rationally give credence to luck or fate or anything of the sort.” “I know all about probability and odds,” Rohan agreed. “Nevertheless, I believe in luck.” He smiled with a quiet smolder in his eyes that caused her breath to catch. “I believe in magic and mystery, and dreams that reveal the future. And I believe some things are written in the stars … or even in the palm of your hand.” Mesmerized, Amelia was unable to look away from him. He was an extraordinarily beautiful man, his skin as dark as clover honey, his black hair falling over his forehead in a way that made her fingers twitch with the urge to push it back. “Do you believe in fate too?” she asked Merripen. A long hesitation. “I’m a Roma,” he said. Which meant yes. “Good Lord, Merripen. I’ve always thought of you as a sensible man.” Rohan laughed. “It’s only sensible to allow for the possibility, Miss Hathaway. Just because you can’t see or feel something doesn’t mean it can’t exist.Lisa Kleypas / quote ↗
08c. 1964 ADHis eyes were above hers, and she saw that the golden-hazel irises were rimmed with black. “Miss Hathaway … you’re quite certain fate had no hand in our meeting tonight?” She couldn’t seem to breathe properly. “Qu-quite certain.” His head bent low. “And in all likelihood we’ll never meet again?” “Never.” He was too large, too close. Nervously Amelia tried to marshal her thoughts, but they scattered like spilled matchsticks … and then he set fire to them as his breath touched her cheek. “I hope you’re right. God help me if I should ever have to face the consequences.” “Of what?” Her voice was faint. “This.” His hand slid to the back of her neck and his mouth covered hers.Lisa Kleypas / quote ↗
09c. 1964 ADYou’ll have me,” Cam whispered. “You’ll have me, hummingbird. I’m your fate— even if you won’t admit it yet.Lisa Kleypas / quote ↗
11c. 1964 ADMorality is only for the middle class, sweet. The lower class can't afford it, and the upper classes have entirely too much leisure time to fillLisa Kleypas / quote ↗
12c. 1964 ADYou’re beautiful, Evie,” came his soft comment. Having been raised by relations who had always lamented the garish color of her hair and the proliferation of freckles, Evie gave him a skeptical smile. “Aunt Florence has always given me a bleaching lotion to make my freckles vanish. But there’s no getting rid of them.” Sebastian smiled lazily as he came to her. Taking her shoulders in his hands, he slid an appraising glance along her half-clad body. “Don’t remove a single freckle, sweet. I found some in the most enchanting places. I already have my favorites… shall I tell you where they are?” Disarmed and discomfited, Evie shook her head and made a movement to twist away from him. He wouldn’t let her, however. Pulling her closer, he bent his golden head and kissed the side of her neck. “Little spoilsport,” he whispered, smiling. “I’m going to tell you anyway.” His fingers closed around a handful of the chemise and eased the hem slowly upward. Her breath caught as she felt his fingers nuzzling tenderly between her bare legs. “As I discovered earlier,” he said against her sensitive throat, “there’s a trail inside your right thigh that leads to—” A knock at the door interrupted them, and Sebastian lifted his head with a grumble of annoyance. “Breakfast,” he muttered. “And I wouldn’t care to make you choose between my lovemaking or a hot meal, as the answer would likely be unflattering.Lisa Kleypas / quote ↗
13c. 1964 ADSleep, my love," He whispered, smoothing her long hair, lifting the damp locks away from the back of her neck. "I'll be here to watch over you.""You sleep too," she said groggily, her hand creeping to the center of his chest."No." McKenna smiled and pressed a soft kiss against her temple. His voice was husky with wonder. "Not when staying awake is better than anything I could find in a dream.Lisa Kleypas / quote ↗
14c. 1964 ADShe understood the risks, the limits, the possible consequences, and she was willing to accept all of that in return for the sheer joy of being with him. One night with him…one hundred… whatever fate allowed her, she would take.Lisa Kleypas / quote ↗
15c. 1964 ADYou can never be truly happy in a life unless you have known a sorrow. All terrible things we have gone through in life have created spaces inside us where happiness can live Not to mention love.Lisa Kleypas / quote ↗
16c. 1964 ADDont worry" Emma said "There are worse things than having your heart broken.""Like What?" Zoe asked skeptically."Never having it broken. Never giving in to loveLisa Kleypas / quote ↗
17c. 1964 ADDear Lord,” she said in a strangled whisper. “I can bear it for a while...but please don't let it hurt forever.Lisa Kleypas / quote ↗
18c. 1964 ADA woman could do that to you - reach that place in your soul where the best and worst of you was kept. And once she was there, she owned that place and never left.Lisa Kleypas / quote ↗
19c. 1964 ADI beg your pardon?” Catherine interrupted. “Are you implying that women have poor judgment?”“In these matters, yes.” Leo gestured to Christopher. “Just look at the fellow, standing there like a bloody Greek god. Do you think she chose him because of his intellect?”“I graduated from Cambridge,” Christopher said acidly. “Should I have brought my diploma?”“In this family,” Cam interrupted, “there is no requirement of a university degree to prove one’s intelligence. Lord Ramsay is a perfect example of how one has nothing to do with the other.Lisa Kleypas / quote ↗
20c. 1964 ADI don't really like this song," Emma had said."You told me it was your favourite.""It's beautiful. But it always makes me sad.""Why, love?" he'd asked gently. "It's about finding each other again. About someone coming home."Emma had lifted her head from his shoulder and looked at him earnestly. "It's about losing someone, and having to wait until you're together in heaven.""There's nothing in the lyrics about heaven," he'd said."But that's what it means. I can't bear the idea of being separated from you, for a lifetime or a year or even a day. So you mustn't go to heaven without me.""Of course not," he had whispered. "It wouldn't be heaven without you.Lisa Kleypas / quote ↗
21c. 1964 ADLlandrindon joined in the discussion. "I believe what Mardling is asking," he said, "is how one will be able to tell the difference between a shopgirl and a well-to-do woman if they are both clean and similarly dressed. And if a gentleman is not able to tell what they are by their appearance, how is he to know how to treat them?"Stunned by the snobbery of the question, Matthew considered his reply carefully. "I've always thought all women should be treated with respect no matter what their station.""Well said," Westcliff said gruffly, as Llandrindon opened his mouth to argue.No one wished to contradict the earl, but Mardling pressed, "Westcliff, do you see nothing harmful in encouraging the poor to rise above their stations? In allowing them to pretend there is no difference between them and ourselves?""The only harm I see," Westcliff said quietly, "is in discouraging people who want to better themselves, out of fear that we will lose our perceived superiority."The statement caused Matthew to like the earl even more than he had previously.Lisa Kleypas / quote ↗
22c. 1964 ADMany times in life I've regretted the things I've said without thinking. But I've never regretted the things I said nearly as much as the words I left unspoken.Lisa Kleypas / quote ↗
23c. 1964 ADEvery time you look at me, you'll remember that I'm half his.""No." His hand came to the side of her face, his thumb wiping her tears. "You're all mine." His voice was deep and shaken. "Every hair on your head. Every part of you was made to be loved by me.Lisa Kleypas / quote ↗
24c. 1964 ADStop running from me and listen. I do want you. I want you even knowing if I marry you, I’ve got an instant family, complete with a suicidal brother-in-law and a Gypsy houseboy with the temperament of a poked bear.” “Merripen is not a houseboy.” “Call him what you like. He comes with the Hathaways. I accept that.Lisa Kleypas / quote ↗