“..he wanted her.And at another time, as another man, he would have her. Without hesitation. As lover. . . as more.”

“Ralston looked down his long, elegant nose at the vile creature at his feet, and said, You just impugned the honor of my future marchioness. Choose your seconds. I will see you at dawn.Leaving Oxfo...”

“She had wanted more than she could have.She had wanted him, and more... she had wanted him to want her.In the name of something bigger than tradition, bolder than reputation, more important than a ...”

“I've loved him for a decade. And I had him for one day before I made a complete and utter mess of things. Or he did. I'm still not sure about that.”

“{Calpurnia)"My mothershes desperate for a daughter she can dress like a porcelain doll. Sadly, I shall never be such a child. How I long for my sister to come out and distract the countess from my ...”

“Yes, she was a scandal.Her brother simply didnt know it.I fell in the Serpentine today.Yes, well, that doesnt usually happen to women in London. But its not so much of a scandal as it is a challenge.”

“Sex can be used either for self-affirmation or for self-transcendence either to intensify the ego and consolidate the social persona by some kind of conspicuous embarkation and heroic conquest, or...”

“He didn't know all that much about how the machinery worked anyway. Such knowledge was for specialists. In war, as in love, he was a fearless, happy-go-lucky adventurer.”

“If she did experience sex--or something close to it--in high school, I'm sure it would have been less out of sexual desire or love than literary curiosity.”