An Unexpected Peril (Veronica Speedwell, #6)

by Deanna Raybourn

For some, grief was a devil, to be shut out upon the doorstep and ignored.

But the notion of accepting that it would be a constant visitor in one guise or another seemed to me the beginning of wisdom.

Death is part of life, child. It is not the end. It is not even the middle. It is merely a doorway.

Alice is no further away from me than if she had stepped into the next room.”

“Will you be happy with such a choice?” She regarded me in obvious surprise. “Happy? I am a princess. It is not my place to be happy. It is my place to govern.

am sorry, Stoker.” “For what?” His gaze searched my face. “That I cannot give you this—what Gisela and Maximilian have done today. If you need this, this proper and legal thing in the eyes of the world, I understand. I will release you,” I told him even as I clutched him fiercely.

“Better yet. I will show you.” He leant near to my ear, his lips brushing my lobe. “‘I will imagine you Venus tonight and pray, pray, pray to your star like a heathen,’” he murmured. “God bless John Keats,” I replied fervently.