Once Upon a River

by Diane Setterfield

Her quiet and kindly listening had made it possible to speak his thoughts aloud, and sometimes it was only when he spoke his thoughts that he knew he had them.

There was consternation at his demise. He had work, food, and pleasure: What more could a man want?

There must be a great many true things that weren’t in the Bible. It was a big book, but still, it couldn’t have every true thing in it, could it?

There are any number of ways you might imagine sleep, none of them likely to be accurate.

The cargo we have been speaking of, little Amelia, will be the property of her husband long before the law decides which father is her rightful owner.

Over time, as they got to know the new boss, they discovered that he was a man like any other, and even a bit better.

“Well, then,” the cressman concluded sagely, “just ’cause a thing’s impossible don’t mean it can’t happen.”

“Death and memory are meant to work together. Sometimes something gets stuck and then people need a guide or a companion in grief.

What’s the value of happiness that can only come at the price of another person’s despair?”

“Sometimes I think there is nothing more a man can do. A child is not an empty vessel, Fleet, to be formed in whatever way the parent thinks fit. They are born with their own hearts and they cannot be made otherwise, no matter what love a man lavishes on them.”