Darla

“We have reached the open sea, with some charts; and the firmament.”
― Dorothy Dunnett, Checkmate

“His voice was quite flat, dull, almost. 'You were prepared to take chances - once.'
'Myself, yes. But this was Philippe. I had no right to take a chance on Philippe. I didn't dare. He was my charge - my duty.' The miserable words sounded priggish and unutterably absurd. 'I - I was all he had. Besides that, it couldn't be allowed to matter.'
'What couldn't.'
'That you were all I had.”
― Mary Stewart, Nine Coaches Waiting

“And deep within him, missing its accustomed tread, his heart paused, and gave one single stroke, as if on an anvil.”
― Dorothy Dunnett, The Ringed Castle

“Alec Guthrie’s voice, serene from the shadows, said, ‘You are not going to Russia. You are not going. All your life you have resented control and brooked no hint of instruction or guidance. This time, your will is not paramount.”
― Dorothy Dunnett, The Ringed Castle