Mr. Impossible Quotes

“I am not insane," he said. "A woman of your highly advanced intellect ought to be able to perceive that I am in love. With you. I wish you had told me. It was deuced embarrassing to find it out from your *brother*.”
― Loretta Chase, Mr. Impossible

“Good God!" she cried. She rolled off him, tugging down her clothing. "Are you mad?"

He blinked and dragged in air. "Well, yes," He said thickly. "Lust does that to a man."

"You thought we would--you would-- do...that in public?"

"I wasn't thinking about where we were." He said.

Her eyes widened.

"I'm a man," he said with what he was sure must be, in the circumstances, saintly patience. "I can do one or the other. Lovemaking or thinking. But not both at the same time."

She stared at him for a moment. Then she drew up her knees and folded her arms upon them and buried her face in her folded arms.

She did not pick up the rifle and knock him on the head with it.

Perhaps all was not lost.

"Somewhere else then?" He said hopefully.”
― Loretta Chase, Mr. Impossible

“In the month and a half since the Earl of Hargate’s fourth son had arrived in Egypt, he had broken twenty-three separate laws and been jailed nine times. For what Mr. Carsington had cost the (England) consulate in fines and bribes, Mr. Salt (His Majesty's consul general) might have dismantled and shipped to England one of the smaller temples on the island of Philae.
He now knew exactly why Lord Hargate had sent his twenty-nine-year-old offspring to Egypt. It was not, as his lordship had written, “to assist the consul general in his services on behalf of the nation.”
It was to saddle someone else with the responsibility and expense.”
― Loretta Chase, Mr. Impossible

“But I liked you from the moment I first heard your voice,” he said, “when I had no idea what you looked like. I thought it delicious, the way you bargained for me, as though I were an old rug. Then I loved the way you looked at me. Then I loved the way you ordered me about. I loved your patient and impatient ways of explaining things to me. I love the sound of your voice and the way you move. I love your courage and your kindness and your generosity and your obstinacy and your passion.” He paused. “You’re the genius. What do you think that means?”
― Loretta Chase, Mr. Impossible

“Shall we proceed, and ought I do so with my knife drawn?”

“You’d better keep it where it is for the moment,” he said. “Otherwise you might stab me to death accidentally.” .

“If I stab you to death,” she said, “it will not be accidental.”
― Loretta Chase, Mr. Impossible

“Out of the darkness came Mr Carsington's deep voice, cool and calm. " Pray don't trouble yourselves, gentlemen. It is merely a villain come to cut our throats, rob our stores and ravish our women. No need for alarm. Mrs Pembroke has the matter in hand.”
― Loretta Chase, Mr. Impossible

“Miss you,” he said. It was the barest murmur, scarcely a sound.”
― Loretta Chase, Mr. Impossible

“That man," she said in low but still audible tones, "is an idiot."

"Yes, madam, but he's all we've got."

"I may be stupid," Rupert said, "but I'm irresistibly attractive."

"Good grief, conceited too," she muttered.

"And being a great, dumb ox," he went on, "I'm wonderfully easy to manage."

She paused and turned to Beechey. "Are you sure there's no one else?”
― Loretta Chase, Mr. Impossible

“Good God!" she cried. She rolled off him, tugging down her clothing. "Are you mad?"
He blinked and dragged in air. "Well, yes," he said thickly. "Lust does that to a man."
"You thought we could-you would-do...that? In public?
"I wasn't thinking about where we were."
Her eyes widened.
"I'm a man," he said with what he was sure must be, in the circumstances, saintly patience. "I can do one or the other. Lovemaking or thinking. But not both at the same time.”
― Loretta Chase, Mr. Impossible

“Don't you remember telling me that you're the brain and I'm the brawn? Naturally I expect you to do all the talking. And naturally I shall knockheads and toss people out of windows as required. Or did I misunderstand? Did you want me to think, too?”
― Loretta Chase, Mr. Impossible

“That is a horrid temptation to put before a man who is forbidden to make vigorous movements,” he said.

“Is it really?” she said. “No wonder Miles did not approve. He looked daggers at me.”

“Maybe his face froze that way,” Rupert said. “He was looking daggers at me a few hours ago. Do you think he suspects?”

“I think he knows ,” she said.

“I’m glad I don’t have a sister,” he said. “I should have to get over my aversion to killing people.”

-Rupert and Daphne”
― Loretta Chase, Mr. Impossible

“You shouldn't have married an elderly man."
„Virgil was four and fifty when we wed,” she [Daphne] said. „That is not exactly Methuselah.”
„How old were you?”
„Nineteen and a half,” she said.
„"You'd have done better with two husbands of seven and twenty,” he said.”
― Loretta Chase, Mr. Impossible

“It was unsettling. For a moment he believed she could see straight through his brain. Not that there was much to see. Still, he doubted she'd feel more amiably toward him if, for instance, she could discern how vast an amount of mental space his fantasies of seduction occupied, compared to the cramped corner devoted to the problem of murdered guides and corrupt police.”
― Loretta Chase, Mr. Impossible

“While you were leaping headlong into an ambush you should have foreseen, she might have been attacked. She might have been killed or worse.'
Rupert came to a halt. 'What could be worse than her being killed, do you think?'
'I thought I had communicated to you Mr. Salt's opinions and wishes in the matter of Mr. Archdale's disappearance,' Beechey said. 'I thought I used easily comprehended terms.'
'You did,' Rupert said. 'I told Mrs. Pembroke about it in much the same way.'
'You told -' After a pause, Beechey went on, his voice strained, 'You cannot have revealed our suspicions about the - ahem - places of dubious repute. This is one of your jokes, I daresay. Ha ha.'
'She said her brother was not in a brothel or opium den and I was on no account to go to such places looking for him,' Rupert said. 'I obeyed, as I was obliged to do. You did tell me I wasn't to upset her, did you not?'
There followed the kind of furious silence with which Rupert was more than familiar.”
― Loretta Chase, Mr. Impossible

“My mother has said that it’s often better for a husband and wife not to understand each other too well,” he [Rupert] said. “A little mystery keeps a marriage more interesting, she says.”
― Loretta Chase, Mr. Impossible

“Even now the wicked spirit lurked there, a glint of mischief in the darkness of heat and desire. It made her smile, and she brought her smile to his mouth and gave it to him. "Miss you," she whispered. "So much.”
― Loretta Chase, Mr. Impossible

“The boat lurched.He fell against her, and she fell back, onto the divan.
For onwe glorious moment she lay under him, her magnificent bosom crushed against his chest. His heart leapt into a gallop and his privy councilor leapt to attention. He lifted his head and looked down at her. She looked up at him, eyes wide and dark as an evergreen forest. He felt her breath on his skin, and heard it, soft and hurried. Her lips parted. He lowered his head.
She shoved a fist against his chest, and "Get off!" she snapped. "Get off, you great lummox! Someone's coming!”
― Loretta Chase, Mr. Impossible

“They believe Miles can read it," she said. "Good grief. They must be completely illiterate--or desperately gullible--or--"
"French," said Mr Carsington.”
― Loretta Chase, Mr. Impossible

“Snakes dislike surprises,' Rupert said. To Mrs. Pembroke he added, 'You frightened her. She attacked because she thought she was in danger.'
'Oh, you had time to discern that it was a female?' she said, her voice higher than usual.
'Might have been,' he said. 'She was pretty enough. Did you note the markings?”
― Loretta Chase, Mr. Impossible

“Then came her voice in his ear: "I give myself to thee. I give myself to thee. I give myself to thee."
And at last she sank onto him, and he wrapped his arms about her and savoured the delicious peace. The stray, funny thought came: we're married, and he laughed out loud.”
― Loretta Chase, Mr. Impossible

“The man who fails, my learned friend, is the man who dies.”
― Loretta Chase, Mr Impossible

“They didn't tell Miles what their destination was. He only knew they traveled south, and he'd as soon have done so on a mode of transportation other than the camel.
The creatures bore heavy inanimate burdens calmly enough. But his showed a marked aversion to being ridden. The camel made insulting noises as Miles circled it, looking for a place to get on. The animal complained loudly and cursed him bitterly in camel language when he was finally seated. It snarled and growled and turned around to give him venomous looks. Then, as you'd expect, it flatly refused to obey him. When Miles tried to turn its head, it tried to bite his feet. When he snapped at the animal to behave, it promptly lay down. When at last the humor seized it to get up, it made sure to throw Miles back and forth violently in the process.”
― Loretta Chase, Mr. Impossible

“And so, as the stars came out, Miles took up his basket and made his way in the moonlight to the river, to the place where he'd hidden the little boat.
It was gone.
No great surprise, really. The region was notorious. Why shouldn't someone steal his boat? He'd return the favor and steal someone else's. Tomorrow.
Tonight, though, he wanted a proper dinner.
He set about fashioning a fishing line.”
― Loretta Chase, Mr. Impossible

“Keeping the secret was going to be more difficult than Rupert could have foreseen. Every time she met a hieroglyph, she'd act like this: vibrating like a tuning fork, the gigantic brain bubbling over and spilling out its secrets: Greek and Latin and Coptic and names of scholars and who believed what and this alphabet versus that one and phonetic interpretations versus symbolic ones.”
― Loretta Chase, Mr. Impossible

“The exotic fragrance was hers, too. Incense. Goddess scent.
'Mr. Carsington, you must speak to me,' she said.
He'd rather not speak. He'd rather stay exactly where he was, pillowed against her soft bosom and inhaling her scent while she gently stroked his cheek.
'Mr. Carsington.' The hand left off stroking to pat his cheek, with growing impatience.
Remembering the lady had a short temper, he knew the gentle pats would shortly escalate to slaps. He opened his eyes and met her green gaze, where anxiety mingled with vexation.
'Where am I?' he said, though he knew the answer perfectly well. It was a delaying tactic. Her bosom made a perfect pillow. He did not want to leave it.
'On the floor of Anaz's storeroom,' she said. 'You seem to have fainted.'
'Fainted?' he echoed incredulously. 'I was knocked in the head. I ought to know. It's happened often enough.'
'That would explain a great deal,' she said. She started to rise. Aware she would have no compunction about letting his poor, battered head thump to the floor, he quickly sat up.”
― Loretta Chase, Mr. Impossible

“Holding a large object aloft, she went after him, and the fellow ran. Then something struck the back of Rupert's head. The world went black with flashing lights. The ground opened up under his feet, and down he went.”
― Loretta Chase, Mr. Impossible