Silent in the Sanctuary Quotes

“Now I was more certain than ever of my decision. I could not love a man who did not love Jane Austen.”
― Deanna Raybourn, Silent in the Sanctuary

“I would give up everything for you, Giulia"
I smiled at him gently. "But you must understand. I should never want a man to give up anything for me. I should want him to feel in winning me he has won the whole world...”
― Deanna Raybourn, Silent in the Sanctuary

“I put my hands on my hips, not caring if I sounded like a Billingsgate fishwife. “Yes, it was a dangerous thing to do, but as it seems to have escaped your attention, I remind you I am above thirty years of age, of sound body and mind, and in control of my own fortune. That means,” I said, moving closer still, poking his chest for emphasis, “I am mistress of myself and answer to no one.”
― Deanna Raybourn, Silent in the Sanctuary

“Those are facts. Are they the truth? No, for they do not tell you of the heart, and that is where truth lives.”
― Deanna Raybourn, Silent in the Sanctuary

“I see only a little, lady, but I know that your fortune is as twined with his as the ivy to the oak.”
― Deanna Raybourn, Silent in the Sanctuary

“For where thou art, there is the world itself.”
― Deanna Raybourn, Silent in the Sanctuary

“It will be full dark soon, and I do not like the look of that sky. The temperature is falling as well," he added, rubbing his hands together briskly. "I think we shall be in for a bit of snow from the look of the cloud just over the Downs." Naturally the gentlemen had to spend another quarter of an hour debating the weather as the ladies stood shivering, Portia rolling her eyes at me behind Father's back. In the end they all agreed that, yes, it was indeed growing colder and darker and we ought to depart at once for the Abbey.”
― Deanna Raybourn, Silent in the Sanctuary

“...it all fell into place and I simply knew, as one knows that fire is hot and sleep is sweet. It was just that sudden, that elemental, and it occurred to me then that the truth is precisely that--elemental. It is the essence of itself; it cannot be argued or winnowed down to something less than what it is.”
― Deanna Raybourn, Silent in the Sanctuary

“Something had shifted between us, faintly, but the change was almost palpable. Our friendship had sat lightly between us, an ephemeral thing, without weight or gravity. Once, in the Boboli Gardens, under the shadow of a cypress tree on an achingly beautiful October afternoon, he had kissed me, a solemnly sweet and respectful kiss. But weeks had passed and we had not spoken of it. I had attributed it to the sunlight, shimmering gold like Danaë's shower, and had pressed it into the scrapbook of memory, to be taken out and admired now and then, but not to be dwelled upon too seriously. Perhaps I had been mistaken.”
― Deanna Raybourn, Silent in the Sanctuary

“I suppose it is quite certain he is dead?” I asked faintly. “There are bits of him stuck to your shoe,” he remarked, rather unhelpfully.”
― Deanna Raybourn, Silent in the Sanctuary

“If stubbornness were water, I could sail on you to the ends of the earth.”
― Deanna Raybourn, Silent in the Sanctuary

“Have you not yet learned that villainy is not written on the face, but the heart?”
― Deanna Raybourn, Silent in the Sanctuary

“Aquinas was a superior servant; he betrayed little reaction to the news that there was a corpse in the chapel. He merely blinked once, slowly, and then crossed himself.”
― Deanna Raybourn, Silent in the Sanctuary

“Life is either far too short or far too long to make yourself miserable.”
― Deanna Raybourn, Silent in the Sanctuary

“Personally, I preferred more immediate action than petitioning the Almighty, but I tried very hard not to think less of those who believed differently. We”
― Deanna Raybourn, Silent in the Sanctuary

“river meadow.”
― Deanna Raybourn, Silent in the Sanctuary

“You are maudlin and sentimental, and it is high time you took a rather hard look at yourself and realized you are in danger of becoming ridiculous.”
― Deanna Raybourn, Silent in the Sanctuary

“That’s the trouble with women,” she said. “We know what we oughtn’t do, and yet we do it anyway. Nature has given us instincts, but when a man comes along, we hear only his voice, and not our own”
― Deanna Raybourn, Silent in the Sanctuary

“Sir Cedric looked at me appraisingly. "I was quite right about you. You need a husband. Someone with a firm hand to keep you in line. You are far too forward and mannish."

I inclined my head graciously. "How kind of you to notice. In that case, permit me to wish you as pleasant a journey as you deserve.”
― Deanna Raybourn, Silent in the Sanctuary

“There are few greater pleasures in life than a devoted butler.”
― Deanna Raybourn, Silent in the Sanctuary