A Sorceress Comes to Call Quotes

“The problem with being rich is that you simply have no idea how expensive it is to be poor.”
― T. Kingfisher, A Sorceress Comes to Call

“She decided not to risk it. Words could always be said, but could rarely be unsaid.”
― T. Kingfisher, A Sorceress Comes to Call

“I go to confession whenever the guilt gets to be too much.” “And how often is that?” “It hasn’t happened yet, but you never know.”
― T. Kingfisher, A Sorceress Comes to Call

“I'd like to yell," said Imogene, "but this hardly seems like the time, does it?" She grimaced. "Willard, can you take the scissors? My hand is getting a cramp."

"Certainly, Lady Strauss."

"And promise you'll kill her. No gallantry, now."

"Madam." He frowned at her. "I am a butler. Do you truly believe that I do not know how to dispatch a houseguest if required?”
― T. Kingfisher, A Sorceress Comes to Call

“It was the calm of a burned-out house or a ravaged field, the calm that comes where there is no longer anything to lose.”
― T. Kingfisher, A Sorceress Comes to Call

“The knowledge that she was alone and no one could see her— that she could do anything, say anything, think anything and no one would be the wiser- made her feel fierce and wicked and brave.”
― T. Kingfisher, A Sorceress Comes to Call

“Eh?” Hester realized that her brother had been speaking. “What was that? You have to speak up, my hearing’s not what it was.” (This was entirely untrue, but she had found that it was a very good excuse when she had simply been ignoring a dull conversation.)”
― T. Kingfisher, A Sorceress Comes to Call

“No, no." The Squire's mustache quivered with his sincerity. "All my fault, my dear, truly all mine.I forget that most well-bred ladies have nerves. Hester hasn't any at all, you see."

"None whatsoever," said Hester dryly. "Otherwise people might get on them.”
― T. Kingfisher, A Sorceress Comes to Call

“sometimes it didn’t matter if you broke. You kept going. You weren’t given a choice.”
― T. Kingfisher, A Sorceress Comes to Call

“Hester was no hero, but there was nothing in her that would allow her to turn away from a person who had been dropped on her doorstep. Even if that person had brought Doom along with her.”
― T. Kingfisher, A Sorceress Comes to Call

“Am I dead? Is that why I’m so comfortable?”
― T. Kingfisher, A Sorceress Comes to Call

“I had a terrible feeling when I saw her. You know how people talk about love at first sight? This was like... fear at first sight.”
― T. Kingfisher, A Sorceress Comes to Call

“You look magnificent," he said with absolute conviction, and tore her heart in half without even trying.”
― T. Kingfisher, A Sorceress Comes to Call

“Madam.” He frowned at her. “I am a butler. Do you truly believe that I do not know how to dispatch a houseguest if required?”
― T. Kingfisher, A Sorceress Comes to Call

“He's got no head!" said Imogene. She sounded more outraged than frightened, as if the notion of monsters going around without heads was a terrible social faux pas. "Things don't just walk around without heads!"

"Chickens, sometimes," offered Willard.

"That was not helpful, Tom."

"No, but I've already poured tea, so I'm afraid I've run out of helpful things to do at the moment.”
― T. Kingfisher, A Sorceress Comes to Call

“Like many men not overly encumbered by intelligence, he had a great deal of cunning in avoiding personal unpleasantness.”
― T. Kingfisher, A Sorceress Comes to Call

“Something's weighing on you," he said, looking down at her. "What can I do?"
Hester rubbed her hand over her face.
"You're here," she said. "That helps more than I can say,”
― T. Kingfisher, A Sorceress Comes to Call

“Grief takes people in odd ways,” said Imogene, lighting another lamp. “Though compulsive book-buying isn’t one I’ve heard of before.”
― T. Kingfisher, A Sorceress Comes to Call

“She looks like a horse that's been beaten so often that it doesn't know what is expected of it any longer. And who doesn't expect that to ever change.”
― T. Kingfisher, A Sorceress Comes to Call

“Great Flood of Devilreys that now Surround us” and how “such as was Common Knowledge in days past is now Treated as the Base Ramblings of Superstitione and Rumore.” (Where is he getting all of these e’s? Hester wondered. Did they simply have more of them lying around back then?)”
― T. Kingfisher, A Sorceress Comes to Call

“It was a strange reflection that, like Hester turning the cuffs on her gowns, you were somehow allowed to be poorer if you were rich than if you were actually poor.”
― T. Kingfisher, A Sorceress Comes to Call

“Worrying about other people was becoming exhausting.”
― T. Kingfisher, A Sorceress Comes to Call

“Her body wanted to relax, to melt against him like warm butter. Her body was an idiot. She told it sternly that there would be absolutely no melting.”
― T. Kingfisher, A Sorceress Comes to Call

“Beautiful women have an easier time of it, at least while they’re young and beautiful. The rest of us must develop style. It’s not so easy as beauty, but it lasts longer, and it’s less brittle.”
― T. Kingfisher, A Sorceress Comes to Call

“If I invited you to a house party and you did not like someone there, you would hardly glare daggers at her over dinner.”
“It’s true,” said Hester. “I’d be very polite over dinner. I’d simply push her down the stairs later.”
“Exactly. This Lady Evangeline is not a subtle creature.”
“Is pushing someone down the stairs subtle?”
“I have every confidence that you would do so discreetly.”
― T. Kingfisher, A Sorceress Comes to Call

“I go to confession whenever the guilt gets to be too much.” “And how often is that?” “It hasn’t happened yet, but you never know. Our dear Father Reynard lives in hope, anyway.”
― T. Kingfisher, A Sorceress Comes to Call

“Oh well. At least if I’m going to be burned at the stake, I’ll be well-dressed”
― T. Kingfisher, A Sorceress Comes to Call

“Damnation,” Hester whispered to herself. “Damn it all to hell and beyond.” Which was not language fitting for a lady, but this particular lady had a problem far beyond the scope of what she’d originally conceived.”
― T. Kingfisher, A Sorceress Comes to Call

“I’m told they regularly wander through small villages together, looking for interesting cheeses.”
― T. Kingfisher, A Sorceress Comes to Call

“Last year's fashions were all lace and ruffles. I refused to add a single ruffle, which means that I may continue wearing this gown in style *and* that I did not spend last year looking like a birthday cake. An enormous savings in both money and dignity.”
― T. Kingfisher, A Sorceress Comes to Call