Cotillion Quotes

“No one could have called Mr. Standen quick-witted, but the possession of three sisters had considerably sharpened his instinct of self-preservation.”
― Georgette Heyer, Cotillion

“What I mean is, like you to have everything you want. Wished it was me, and not Jack, that's all.”
― Georgette Heyer, Cotillion

“I daresay Freddy might not be a great hand at slaying dragons- but one has not the smallest need of a man who can kill dragons!”
― Georgette Heyer, Cotillion

“She succumbed to the eternal feminine passion for bargains.”
― Georgette Heyer, Cotillion

“You don't feel you could marry me instead? Got no brains, of course, and I ain't a handsome fellow, like Jack, but I love you. Don't think I could ever love anyone else.”
― Georgette Heyer, Cotillion

“Queer creatures, females," mused Mr. Standen, shaking his head. "Fellow's only got to be a rake to have 'em all dangling after him. Silly, really, because it stands to reason---- Well never mind that!”
― Georgette Heyer, Cotillion

“No, no, Kit, don’t cry!’ begged Freddy, putting his arm round her. ‘Can’t bear you not to be happy! I won’t say another word. Never thought there was any hope for me. Just wanted to tell you.”
― Georgette Heyer, Cotillion

“That Fish of yours is queer in her attic.'
'Freddy, she is not!'
"Must be. Dash it, wouldn't write to you about Henry VIII if she wasn't! Stands to reason.”
― Georgette Heyer, Cotillion

“How the deuce would you know the right way to go on if you was never taught anything but the wrong way?”
― Georgette Heyer, Cotillion

“What brings you here, Kit? No wish to offend you, but not quite the thing, you know!’

Her lip trembled. She replied with a catch in her voice: ‘I am running away!’

‘Oh, running away!’ said Mr Standen, satisfied.”
― Georgette Heyer, Cotillion

“Well aware that to bring the voice of sober reason to bear upon the exaggerations of agitated females was both fruitless and perilous, Freddy wisely let this pass...”
― Georgette Heyer, Cotillion

“I daresay Freddy might not be a great hand at slaying dragons, but you may depend upon it none of those knight-errants would be able to rescue one from a social fix, and you must own, Meg, that one has not the smallest need of a man who can kill dragons!”
― Georgette Heyer, Cotillion

“If someone would have the goodness to inform me whether I am assisting at a tragedy or a farce I should be grateful,”
― Georgette Heyer, Cotillion

“You think I’ve got brains?’ he said, awed. ‘Not confusing me with Charlie?’

‘Charlie?’ uttered Miss Charing contemptuously. ‘I daresay he has book-learning, but you have—you have address, Freddy!’

‘Well, by Jove!’ said Mr Standen, dazzled by this new vision of himself.”
― Georgette Heyer, Cotillion

“I know it, and I wanted so much not to drag you into it!’ said Kitty remorsefully. ‘I thought, if only you knew nothing about it, it would serve as a reason for you to put an end to our engagement!’
‘Yes, I know you did. Told me so, in that letter you wrote me. Dashed cork-brained notion! Stands to reason if you’re in it I must be too.”
― Georgette Heyer, Cotillion

“Upon Mrs Scorton's reappearance, she found herself confronted, not by the fool of his family, but by the Honourable Frederick Standen, a Pink of the Pinks, who knew to a nicety how to blend courtesy with hauteur, and who informed her, with exquisite politeness, that he rather fancied his cousin was tired, and would like to be taken home. One of the uninvited guests, entering the box in Eliza's wake, ventured on a warm sally, found himself being inspected from head to foot through a quizzing-glass, and stammered an apology.”
― Georgette Heyer, Cotillion

“I do think,’ said Kitty fervently, ‘that Freddy is the most truly chivalrous person imaginable!’ Freddy’s sister, regarding her with awe, opened her mouth, shut it again, swallowed, and managed to say, though in a faint voice: ‘Do you, indeed?’ ‘Yes, and a great deal more to the purpose than all the people one was taught to revere, like Sir Lancelot, and Sir Galahad, and Young Lochinvar, and—and that kind of man! I daresay Freddy might not be a great hand at slaying dragons, but you may depend upon it none of those knight-errants would be able to rescue one from a social fix, and you must own, Meg, that one has not the smallest need of a man who can kill dragons!”
― Georgette Heyer, Cotillion

“It might have been supposed that Freddy, whose intellect was not of the first order, would have found it impossible to grasp the gist of an extremely tangled and discursive story, but once more the possession of three volatile and excitable sisters stood him in good stead.”
― Georgette Heyer, Cotillion

“It was seldom that Mr Standen, a peace-loving young gentleman, was conscious of a wish to come to blows with his fellow-men, but a wistful desire to land his cousin a facer did for an instant flicker in his mind.”
― Georgette Heyer, Cotillion

“No one could have called Mr Standen quick-witted, but the possession of three sisters had considerably sharpened his instinct of self-preservation.”
― Georgette Heyer, Cotillion

“It’s my belief, Kit, the woman’s touched in her upper works.’ ‘No, she is merely addicted to poetry,’ explained Kitty.”
― Georgette Heyer, Cotillion

“Meg, as good-natured as her mother and brother, would have been amiable to anyone for whom her kindness had been solicited. Had she found herself confronted by a dazzling blonde she would not have spurned Kitty; but it could not be denied that the discovery that Miss Charing was a brunette immediately confirmed her in her conviction that she would like her prodigiously.”
― Georgette Heyer, Cotillion

“Much discomposed, Freddy made inarticulate noises.”
― Georgette Heyer, Cotillion

“Dashed if I didn’t receive a letter from him this morning! Yes, and what’s more, I had to pay sixpence for it, which I’d as lief not have done. It ain’t that I grudge sixpence, but what I mean is, why the deuce should I have to give sixpence for a thing I’d as soon not have?”
― Georgette Heyer, Cotillion

“It seemed to Kitty a pity that her new friend’s mind was set so irrevocably upon marriage, but her suggestion that Olivia might seek an eligible situation as a governess met with no favour at all. Olivia stared at her with dismay in her big eyes, and unequivocally stated her preference for death.”
― Georgette Heyer, Cotillion

“Dear Papa, it seemed, had not left his family in affluent circumstances; but he had certainly endowed them with good looks, a commodity in which they had been bred from earliest youth to trade to the best advantage.”
― Georgette Heyer, Cotillion

“she was generally considered to be a pretty woman; and, since she was as good-natured as she was foolish, she was almost universally liked.”
― Georgette Heyer, Cotillion

“That Hugh’s presence within walking distance of Biddenden Manor might not be conducive either to his happiness or to his self-esteem he did not allow to weigh with him, for he was a man with a strong sense of propriety, and he knew that it was his duty to feel affection for all his brothers and sisters.”
― Georgette Heyer, Cotillion

“Lord Biddenden’s instincts were patriarchal. He liked to see his brothers and sisters under his roof, and to feel that they depended upon him for guidance; and he was almost as anxious for their advancement as his own.”
― Georgette Heyer, Cotillion

“There was nothing romantic about Miss Charing's appearance, but her entrance would not have shamed a Siddons. "You," she uttered in accents of loathing. "I might have known it!”
― Georgette Heyer, Cotillion