Varney the Vampire; or, The Feast of Blood Quotes

“although an American would always rather lose a drop of blood than a dollar, they keep a pretty sharp look out upon both.”
― James Malcolm Rymer, Varney the Vampire (The Feast of Blood)

“Could I desert her – could I say to her, ‘My dear girl, when you were full of health and beauty, I loved you, but now that sadness is at your heart I leave you?’ Could I tell her that, uncle, and yet call myself a man?” “No!”
― James Malcolm Rymer, Varney the Vampire (The Feast of Blood)

“But damne, I want to know about the mermaid.” “The vampyre, you mean, sir.” “Well, well, the vampyre.” “Then,”
― James Malcolm Rymer, Varney the Vampire (The Feast of Blood)

“My dear uncle, you will recollect that Miss Bannerworth is quite a young lady.” “I suppose she is.” “Well, then, for God’s sake, don’t attempt to kiss her.” “Not kiss her! damne, they like it. Not kiss her, because she’s a young lady! Damne, do you think I’d kiss a corporal of marines?” “No, uncle; but you know young ladies are very delicate.” “And ain’t I delicate – shiver my timbers, ain’t I delicate? Where is she?”
― James Malcolm Rymer, Varney the Vampire (The Feast of Blood)

“My dear uncle, you will recollect that Miss Bannerworth is quite a young lady.” “I suppose she is.” “Well, then, for God’s sake, don’t attempt to kiss her.” “Not”
― James Malcolm Rymer, Varney the Vampire (The Feast of Blood)

“Bah!” “Really, uncle, if you say ‘Bah!’ to everything, I cannot go on.” “And what the deuce difference, sir, does it make to you, whether I say ‘Bah!’ or not?” “Well,”
― James Malcolm Rymer, Varney the Vampire (The Feast of Blood)

“must have a quid for my quo, as the parsons say.”
― James Malcolm Rymer, Varney the Vampire (The Feast of Blood)

“It is,” said Henry, “the portrait of Sir Runnagate Bannerworth, an ancestor of ours, who first, by his vices, gave the great blow to the family prosperity.”
― James Malcolm Rymer, Varney the Vampire (The Feast of Blood)

“How different was the funeral of one who had friends. He was alone; none followed, save the undertaker and his attendants, all of whom looked solemn from habit and professional motives. Even the jocose man was a supernaturally solemn as could be well imagined; indeed, nobody knew he was the same man.”
― James Malcolm Rymer, Varney the Vampire (The Feast of Blood)

“Tis strange what a change comes over masses of men as they gaze upon a dead body. It may be that they all know that to that complexion they must come at last. This may be the secret of the respect offered to the dead.”
― James Malcolm Rymer, Varney the Vampire (The Feast of Blood)

“We are always anxious and willing to give every one credit for the good that is in them; and, hence, we are pleased to find that Sir Francis Varney, despite his singular, and apparently preternatural capabilities, has something sufficiently human about his mind and feelings, to induce him to do as little injury as possible to others in the pursuit of his own objects. Of the two, vampyre as he is, we prefer him much to the despicable and hypocritical Marchdale, who, under the pretence of being the friend of the Bannerworth family, would freely have inflicted upon them the most deadly injuries.”
― James Malcolm Rymer, Varney the Vampire (The Feast of Blood)

“But soon a better nature seems to come over him, and gentler words fall from his lips. He preaches patience to himself – he talks not of revenge, but of justice, and in accents of more hopefulness than he had before spoken, he calls upon Heaven to succour him in his deep distress.”
― James Malcolm Rymer, Varney the Vampire (The Feast of Blood)

“No, no – we will not be terrified thus – there is Heaven above us.”
― James Malcolm Rymer, Varney the Vampire (The Feast of Blood)

“The man who deserts the good ship that carries him through the waves, or the girl that trusts her heart to him, ought to be chopped up into meat for wild monkeys.”
― James Malcolm Rymer, Varney the Vampire; or, The Feast of Blood

“A cloud swept from off the face of the moon, and a slant ray fell upon the hideous features of the vampire. He looked as if just rescued from some charnel-house, and endowed for a space with vitality to destroy all beauty and harmony in nature, and drive some benighted soul to madness.”
― Thomas Peckett Prest, Varney the Vampire Or the Feast of Blood

“The world, my good sir, is censorious, and you cannot stop people from saying extremely ill-natured things.”
― Thomas Peckett Prest, Varney the Vampire Or the Feast of Blood

“One glance, one terrified glance, in which her whole soul was concentrated, sufficed to shew her who and what the figure was. There was a tall, gaunt form — there was the faded ancient apparel — the lustrous metallic-looking eyes — its half-opened mouth, exhibiting tusk-like teeth! It was — yes, it was — the vampyre! It”
― James Malcolm Rymer, Varney the Vampire