Emma, Mr. Knightley, and Chili-Slaw Dogs Quotes

“She closed her eyes, not really hearing the rest of what he murmured against her ear. All she knew was that it echoed everything that was in her heart. He was a surprise. Love was a surprise. And a surprise love between friends was the best kind of all.”
― Mary Jane Hathaway, Emma, Mr. Knightley, and Chili-Slaw Dogs

“Why do people call it settling down when it’s a man and finding the right one when it’s a woman?”
― Mary Jane Hathaway, Emma, Mr. Knightley, and Chili-Slaw Dogs

“Captain Owen Hartford, at your service.” He tipped his hat.
Oh, so it was going to be like this, was it? She searched her memory for a good name. “Patience Corntower. Of Thorny Hollow way.”
His grin went wide. “We are well acquainted. You may not recollect me.”
“But I do, sir. Quite clearly.”
Something flickered in his gaze. “Would the miss be available for a short walk on the pier?”
“In the middle of a battle?” She tried not to laugh. “Aren’t you supposed to be getting something amputated?”
“Shhh.” He held up a finger, eyes crinkled at the corners. “Don’t break character.”
― Mary Jane Hathaway, Emma, Mr. Knightley, and Chili-Slaw Dogs

“Captain Owen Hartford, at your service.” He tipped his hat.
Oh, so it was going to be like this, was it? She searched her memory for a good name. “Patience Corntower. Of Thorny Hollow way.”
His grin went wide. “We are well acquainted. You may not recollect me.”
“But I do, sir. Quite clearly.”
Something flickered in his gaze. “Would the miss be available for a short walk on the pier?”
“In the middle of a battle?” Her eyes went wide and she tried not to laugh. “Aren’t you supposed to be getting something amputated?”
“Shhh.” He held up a finger, eyes crinkled at the corners. “Don’t break character.”
― Mary Jane Hathaway, Emma, Mr. Knightley, and Chili-Slaw Dogs

“When I kissed Brooks, it was like I’d been stun-gunned. But I was still conscious.”
Debbie Mae’s eyebrows had gone way up. “Awake but nobody home?”
“Well, maybe awake but somebody home with really, really bad judgment.”
― Mary Jane Hathaway, Emma, Mr. Knightley, and Chili-Slaw Dogs

“I feel weird.” Caroline blinked a few times. “Do you feel weird?”
Brooks shrugged. “How weird? We’re all dressed like people in a Jane Austen book. I think weird comes with the territory.”
― Mary Jane Hathaway, Emma, Mr. Knightley, and Chili-Slaw Dogs

“I wonder what it was really like back then. We think it’s all fun and flirting, but there was probably a lot of ugly reality.”
“Like the dancing.”
― Mary Jane Hathaway, Emma, Mr. Knightley, and Chili-Slaw Dogs

“Caroline leaned forward. “Now explain to me why this is perfectly normal and dressing up in Regency gear is not.”
He blinked. “Finley, because the Civil War is history.”
“So is Regency England.” She laughed, eyes bright. “Just because we’re not firing cannons or riding horses doesn’t mean it won’t be fun.”
― Mary Jane Hathaway, Emma, Mr. Knightley, and Chili-Slaw Dogs

“Brooks stuck his hands in his pockets and examined his shoes. It would be nice to be known fully and still loved, but what if it was one or the other? What if by the time someone got to know you, the person didn’t love you anymore? And when could you be sure the person really knew you? Two years? Four? It was probably better to pull back while the going was good, rather than to risk losing a marriage on the gamble of someone’s still liking the real you, the forty-years-of-marriage you. Yes, definitely better to leave good things alone. Things such as friendship.
“You look like someone ran over your dog.” Blanche nudged him with her elbow.”
― Mary Jane Hathaway, Emma, Mr. Knightley, and Chili-Slaw Dogs

“There's no way on God's green earth that I'm dressing up like Mr. Darcy." Brooks stretched out on Caroline's bed, hanging his suede wing tips off the edge and crossing his ankles. He laced his fingers behind his head and looked infuriatingly cool and relaxed.
"Not Mr. Darcy. That's the guy from Pride and Prejudice. You're supposed to come as Mr. Knightley.”
― Mary Jane Hathaway, Emma, Mr. Knightley, and Chili-Slaw Dogs

“Bless her heart. She’s three gallons of crazy in a two-gallon bucket and no one has time for the mess.”
― Mary Jane Hathaway, Emma, Mr. Knightley, and Chili-Slaw Dogs

“Right, I totally forgot. I can’t wait to taste the flummery.”
“I’m not sure if I want to know what that is,” Manning said.
“It’s a sort of jelly, but made into a mold that is shaped like a castle or a tower or just a”—Debbie Mae wiggled one hand—“big wobbly thing. The ragout of veal will be a hit, I’m sure. And the Roman punch will have to be changed a little bit. It’s usually lemon water and hot syrup with a lot of rum.”
― Mary Jane Hathaway, Emma, Mr. Knightley, and Chili-Slaw Dogs

“He felt so tired, so weary of holding on with an iron grip to something he knew was slipping away.
“You can’t make someone love you,” he said.
Her hand stilled for a moment, the dirty tissue between her fingers. “True.”
“Even if you love them so much you’d do anything, anything, for them.” The truth of his words sank in. Speaking about it wasn’t helping. It felt worse, like probing an open wound.
“Even if,” his grandmasaid, nodding.
“Sometimes they pick another person to love when you’ve been right in front of them the whole time.”
“It does happen.” Her voice was soft.
“And then there’s nothing left but to keep going as you were, pretending you never felt anything more than . . .”
“Friendship?” Her eyes met his and there was the faintest glimmer of tears.
“But I don’t think I can have even that, anymore.”
― Mary Jane Hathaway, Emma, Mr. Knightley, and Chili-Slaw Dogs

“He turned toward the bookshelf, his back to her, saying nothing. He held out one hand and she gave him the Eliot to shelve. His voice was rough. “‘Our words have wings, but fly not where we would.’”
Caroline stepped back into her heels. “I always thought she stole that line from Homer. He was all about the ‘winged words’ in the Odyssey, and then Eliot comes along with that line and everyone falls all over it.”
Brooks seemed to be examining the shelf again. “I thought you liked George Eliot.”
“I do. I think she was brilliant. But what does that line mean, anyway? Is it about influence? Writing? Distance?” She shrugged, wishing he would step away from the books and turn around.
“Maybe it means that sometimes what we say doesn’t come across the way we mean it to.” He finally turned, his lips tilted up a bit at the corners. “I always liked ‘nothing is so good as it seems beforehand.’ I think that’s the perfect Eliot quote for the moment we head off to a garden party.”
― Mary Jane Hathaway, Emma, Mr. Knightley, and Chili-Slaw Dogs