A King's Ransom Quotes

“May I offer you some advice?"

"I'd rather you offered me a fast horse and a head start," Richard said with a tight smile. "But I'll take the advice, too.”
― Sharon Kay Penman, A King's Ransom

“I suppose I should just be thankful that since you are so much given to treachery, you’re so reassuringly inept at it.”
― Sharon Kay Penman, A King's Ransom

“He supposed he’d always known he would not make old bones. Scriptures spoke plainly enough on that. For all they that take up the sword shall perish by the sword.”
― Sharon Kay Penman, A King's Ransom

“After that, he was still. They could hear church bells chiming in the distance. Somewhere Vespers was being rung, people were at Mass, life was going on. Andre had not thought there was a need for words of farewell, not between them. But now he found himself approaching the bed, suddenly afraid that he'd waited too long. "Richard." He held his breath then, until the other man opened his eyes. "Listen to me," he said hoarsely. "You will not be forgotten. A hundred years from now, men will be sitting around campfires and telling the legends of the Lionheart."
The corner of Richard's mouth twitched. "Only ... a hundred years?" he whispered, and Andre and Eleanor saw his last smile through a haze of hot tears.”
― Sharon Kay Penman, A King's Ransom

“For whatever reasons—which had never interested him in his youth but which he sometimes pondered as an adult—the Angevin House had always taken Cain and Abel as role models.”
― Sharon Kay Penman, A King's Ransom

“when a man fell into a deep hole, it was usually a good idea to stop digging.”
― Sharon Kay Penman, A King's Ransom

“Those who served both the Almighty and secular lords did their best to follow Jesus’s teachings and render unto Caesar the things which were Caesar’s, and unto God the things that were God’s, all the while praying they’d never have to choose between the two.”
― Sharon Kay Penman, A King's Ransom

“She found it ironic that, even after marrying twice and raising four sons to manhood, the workings of the male brain remained such a mystery to her.”
― Sharon Kay Penman, A King's Ransom

“We live on in memories and deeds and prayers, lad; above all in those we love.”
― Sharon Kay Penman, A King's Ransom

“He was dying as he’d lived, and that made it so much harder for those who loved him. But then she remembered what she’d been told about his father’s wretched last hours. After learning that John had betrayed him, he’d turned his face to the wall and had not spoken again. Only as his fever burned higher had he cried out, “Shame upon a conquered king.” An anguished epitaph for a life that had once held such bright promise. No, better that Richard laugh at Death than die as Harry had. His body was wracked with pain, but at least he was not suffering Harry’s agony of spirit. She could not have borne that.”
― Sharon Kay Penman, A King's Ransom

“Eleanor had followed Richard, marveling, as always, at the male inability to speak the language of the heart. “One day I hope to understand why men see sentiment as the ultimate enemy,” she said dryly, “but I’ll not be holding my breath until it happens.”
― Sharon Kay Penman, A King's Ransom

“Barbed banter was the coin of their realm and heartfelt admissions of affection were rejected out of hand as counterfeit.”
― Sharon Kay Penman, A King's Ransom

“just ridden”
― Sharon Kay Penman, A King's Ransom: Plantagenets Book 5