The Deception of the Emerald Ring Quotes

“There's nothing so attractive as a blank slate. Take one attractive man, slap on a thick coat of daydream, and voila, the perfect man. With absolutely no resemblance to reality.”
― Lauren Willig, The Deception of the Emerald Ring

“It is a truth universally acknowledged that time moves differently for men.”
― Lauren Willig, The Deception of the Emerald Ring

“Mr. Alsworthy!” exclaimed Letty’s mother. “How can you laugh at such a matter! Although, I must say, I would have thought if a pirate were to kidnap anyone, he would kidnap Mary. She looks quite as I did in my youth, and I’m sure a pirate would have wanted to kidnap me.”

“Don’t taunt me with lost opportunities, my dear.”
― Lauren Willig, The Deception of the Emerald Ring

“My dear Mrs. Grimstone, sometimes cowardice is merely another word for common sense.”
― Lauren Willig, The Deception of the Emerald Ring

“I know historians aren’t supposed to fall in love with their own theories, but I was head over heels about the notion of an entire band of female French agents, like a nineteenth-century Charlie’s Angels. Only better. It made the Pink Carnation’s organization look positively humdrum.”
― Lauren Willig, The Deception of the Emerald Ring

“She responded to Letty's well-meaning suggestions with the unblinking disdain perfected by cats in their dealings with their humans.”
― Lauren Willig, The Deception of the Emerald Ring

“Its nice to know that your common sense stands between me and the grave.”
― Lauren Willig, The Deception of the Emerald Ring

“I’m not your gilded prince with the gilded chairs, Letty,” Geoff said simply. “I couldn’t be if I tried.”

“I wouldn’t want you to be.” Letty’s voice felt rusty.

“I’m not particularly bold or dashing or heroic. I’m happier at my desk than in a black cloak. And I’ve never entirely mastered all the steps of the quadrille.” He looked soberly down at her. “But what I am is yours, if you’ll still have me.”
― Lauren Willig, The Deception of the Emerald Ring

“It was the usual sort of academic battle: footnotes at ten paces, bolstered by snide articles in academic journals and lots of sniping about methodology, a thrust and parry of source and countersource. My sources had to be better.”
― Lauren Willig, The Deception of the Emerald Ring

“All this rapture,” managed Letty, wriggling out of her mother’s grasp, “is decidedly premature.”
― Lauren Willig, The Deception of the Emerald Ring

“After an initial startled gasp, his intended bride dissolved into his arms, returning his kiss with more fervor than she had ever shown before. They were on the verge of being married, after all. Amazing what a difference imminent vows could make. Her hands, originally poised against his chest as though to push him back, slid slowly up to his shoulders and stayed there, as her head tilted back, her lips matched to his.

...

It was quite some time before it began to dawn on Geoff that she might be just a bit too soft. The arms encircling his neck were a little rounder than he remembered them, and her shoulder blades seemed to have receded. Geoff’s hand made another tentative pass up and down her back, without breaking the kiss. Yes, definitely smoother. It might just be the added padding of the cloak, but other discordant details were beginning to intrude upon Geoff’s clouded senses. Her fragrance was all wrong, not Mary’s treasured French perfume, but something fainter, lighter, that made him think without quite knowing why of the park at Sibley Court in summer. It was a perfectly pleasant scent, but it wasn’t Mary’s. He was kissing the wrong woman.”
― Lauren Willig, The Deception of the Emerald Ring

“Patience," she said in her best governess voice, "is only a virtue when there is something worth waiting for.”
― Lauren Willig, The Deception of the Emerald Ring

“Only the silver head of his cane blazed with reflected fire, held aloft above the grave like a medieval necromancer summoning spirits from the vasty deep.”
― Lauren Willig, The Deception of the Emerald Ring