A Nefarious Engagement Quotes

“And now he was waiting, just waiting. It was another gift, a remarkable one, she thought, to love a man who did not need you to explain the minutiae of a situation to him, however eager he was to explain it to you.”
― Lynn Messina, A Nefarious Engagement

“As your future wife, I find that very reassuring, but I meant the writing style. My mother is succinct and makes her points cleanly,” she explained. “You will find none of the loquacious self-importance that you value so highly in a persuasive argument. I say that only as a warning, not a criticism, you understand. I personally love loquacious self-importance.”
― Lynn Messina, A Nefarious Engagement

“Then he moved the tool from side to side with light, nimble movements. As he worked, he quietly explained the mechanism, which thrilled Bea, who adored him for being a victim of his own pedantry even whilst engaged in illicit activity.”
― Lynn Messina, A Nefarious Engagement

“Bea began to join her in the tirade just to increase the amount of time their victim—and, yes, their was an accurate term now—had to suffer in polite silence. That she enjoyed adding to their annoyance did not come as a surprise, for she had discovered she harbored a perverse nature when she started to take pleasure in pricking Kesgrave’s vanity.”
― Lynn Messina, A Nefarious Engagement

“You are quite clever. Damien needs someone who is clever and will stand up to him, not a simpering miss who will drive him to an early grave by agreeing with his every thought. If I have to suffer a parcel of plain-faced great-grandchildren to see Damien properly settled with a woman who won’t let him descend into full-blown tyranny, then I am happy to do so.”
― Lynn Messina, A Nefarious Engagement

“With no clever thoughts in her head, Bea resorted to the truth. “Thank you, your grace. The compliment is deeply appreciated by me, and I must own that I did not come here today expecting such a charitable reception. I assumed you would be unhappy with the arrangement, as I’m not what you or anybody could have wanted for Kesgrave.” “You shouted,” her grace said. Bea, who had managed an intelligible comment by what felt like the skin of her teeth, wondered if perhaps the real problem was her hearing. “I shouted?” she echoed. “When Kesgrave brought you here to castigate you in private, you responded to his criticism with equal fervor and refused to melt in the heat of his anger,” she explained. “I can think of no better basis for a marriage.”
― Lynn Messina, A Nefarious Engagement

“She would remain equally impervious to her judgment. If living with the Hyde-Clares for twenty years had taught her anything, it was how to accept harsh appraisals without showing dismay.”
― Lynn Messina, A Nefarious Engagement

“But power never yields without a struggle.”
― Lynn Messina, A Nefarious Engagement

“Coward,” Bea said tenderly. “Craven. Faint of heart.” His fingers rested at the base of her spine. “Are you trying to provoke me into kissing you?” She grinned at the charge and leaned forward until her mouth just touched his. “How am I doing?” “Terribly,” he breathed before capturing her lips with his own.”
― Lynn Messina, A Nefarious Engagement

“She could wallow in it, allow the prospect of an unwieldy staff to undermine her confidence as exhaustively as Miss Brougham’s spiteful comment had during her first season, or she could trust Kesgrave.”
― Lynn Messina, A Nefarious Engagement

“Bea’s heart quivered again, for few things could reveal the depth of his affection more than a blatant disregard for the dictates of maritime tradition. “Moving the conversation from beetroot to naval battles could not have been a smooth transition.”
― Lynn Messina, A Nefarious Engagement

“An addendum to the original,” he said. “I knew your aunt must have said something to unsettle you, for there could be no other explanation for your uncharacteristic reticence this afternoon. I have never known you to remain quiet when there is an opportunity to roast me. I made up five types of beetroot on the spot—no meager accomplishment, by the way, for unlike you I am not accustomed to inventing persons and things—and arranged them by size specifically to get a rise out of you and you didn’t look up once. Desperate for your attention, I even scrambled the order of the British ships that fought in the Battle of the Nile.”
― Lynn Messina, A Nefarious Engagement

“I would offer to share my knowledge of locks, which, despite your mockery, is actually quite considerable, in a private tutorial, but I fear your aunt would insist on joining that as well,” he said, taking her hand and raising it to his lips. Now her heart fluttered.”
― Lynn Messina, A Nefarious Engagement

“The pressure on her chest grew from painful to unbearable as she began to wonder how many people believed as her aunt did—that she had dishonorably exploited the situation to improve her standing. Unable to breathe, Bea pivoted swiftly and strode to the door.”
― Lynn Messina, A Nefarious Engagement

“The only thing that kept me away was the knowledge that trust cannot be demanded. It must be freely given or it’s meaningless.”
― Lynn Messina, A Nefarious Engagement

“No, my love, if we miss our opportunity to break into [his] residence tonight, the consequences will be grave, for I’m convinced you would never let me forget it was my fault. Then you won’t invite me to help the next time you break into a gentleman’s apartments and I will be forced to sneak up on you whilst you are hiding in a dark corner, and your shout of alarm will alert the butler, which will cause a great ruckus involving Runners and magistrates. And that must be avoided at all costs.”
― Lynn Messina, A Nefarious Engagement

“My dear girl, you’ve gone white,” Wem said, brushing her arm lightly in concern. She flinched as the hand that killed her mother touched her. Gather your wits. “Delayed reaction,” she said, her voice a little breathless, which rendered the claim all the more believable. But too much blood was thundering in her head, making it difficult to think. She had to calm down. Take a deep breath.”
― Lynn Messina, A Nefarious Engagement

“Perhaps if they had been a little more subtle in their attempts to manipulate her, she might have taken offense at their hypocrisy. But their blatancy only amused her.”
― Lynn Messina, A Nefarious Engagement

“Mrs. Ralston?” Bea said, surprised, for her aunt most heartily disliked hosting. Nothing troubled her more than having to trouble herself for someone else. She much preferred being a guest, for which her graciousness did not require any capital expenditure.”
― Lynn Messina, A Nefarious Engagement

“Agitated by the predicament, for she could see no way forward that didn’t end with her heart shattered, she closed her eyes and took a deep, calming breath.”
― Lynn Messina, A Nefarious Engagement

“Nothing in Beatrice’s life had prepared her for the exquisite torment of reading her dead mother’s letters.”
― Lynn Messina, A Nefarious Engagement

“It’s not too late for us to reverse our course,” her ladyship said with sudden vehemence. “Forget all about this unpleasantness and focus on something truly important like my missing gold locket. The story might have a few incongruencies now, but I promise to smooth them out and have the appropriate item of jewelry hopelessly lost by the end of the day.”
― Lynn Messina, A Nefarious Engagement

“We will visit my modiste. She’s quite ingenious with a needle and will know precisely how to create a gown that will give you a figure. I assure you, she quite invented my bosom for me.” Amused by this observation, for her ladyship’s generous décolletage appeared to be a naturally occurring phenomenon, Bea thanked her for her gracious offer.”
― Lynn Messina, A Nefarious Engagement

“Return to you room at once, and I will have Mrs. Emerson send”
― Lynn Messina, A Nefarious Engagement

“Although Bea knew this statement to be false, for her younger cousin, though certainly kind, was hardly the sole of consideration,”
― Lynn Messina, A Nefarious Engagement

“When taking a suitor to task for not demonstrating sufficient impatience to declare himself so as to scale the wall outside your bedchamber and enter your room through the window, which, you will recall, you did last night,” he said with conversational ease as if arriving to take tea in her sitting room, “it’s commonly accepted courtesy to have a window through which he may enter. In the absence of just such an aperture, I was forced to sneak into the house through the front door.”
― Lynn Messina, A Nefarious Engagement

“I would offer to share my knowledge of locks, which, despite your mockery, is actually quite considerable, in a private tutorial, but I fear your aunt would insist on joining that as well,” he said, taking her hand and raising it to his lips.”
― Lynn Messina, A Nefarious Engagement