The League of Gentlewomen Witches Quotes

“Do not look so concerned on my behalf, Captain. It is a common enough statement. For example, I myself love that house there with the wooden shutters. I love tea. I love you, and your smile, and the way you sigh in your sleep. See, common. Unconcerning. We are still enemies.”
― India Holton, The League of Gentlewomen Witches

“They stared at each other for a long, intense moment. Breathe, Alex remind himself. Do what now? his lungs replied.”
― India Holton, The League of Gentlewomen Witches

“But her mind, well trained for messes like spilled tea, conservative governments, and tumbling toward one’s death, reacted calmly.”
― India Holton, The League of Gentlewomen Witches

“Alex did not like bewilderment. He liked smug certainty and hitting things with his sword.”
― India Holton, The League of Gentlewomen Witches

“Elizabeth Bennet would no doubt be shocked by such indelicacy. But then, Elizabeth Bennet really should have boxed Mr. Darcy’s ear halfway through chapter three. Just as Emma Woodhouse should have shut the door in Mr. Knightley’s condescending face and Fanny should have slapped some sense into Edmund then gone off to London to get herself a decent education. Having now experienced various degrees of communion with a man, Charlotte was of the opinion that Jane Austen’s heroines were ninnies. Maybe from here on she ought to read Mary Wollstonecraft instead.”
― India Holton, The League of Gentlewomen Witches

“It was an imperfect moment, but she would remember it for the rest of her life.”
― India Holton, The League of Gentlewomen Witches

“But alas! Alas! She must confess to herself that she did not want to be wise yet.”
― India Holton, The League of Gentlewomen Witches

“The woman was going to annoy him into an orgasm before he even placed a hand on her.”
― India Holton, The League of Gentlewomen Witches

“I require you to ignore this man, sir. He's lying, he is not my husband; he is a pirate."

"Aeronautical entrepreneur," Alex corrected.”
― India Holton, The League of Gentlewomen Witches

“She had come to the end of the short queue in front of the counter and was waiting much in the same way a stick of dynamite waits”
― India Holton, The League of Gentlewomen Witches

“This woman was just another lover, another way of getting through
the dark. He was not going to go feeling simply because she did.
However, there was no harm in smiling too, like a soft, boyish fool, in the
darkness where no one could see it.”
― India Holton, The League of Gentlewomen Witches

“I’m Irish. Being both Catholic and a pirate are almost obligatory.”
― India Holton, The League of Gentlewomen Witches

“The pirates trooped in like a sentence full of adjectives, adverbs, and exclamation marks, punctuated finally by the tiny black full stop of Verisimilitude Jones, who was generally called, or more precisely, screamed, "Millie the Monster".”
― India Holton, The League of Gentlewomen Witches

“At that opportune moment, Bixby reappeared, tea towel and grenade in hand. "I beg your pardon, sir. There is a house following us.”
― India Holton, The League of Gentlewomen Witches

“She had come to the end of the short queue in front of the counter and was waiting in much the same way a stick of dynamite wait”
― India Holton, The League of Gentlewomen Witches

“My word!” Miss Plim ejaculated with astonishment”
― India Holton, The League of Gentlewomen Witches

“It is a truth seldom acknowledged that a single
woman in possession of a good fortune is not
especially in want of a husband.”
― India Holton, The League of Gentlewomen Witches

“She’d heard those words over and again throughout her childhood, words that felt like a rap on the knuckles or a prod against the heart. You’re so sensitive, Charlotte. You feel too much, you are too much. It’s messy. A witch must be more restrained. She’d built a hundred layers of calm and coolness over the years in response. She’d worked hard to become something other than her altogether wrong self.”
― India Holton, The League of Gentlewomen Witches

“What are you reading in that rag that could be more important than the willful self-ruin of independent women?”
― India Holton, The League of Gentlewomen Witches

“I meant all the way to Lady Armitage’s house, which will be the climax of our efforts. Once I have my amulet, you can withdraw.”
Alex laughed. “Oh dear, I do love you,” he said—
And silence clamped down between them.
“Um,” he added, pushing a hand through his hair. “Metaphorically
speaking, of course.”
“Of course,” Charlotte agreed hastily. She realized she had stopped walking, possibly because her heart seemed to have stopped beating; she
began to stride once more along the street. “Do not look so concerned on
my behalf, Captain. It is a common enough statement. For example, I
myself love that house there with the wooden shutters. I love tea. I love
you, and your smile, and the way you sigh in your sleep. See, common.
Unconcerning. We are still enemies.”
“Mortal enemies,” he agreed, smiling rather self-consciously.”
― India Holton, The League of Gentlewomen Witches

“Smashing pumpkins and throwing muses was all very entertaining, but of no real benefit when things took off, literally.”
― India Holton, The League of Gentlewomen Witches

“The two lines of dancers moved apart, with hands connected and arms raised to make a steepled lane. Witch and pirate danced through like shadows in the lamplight, pretending night, leaving everyone blinking and enchanted.”
― India Holton, The League of Gentlewomen Witches

“This is the work of someone even more nefarious.” Creeve spoke the word as if it were a rich chocolate with raspberry at its heart, and he licked his thin white lips afterward. “I assure you, Detective, that we have entertained no lawyers here.”
― India Holton, The League of Gentlewomen Witches

“Just so. Besides, I don’t notice any of you rushing off to find our precious amulet.”
The room filled with mutters. Sicknesses were evoked, twisted ankles displayed, times declared to be difficult, husbands castigated as tyrants, and several other excuses presented as to why the ladies present were not in current hot pursuit of Beryl’s amulet. Some swore they had begun—but then a stray cloud or random blue symbol had prophesized trouble if they continued. Others had been on their way out the door this very morning to start the pursuit when Miss Plim’s summons came.”
― India Holton, The League of Gentlewomen Witches

“Alex staggered, reaching for the nearest object to steady himself—a naked marble gentleman. It rocked beneath his hands, thus proving Charlotte, Cecilia, Miss Plim, and probably most women of England correct as to the unreliability of men.”
― India Holton, The League of Gentlewomen Witches

“Yes,” she said breathlessly.
His solemnity broke into a smile unlike any Charlotte had seen from him before. Its beauty and warm sincerity shone on her heart, which gasped and hugged itself.
“I’m glad you finally agree with me about something,” Alex said, cupping a hand to her face. The dangerously beautiful eyes were gentle as they looked down at her. “Hold on to that answer.”
She tried to huff, but it came out as a dreamy sigh instead. “I will.”
“That one too.”
They gazed at each other, grinning rather foolishly.”
― India Holton, The League of Gentlewomen Witches

“As Charlotte plummeted to the ground, still locked in Alex's arms, she recollected Miss Plim's warning that kissing a man was bad for one's health.”
― India Holton, The League of Gentlewomen Witches

“As they reached the end of the lane, the lines of dancers moved together again, and Charlotte and Alex copied them—hands still clutching, gazes locked. The world seemed to suspend in a haze of noise and color. Miss Plim was gone; Lizzie Bennet was gone; all that remained were Alex’s smiling eyes and the disordered beat of her heart. She did not want to breathe lest she break the spell. Here was some magic greater than witchery. She, Charlotte Pettifer, was participating in a romantic ballroom moment such as Jane Austen herself might have composed—albeit without a dreadful aunt in pursuit. Nor a hero who was utterly devilish, with an earring and a hefty sword, not to mention a pair of boots that on their own would be censored from any decent novel. And alas, she doubted the heroine would be quite as worldly as she herself had become this past week. In fact, she rather suspected she would be the villain in a Jane Austen novel.

But Charlotte was surprised to find she did not care. Rising on her toes, she kissed that devilish pirate, and thrilled at the smile she startled onto his mouth.

It was an imperfect moment, but she would remember it for the rest of her life.”
― India Holton, The League of Gentlewomen Witches

“Madam,” he said. “May I have this dance?”
Elizabeth Bennet would have said yes from sheer surprise. Fanny Price would have said no and hidden her face. But Charlotte did not consult either. Instead, she frowned at the pirate, called him a fiend, and let him dance her in long strides across the floor. His smile was a hook, holding her up out of fear. Her hips moved in a manner she had not known them capable of. The two lines of dancers moved apart, with hands connected and arms raised to make a steepled lane. Witch and pirate danced through like shadows in the lamplight, portending night, leaving everyone blinking and enchanted.”
― India Holton, The League of Gentlewomen Witches

“She’ll never stop,” Charlotte cried.
“Trust me,” Alex said with a piratic smile. “I’ll keep you unsafe.”
― India Holton, The League of Gentlewomen Witches