If I canโt be personal, I donโt want to argue,โ said his hostess categorically. โI may be missing your points, but youโre much too busy dodging mine.
Dorothy DunnettVersatility is one of the few human traits which are universally intolerable. You may be good at Greek and good at painting and be popular. You may be good at Greek and good at sport, and be wildly popular. But try all three and youโre a mountebank. Nothing arouses suspicion quicker than genuine, all-round proficiency.
Dorothy DunnettMy son took many years to learn the simple truth. You cannot love any one person adequately until you have made friends with the rest of the human race also. Adult love demands qualities which cannot be learned living in a vacuum of resentment.
Dorothy DunnettWhatโs wrong? Has Francis been rude? Then you must try to overlook it. I know you wouldnโt think so, but he is thoroughly upset by Tom Erskineโs death; and when Francis is troubled he doesnโt show it, he just goes and makes life wretched for somebody.
Dorothy DunnettHe regards boredom, I observe, as the One and Mighty Enemy of his soul. And will succeed in conquering it, I am sureโif he survives the experience.
Dorothy DunnettDid I ever tell you,โ said Lymond pausing on the afterthought, on his way to the flap, โthat that aunt of mine once hatched an egg?โ He paused, deep in thought, and walked slowly to the door before turning again. His lordship of Aubigny, staring after the vanishing form of his brother, received the full splendour of Lymondโs smile. โIt was a cuckoo,โ said Francis Crawford prosaically, and followed Lennox out.
Dorothy Dunnett