in crowded rooms they would form words with their lips for each other's eyes

I fell in love with her courage, her sincerity, and her flaming self respect. And it's these things I'd believe in, even if the whole world indulged in wild suspicions that she wasn't all she should be. I love her and it is the beginning of everything.

A sudden gust of rain blew over them and then another - as if small liquid clouds were bouncing along the land. Lightning entered the sea far off and the air blew full of crackling thunder. The table cloths blew around the pillars. They blew and blew and blew. The flags twisted around the red chairs like live things, the banners were ragged, the corners of the table tore off through the burbling billowing ends of the cloths.

If he had to bring all the bitterness and hatred of the world into his heart, he was not going to be in love with her again.

The helpless ecstasy of loosing himself in her charm was a powerful opiate rather than a tonic.

If you are strong enough, there are no precedents.

When a girl feels that she’s perfectly groomed and dressed she can forget that part of her. That’s charm