It didn't occur to him that she might have chosen to remain this way. That where he saw reserve and loneliness, Cassandra saw self-preservation and the knowledge that it was safer when one had less to lose.

A girl expecting rescue never learns to save herself. Even with the means, she will find her courage wanting.

For it is said, you know, that a letter will always seek a reader; that sooner or later, like it or not, words have a way of finding the light, of making their secrets known.

To abandon a child, she had once said to someone, when she thought Cassandra couldn't hear, was an act so cold, so careless, it refused forgiveness.

Oh, there was harm indeed for a young lady flattered by the brief attentions of a handsome man.

Doors lead to things and I've never met one I haven't wanted to open.

So much in life came down to timing.