Haven't you ever wished that you could steal back just a few hours of your past?" she asked softly. "That's all I want... just a little taste of what might have been.

No marriage stays in the same pattern forever. It is both the best feature of marriage and the worst, that it inevitably changes.

Safe men are for marrying. Dangerous men are for pleasure.

The truth is, you can never really know a man until you've loaned him money. And you can never know a woman until you've slept in her bed.

For thousands of nights I dreamed of making love to you. No man on earth has ever hated sunrise as I do.

It was a kiss to level mountains and shake stars from the sky. It was a kiss to make angels faint and demons weep...a passionate, demanding, soul-searing kiss that nearly knocked the earth off its axis.

The boy heaved a sigh. "I would ask to go with you," he said, " but I have to finish my lessons. I so look forward to the day when I know everything. Then I won't have to read any more books or do any more counting." Beatrix smiled. "I don't wish to be discouraging, Rye, but it's not possible to know everything." "Mama does." Rye paused reflectively. "At least, Papa says we mus t pretend she does, because it makes her happy." "Your father," Beatrix informed him with a laugh, " is one of the wisest men I've ever known.