He had relieved whores beyond counting of frocks, stays, chemises, garters, and stockings. He had never before in his life unbuttoned a gently bred maiden's glove. He'd committed salacious acts beyond number. He'd never before felt so depraved as he did now, as the last pearl came free and he drew the soft kid down, baring her wrist, and his dark fingers grazed the delicate skin he'd exposed.

The bigger they are, the harder they fall. And the better the world liked seeing them fall.

I am not in love with you," she said. "It is an infatuation. I have heard of such derangements happening to elderly spinsters.

Masculine pride is an exceedingly precious and fragile thing

Did you know you could kill a person with a hatpin?" she said."I did not," he said. "Do you speak from experience? Have you murdered anybody? Not that I'd dream of criticizing.

You refuse to listen. Because, like every other man, you can keep only one idea in your head at a time-usully the wrong one.

We've been wed more than a month. Since it appears you mean to stay, I might as well give you leave to call me by my christian name. It is preferable, at any rate, to 'clodpole.