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61 " It hadn’t made any difference. The dowry was too large. Unbeknown to her, she’d been bred for sale and fattened like a calf with manners and education. She’d felt betrayed, but she’d been young. She understood the world better now. Meat didn’t get a say on whose hook it hung from. "
― Stuart Turton , The Devil and the Dark Water
62 " You know what men are when there’s nobody ordering them to be better. "
63 " I meet his gaze, my host’s too. Dance is slipping apologies onto my tongue, urging me to flee the room. It’s a bloody nuisance. Every time I open my mouth to speak, I have to force aside another man’s embarrassment first. "
― Stuart Turton , The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle
64 " I don’t, and there’s a further cause for concern.” “Of course there is,” she sighed. “Why would concern want to travel alone? "
65 " I imagine it would be rather splendid to wander away from myself for a little while. "
66 " Are you keeping Sara out of trouble?” “I’m trying, but she seems terribly fond of it. "
67 " curiosity was ever her vice. "
68 " Like a child, I close my eyes in the hope that when I open them again, the natural order will be overturned, the impossible made plausible by desire alone. "
69 " ...a man who'd throw a punch at the sun because it burnt him. "
70 " His next words are offerings, carefully chosen and even more carefully placed before me. "
71 " You don't like the man you were. Very well. Be somebody else. There's nothing stopping you, not anymore. As I said, I envy you. The rest of us are stuck with our mistakes. "
72 " „Most men would say this isn’t women’s work.“ There was no mistaking the challenge in her tone.„My father was one of them“, admitted Arent. „He taught me that women were frail creatures purposely crippled by God that men might prove their virtue by protecting them. Sounded right enough. Until I went to war and saw men pleading for their lives while women swung hoes at the knights trying to take their land.“ His tone hardened. „Strong is strong and weak is weak. And it doesn’t matter if you wear breeches or skirts if you’re the latter. Life will hammer you flat. "
73 " My brother was murdered nineteen years ago tomorrow, Sebastian. I don’t know why, but my parents have decided to mark the occasion by reopening the house where it happened and inviting back the very same guests who were here that day. "
74 " I can sense my memories just out of reach. They have weight and shape, like shrouded furniture in a darkened room. I’ve simply misplaced the light to see them by. "
75 " In his absence my breathing eases, my hands unclench. Anger takes its arms from around my chest, "
76 " The weak shouldn't have to fear the powerful, and the powerful shouldn't be simply allowed to take what they wanted without consequence. Power should be a burden, not a shield. It should be used to everybody's betterment, not merely for the person who wielded it. "
77 " Your frustration is understandable, but what use is rearranging the furniture if you burn the house down doing it? "
78 " This time the past will hold her hand and squeeze. Memory will murder her. "
79 " Then it would be foolish for you to go alone, besides I brought some help.’ From her handbag, she pulls out a black revolver. "
80 " There’s no glory except what the minstrels make up so the nobles can feel good about the slaughter they paid for. A soldier’s job is to end up dead far from home, fighting for a king who wouldn’t give them the crumbs from his table. "