" He could take Ellie’s freedom. He could take her body. He could take her name and use it, use her, both for Amelia and for himself. He could take her future away, and tell her she owed it to him. Tell himself she owed it to him, too. But he couldn’t take her love. He couldn’t force it from her, or steal it from her. She had to choose to give it to him. She had to reach down into her heart, past the panic and the fear, and offer it to him willingly. Her love was the only thing that mattered. It had always been the only thing that mattered. The best he could do, the most he could do, was try and deserve it. "

― Anna Bradley , Lady Eleanor's Seventh Suitor (The Sutherland Sisters, #1)