As Old as Time QUOTES

3 " Belle, go. If I was your age, I wouldn't have hesitated for a moment. You will always come back here, and I will always be here. And we will have those talks we need. Everyone should have a journey - and everyone should also have a home, too. Go out into the world for adventure, come home for love. "

― Liz Braswell , As Old as Time

4 " Life is a strange mixture of all of these genres, she mused, and it doesn’t have nearly as neat and happy an ending as you often get in books. "

― Liz Braswell , As Old as Time

5 " Belle had to think fast. She couldn't talk- she couldn't argue rationally or plead poetically with her captors, two things she excelled at.
What did one do in these situations, without a hidden knife, or a ring of invisibility, or a plan?
What would the Beast do?
Oh...
Something she wouldn't normally do. Something he often did. Something she never did.
Lose control. "

― Liz Braswell , As Old as Time

6 " If he were... a prince... a real one, a human one... would he get to just go inside with her on his arm? What would her father say? A prince on the arm of his daughter? What would happen then? Could they... could they marry? There was no one left in the kingdom to object to him marrying below his station.
Would Belle even like him?
Did she like him now?
She hadn't pulled away when he had kissed her, before... and she had kissed him just now. That was something, right? "

― Liz Braswell , As Old as Time

7 " Belle," he whispered, almost a croak.
"You promised to give me my bookstore back," she said, trying not to cry. "You promised me. So I could read more stories about Jack. So I could read them... to you..."
The Beast's mouth opened strangely, his pointy teeth suddenly seeming too large and out of place inside of lips trying to form words it couldn't remember.
Then he suddenly shook himself- like a spooked cat or dog.
He looked down at Belle, his eyes now bright with intelligence.
"I did promise," he said, his voice growing stronger and more human. "And... a king keeps his promises. "

― Liz Braswell , As Old as Time

8 " Would you come with me, Belle? Help me do this? We may not succeed... I may always be a beast."
"No," Belle said with a smile, touching him on the nose. "You will always be my prince."
"Well, you're not exactly what I wanted out of a son-in-law- because of your parents, not because of your form, I mean," Rosalind said quickly. "But you're certainly a fair bit better than that Gaston fellow... what is his story, if I may ask? Was he also a patient at the asylum?"
Belle almost choked on her laughter. "No, and that was not the first time he proposed to me."
"I think," Maurice said, putting his arms around the couple, "we should all have one last night together before you start out... just the four of us. There are a lot of stories to tell before we see you again."
"And most of them," Belle observed with a smile, "seem to almost have a happy ending. "

― Liz Braswell , As Old as Time

9 " Silverware was marching like little soldiers down the long length of the table toward Belle. Pieces of china were shoving each other precariously out of the way, vying to be in the single place setting in front of her. Little pots of mustard and chutney and other condiments hopped one after another off the shelves lining the room, landing surprisingly intact on silver trays.
Too many things were moving around the room- things that shouldn't have been moving at all. It was dizzying, and more than a little ominous.
"Really, this isn't necessary..." Belle said, getting ready to bolt. A fresh boule, the cracks in its crust emitting amazing-smelling steam, was carried to her by a spidery basket with alarming silver legs. "

― Liz Braswell , As Old as Time

10 " Try the gougères," Lumière interrupted, popping one into her mouth before she could continue. It was warmed by his flame and melted on her tongue- nothing at all like the perfectly good but usually rock-hard ones she and her father baked.
"Ohhh..." she couldn't help saying.
"It's been so long since we had a guest!" Mrs. Potts danced around on the table happily, somehow managing to fold a napkin with her spout-nose. She tossed it into Belle's lap: a swan shape that gracefully unfolded as it fell, almost like it was flying. Belle shrank back, worried it was actually going to fly.
"I can't imagine why," she muttered.
And then she was distracted by the food.
Piles of it. More than a feast- a banquet.
There was a whole leg of lamb, multiple terrines and soufflés, three soup courses, a delicate fish in white wine broth, an orange ice in between to clear the palate...
There was a water glass, a golden glass for red wine, a crystal one for white, and a saucer for consommé. There were seven forks of descending size and different numbers of tines, the last three whose use she couldn't even begin to work out. "

― Liz Braswell , As Old as Time

11 " She wasn't used to having backup; of all the many resources her prodigious mind was capable of accessing, help wasn't one of them. She was used to doing things on her own. "

― Liz Braswell , As Old as Time

12 " The broth was nearly clear and colorless, singing with notes of the sea- and Belle had never actually been to the sea. When she broke her bread to dip, the crust shattered, the crumb inside moist to the point of almost being a custard.
The terrine was so rich she managed only one tiny demitasse spoonful.
She and her father didn't eat fancily but they ate well enough and even had meat once or twice a week. The herbs that still flourished in her mother's garden spiced up dishes more than it seemed like they should have. They supped well, like all Frenchmen and women.
But even Christmas was nothing compared to this.
Belle suddenly realized she was shoveling it all in like a character from one of those stories who was tricked into eating magic food until he exploded or grew too large to escape.
And a slightly more down-to-earth part of her spoke up warningly, in what she liked to pretend was her mother's voice: You are, at the very least, going to have an extremely upset stomach from this rich new food. "

― Liz Braswell , As Old as Time

13 " I need some rope," she said to Cogsworth as she entered the study, shaking herself into action.
"Yes, of course, right away," the little clock said. "What?"
"I'm not letting him free until I get some answers," Belle said, gritting her teeth. "Help me tie him up."
"Tie up? The master?" Cogsworth stuttered.
"He threw my father into a cold prison cell, then took me in his place! I think tying him up in front of a warm roaring fire is plenty generous, considering! "

― Liz Braswell , As Old as Time

14 " I---" the Beast coughed again. "I hope you like it here."

What?

He hoped she liked it here? Like a guest? What an odd thing to say to a prisoner. "

― Liz Braswell , As Old as Time

15 " Not all gunpowder is for killing. I have a friend who makes the most amazing fireworks. And who---a little you--- spends all her time trying to launch things higher and higher into the air... "

― Liz Braswell , As Old as Time

16 " Once upon a time in faraway land, a young prince lived in a shining castle...

It was a very good story.
It often entertained the women who lay in her black hole of a room, manacled to a hard, cold bed.
She had enjoyed its repetition in her mind for years. Sometimes she remembered bits differently: sometimes the rose was pink as a sunset by the sea. But that never resonated as well as red as blood.... "

― Liz Braswell , As Old as Time

17 " Belle examined the dresses skeptically. Of course, if things went the way they did in fairy tales, they would all fit her perfectly. The question was, was this a "Bluebeard's Wives" situation? Or something else? "

― Liz Braswell , As Old as Time

18 " But my father..." Belle began again.
"What about him?"
"He needs me...."
"He raised you by himself, didn't he? Seems like he's done a more than all right job. He'll be fine for a few days on his own," the Beast pointed out.
Belle glared at him.
Her father couldn't... he didn't...
...make their meals, tend their garden, earn coin for comestibles they couldn't grow or forage themselves, spend days inventing- all things he did before she was old enough to help him... when he was taking care of her....
Her lip quivered. Of course he was fine.
Wait...
"You think he did a more than all right job?" she couldn't help asking.
The Beast shrugged, suddenly embarrassed.
She found herself smiling.
Was he- was he almost smiling back? In his eyes, at least? "

― Liz Braswell , As Old as Time

19 " Coming back to the village through the snow, under the dark cloudy skies, Belle felt like she had been away for a lifetime. She had, in fact, never left the village by herself before this. There were a couple of overnight trips to fairs with her father, and once or twice during mushroom season they got swept up in the fury and spent a few nights in the forest, gathering morels and truffles and camping out. But that was all, and always with Papa. "

― Liz Braswell , As Old as Time

20 " You managed to stop yourself from becoming a full-fledged beast. Well done! Recovering your human soul and mind on your own, I mean."
The Beast blinked.
"Permanently? I'm not going to... relapse? Go back to being a beast- I mean, in my head- again?"
"Of course not," Rosalind said impatiently. "As long as your love for Belle- and hers for you- lasts. The spell is broken, or mitigated, at least."
Belle and the Beast looked at each other, eyes wide.
The Beast suddenly began to scratch the back of his neck in embarrassment. Belle blushed.
And then she found herself almost overcome with giggles.
"It's pretty obvious," Maurice pointed out with a smile.
"Yes, another factor in my punishment," Rosalind said grimly. "Magic always comes back on itself... of course it would be my daughter who would break the spell. I am an idiot. And now here you are, her future husband. A prince."
"King," Maurice corrected mildly. "

― Liz Braswell , As Old as Time