4
" No one moved. No one spoke. They seemed be riveted by whatever it was they saw in his eyes.
“Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave.”
A few gasps erupted.
His voice rang out, bold, clear.
“It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame. Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot wash it away.”
It was safe to say everyone was awake now. He’d startled most of his parishioners and aroused the rest of them.
“Evie Duggan …”
And all the heads official swiveled to follow the beam of the reverend’s gaze. Then swiveled back to him.
Then back to Eve.
Whose heart was in her eyes.
“ … You are the seal upon my heart. You are the fire and flame that warms me, heals me, burns me. You are the river that cools me and carries me. I love you. And love may be as strong as death, but you … I know now you are my life.”
A pin would have echoed like a dropped kettle in the church then.
Eve was absolutely riveted. Frozen, her eyes burning into his.
“And though I wish I could have protected you and kept you safe from some of the storms of your life, I find cannot regret any part of your past. For it has made you who you are. Loyal, passionate, brave, kind, remarkable. You need repent nothing.”
The last word fell like a gavel.
Not a single person moved or breathed.
“There are those who think good is a pastime, to engage in like embroidery or target shooting. There are those who think beauty is a thing of surface, and forget that it’s really of the soul. But good is something you are, not something you do. And by that definition, I stand before you today and declare that Evie Duggan is one of the best people I have ever had the privilege of knowing. "
― Julie Anne Long , A Notorious Countess Confesses (Pennyroyal Green, #7)
19
" Only two. Practically an innocent. So unlike all the men she'd known, and he must have known it. And yet the thoughts swelled and crashed and swelled again, a torrent of unprecedented jealousy, raw and unfamiliar: Who? Who knows how it feels to be covered by your body? Who knows the taste of your mouth, the feel of you inside her? Who has tangled her bare legs with yours, seen your eyelashes against your cheek while you sleep, your hair smashed across the pillow, knows the scrape of your morning beard against her cheek?
What are you like when you lose control, Reverend Sylvaine? "
― Julie Anne Long , A Notorious Countess Confesses (Pennyroyal Green, #7)