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21 " Quincy didn’t look away from Arch’s face, and she felt something burn in her chest, the same overwhelmingly fierce pride she had felt when looking at a perfectly inked Q sheet or an expansion report that exceeded even her high expectations.“You will never lose your passion for truth,” Quincy promised.Arch held his breath a moment, his eyes searching hers. “You say that so confidently.”“You shake with it, Arch,” Quincy said, lifting a shoulder. “I suppose it’s one of your greater virtues. "
― Beth Brower , The Q
22 " His touch felt like coming back, and Quincy realized she had been waiting for it. When he pulled away, both of his hands now on the sides of her face, his eyes searching hers for answers, Quincy nodded then wrapped her arms around him. She pressed her face to his chest, and his response was to gather her to him, saying something she couldn't her. And there it was, the heartbeat she had heard the night of the Fothergils' ball, pulsing again in the shell of her ear. Quincy closed her eyes from relief. It gave her the same comfort the sound of the press gave her. It was a familiar machine. "
23 " It is one of the great arts of the human soul," Ezekiel said to himself. Her hand on the door, Quincy shifted and looked back at her uncle's profile. "What is?""Staying with someone. Companionship is one of the great arts of the human soul. "
24 " In all actuality, Quincy knew that, when riding in a wagon, your thoughts had plenty of room to wander and move and never bump into those of your companions. But in a carriage, with its confined space, people often felt compelled to speak with one another, even when their companion didn't wish it. And Quincy did not wish it. She thought that the truest test of humanity was riding in a coach and saying absolutely nothing to one's traveling companions. Few, if any, had ever succeeded. "
25 " She kept thinking that a time like this required words-one million lines of type, laid out perfectly, with no ink stains, no backward letters-to say what should be said. But that couldn't happen, and she didn't know what else to put in its place. "
26 " Quincy stood before the black casket, hands behind her back, a ruined pile of rusted thoughts and sharp emotions torn up and left in her empty chest. "
27 " The song reminded her of grief, of emotions that were simpler as a child, more straightforward, that were now taken and turned into something she was hesitant to touch but could not forget. "
28 " She paused before continuing, "What is it you want, anyway? I mean, to expand your business? Triple the income? Buy yourself a castle in the south of Spain and leave Constable Catch endlessly running in circles?""Is that all improvement would be to you?" Crow's eyes narrowed as he surveyed Quincy's face. "Is that the pinnacle of where you would like to be?""Is there anything wrong with it?""No." Crow shook his head and shifted so he was facing Quincy straight on. "But is there anything right with it, love? Now, that's another question. "
29 " the room and her appearance startled him. "