Home > Work > Beauty and the Beast (Timeless Fairy Tales, #1)
61 " I lied to you. I should have told you the truth about who I was. "
― K.M. Shea , Beauty and the Beast (Timeless Fairy Tales, #1)
62 " I was confused and grieved. "
63 " Loving a person isn’t a magical, sparkly passion. It’s hard work. It’s putting the other person before yourself. It’s companionship and being able to trust and depend on each other. That theatrical true love everyone spouts about is really finding a partner who will go through the heartbreaks and joys of life with you. "
64 " He lifted his hands in a plea. Severin almost snorted. I will never fathom how all my staff came to be such bleeding hearts given all we have lived through. "
65 " Let me tell you something, missy. You young maidens nowadays get misty-eyed thinking about true love and the fathomless adoration you will share. It’s not like that. Real love is looking at someone and knowing that you wouldn’t mind waking up to their bad breath for the next century, and you are fine with them seeing you before you brush your hair and fix your face for the day. Elle blinked, surprised by the housekeeper’s sudden outburst, but Heloise wasn’t finished. She erased the message and wrote again. Loving a person isn’t a magical, sparkly passion. It’s hard work. It’s putting the other person before yourself. It’s companionship and being able to trust and depend on each other. That theatrical true love everyone spouts about is really finding a partner who will go through the heartbreaks and joys of life with you. "
66 " Do you have no hope of breaking the curse at all?” Severin raised his eyes to meet Elle’s gaze. For a moment, Severin saw what his servants could see in Elle. He saw the compassion in her face and the way she did not shrink from his intimidating gaze. He recognized the sparkle of intelligence in her beautiful eyes, and her humble, unadorned beauty instead of criticizing the size of her mouth or the length of her nose. Severin blinked and squashed the thoughts like unwanted bugs. "
67 " Jock waddled after her, breathing heavily enough to make Severin glance up to see if he had flopped over. Elle "
68 " They finished the loop and ended at Severin’s side, where Elle took her customary piece of fruit. Jock danced in place as he watched Elle eat and licked his chops. Elle reached into a hidden pocket of her dress, digging out a small piece of jerky to give the little dog. He just about oinked in thankfulness, and after a minute he and Elle continued on their walk. When "
69 " Severin offered, she paused. She looked from Jock to Severin to the bowl of fruit. “Am I being rewarded for walking?” she asked. “Yes,” Severin said. “Like a pet?” “Yes.” Severin "
70 " Real love is looking at someone and knowing that you wouldn’t mind waking up to their bad breath for the next century, and you are fine with them seeing you before you brush your hair and fix your face for the day. "
71 " Elle shook her head. “I can’t.” Her refusal didn’t surprise him. She is a proud one. "
72 " Hasn’t anyone given a gift to you before?” Elle gazed at Rosemerry. “Not like this.” Though he didn’t show it—for Elle would hit him if he did—sympathy weighed down his chest. "
73 " I thought as much. You have a savior complex.” “I do not!” Elle sputtered. Severin cracked a feline smile at her. “You do. And you are nearly as proud as I am. "
74 " Severin meant to sigh, but it sounded more like an impatient growl. Proud and mule headed. "
75 " I bought you a regular saddle, too, in which you can sit astride, but be careful in choosing when to use it. You will upset the delicate sensibilities of any noble women should they see you riding so.” He spoke with a slight sneer as he opened the door to Rosemerry’s box stall. He never had much patience for the fainting, demure act some of the genteel ladies put on. It was probably why he found Elle so refreshing. Elle "
76 " For a few moments, he watched her, then stood and walked to her chair. He captured the lock of hair she inhaled with her breathing and tucked it behind her ear. He froze in the middle of the motion, staring at his hand as if it had betrayed him. “No,” he said firmly. “It’s too late. It can’t be broken. "
77 " Elle eyed her lady’s maid. “Very well, what shall we discuss?” Romance. Elle smiled. “I thought that’s what we were talking about.” Not my romance! I meant yours. Elle’s wicked smile fell flat. “You are a wolf in a sheep’s fleece, Emele. I have told you before: nothing will happen between your master and me. Push off, and leave that topic alone.” And "
78 " I enjoy his company—not in the romantic sense. He knows when to be quiet and when to say something. He has a delightful sense of humor, and as an added incentive when I am with him, you are not hounding me to find him.” It sounds like friendship. “Of a sort, yes. In the beginning, he mostly tolerated me, but I would like to think that Severin no longer finds me a nuisance and enjoys our time as well,” Elle said. What is love but friendship set on fire? “Oh, "
79 " No one has ever been willing to sacrifice themselves for me.” “Elle.” The tone of Severin’s voice dragged Elle eyes up so they met his. “I will always protect you. "
80 " Let me tell you something, missy. You young maidens nowadays get misty-eyed thinking about true love and the fathomless adoration you will share. It’s not like that. Real love is looking at someone and knowing that you wouldn’t mind waking up to their bad breath for the next century, and you are fine with them seeing you before you brush your hair and fix your face for the day. Elle "