Raybourn Deanna Quotes & Sayings

For the first time in ten years, the March family gathered to perform the Twelfth Night Revels for the village of Blessingstoke, just as they had done in Master Shakespeare's day. The dragon breathed fire while the Turkish Knight brandished his sword at St. George, and when it was finished, the resurrected saint and his sad dragon stood in tableau while the white-robed chorus, of which Portia and I made two, sang of the blood-berried holly and the sweetly clinging ivy. Rather like Brisbane and myself, I thought fancifully. Both evergreen and hardy, one sturdy, one tenacious, and forever undivided. But now there was a new little branch grafted to our union. — Deanna Raybourn

By the time I had gathered my wits sufficiently to press the point the lamps had guttered out and Brisbane was sleeping heavily fatigued by his effortshighly successful efforts I must confessto divert me from the investigation. I lay awake physically satisfied but deeply annoyed. Even after nine months of marriage I was still not entirely comfortable with my responses to his physical overtures. The merest touch from him and all reasonable though seemed to fly out of my head. It was most disconcerting and more so because he apparently knew it I thought irritable. — Deanna Raybourn

Of course, he was absolutely correct, it was no concern of mine. So naturally I thought about it
excessively. — Deanna Raybourn

I think people are much the same wherever you go. Some of them good, some of them clever, and some of them with the devil in them. — Deanna Raybourn

I abhorred weakness of any kind but most particularly in my tea. — Deanna Raybourn

He considered that a moment, rolling the sweet over his tongue. There are times when it is entirely safe to show one's vulnerability, to roll over and reveal the soft underbelly beneath. But there are other times when pain must be borne without a murmur, when the pain is so consuming that if you give in to it, even in the slightest, you have lost everything. — Deanna Raybourn

I turned my face to the east and the first star that shimmered on the horizon. He held my hand, and it was the hand of the man I had married, lost and found again in the Badiyat ash-Sham, the fabled land of camels and caravans that lies just beyond the walls of the city of jasmine. To live with him would be a very great adventure indeed. — Deanna Raybourn

To say that I met Nicholas Brisbane over my husband's dead body is not entirely accurate. Edward, it should be noted, was still twitching upon the floor. — Deanna Raybourn

You men have been forcing us to change our names for the last four thousand years. Why don't we switch it up? You lot can take our names for the next few millennia and see how you like it. — Deanna Raybourn

One is not born English without knowing how to converse easily about the weather. — Deanna Raybourn

people who had neglected my acquaintance during my widowhood. Widows were skeletons at the feast, dampening everyone else's pleasure, — Deanna Raybourn

You have always been dazzling - the life of every party, the glamour girl who dances until dawn."
"Well, I am. But I'm dancing on broken glass. I'm Miss Havisham's wedding cake, Kit. A frothy, expensive, mice-eaten confection. I'm the Sphinx's nose, the fallen Colossus. I'm a beautiful ruin, and it's time that has done the deed. — Deanna Raybourn

The man whirled, his hands still gripping the animal's skin, his face perfectly illuminated by the fire. He was half in shadow, and the shadow revealed him slowly. His left eye was covered by a black leather patch, and thin white scar raked his brow and the cheekbone below. The carried on, down the length of his neck, into the thick black beard, twisting under his collarbone and around his torso. They marred only the skin, I noted, for the muscles beneath were whole and strong, and the entire impression was one of great vitality and energy, strength unbridled. He looked nothing so much as a fallen god working at a trade.
"Hephaestus at the forge," I murmured, recalling my mythology ... — Deanna Raybourn

When the wind is right and the cloud is gone, you can see down this road as far as Darjeeling," I told her. "But it is a long and difficult road, full of perils, and if a traveller on foot were to look at the length of it, his spirit would be overcome and he would sit down and refuse to go any further. You must not look to the end of the road, Portia. Look only to the step in front of you. That you can do. Just one step. And you will not make the journey alone. — Deanna Raybourn

Second rule of the bush. Never get too close to anything that has offspring.
What's the first rule?
Food runs. If you don't want to be food, don't run. — Deanna Raybourn

He had strong, steady hands, and I could tell from looking at them there was little he couldn't do. Mossy always said you could tell everything you needed to know about a man from his hands. Some hands, she told me, were leaving hands. They were the wandering sort that slipped into places they shouldn't, and they would wander right off again because those hands just couldn't stay still. Some hands were worthless hands, fit only to hold a drink or flick ash from a cigar, and some were punishing hands that hit hard and didn't leave a mark and those were the ones you never stayed to see twice.
But the best hands were knowing hands, Mossy told me with a slow smile. Knowing hands were capable; they could soothe a horse or woman. They could take things apart
including your heart
and put them back together better than before. Knowing hands were rare, but if you found them, they were worth holding, at least for a little while. — Deanna Raybourn

You are curious and quick, you have a deft mind, and for some unaccountable reason, people tell you things
useful things. — Deanna Raybourn

My face grew hot. "We were discussing the investigation," I told him quickly. "He was here a quarter of an hour at the most."
Father smiled at me sadly. "My dear girl, if you din't know what mischief can be gotten up to in a quarter of an hour you are no child of mine. — Deanna Raybourn

Are you going to say anything?"
Brisbane crossed one leg lazily over the other flicking an imaginary piece of lint from his trousers. "I think he is doing quite well without me."
"I did not mean for you to help him I meant for you to defend me," I said huffing slightly in my indignation. — Deanna Raybourn

If one has a purpose, life is bearable enough, do you not think so? — Deanna Raybourn

As a scientist I rebelled against the disorder, and I had long since discovered that nothing thwarted the mental processes like clutter. — Deanna Raybourn

They have different accents in America " Brisbane smiled. "Just as we do here." I waved a hand. "They all sound alike to me. — Deanna Raybourn

Is there any finer phrase in the English language than Midsummer Day? There are no words to touch it for conjuring. It is the beginning of blooming roses and ripening corn, of days that stretch on, reaching for midnight until the spangled blue velvet of night descends and beginning again before cockcrow, when the dew jewels the grass like diamonds scattered while the earth slumbers. I, of course, expected rain. Not just rain, but torrential, heaving, biblical rain - the sort to set arks afloat. Everything else had gone awry, why not that? But when I awoke on Midsummer Day, the sun greeted me cordially, coaxing the dew from the grass and the early roses as a light breeze wafted the scent of charred chimney over the gardens. I stood at the window and breathed in deeply all the scents of summer, fresh grass and carp ponds and blossoming herb knots until the whole of it mingled in my head and made me dizzy. A bee floated lazily in the window and out again as if beckoning me to follow. — Deanna Raybourn

She had stripped away her own illusions for him, and that was as seductive a thing as any woman could do. — Deanna Raybourn

There is always a pony, — Deanna Raybourn

I wore no jewels save the pendant Brisbane had given me with its secret code - the code that had given me my first inkling that he loved me. It had not been so very long since he had given it to me, a year only; twelve leaves of the calendar torn away, a few dozen weeks from then to now. But how much change that year had wrought! — Deanna Raybourn

I broke in swiftly. "How kind of you to renew your offer, your Grace. But I am afraid I must decline. Brisbane is the man for me. — Deanna Raybourn

It will be full dark soon, and I do not like the look of that sky. The temperature is falling as well," he added, rubbing his hands together briskly. "I think we shall be in for a bit of snow from the look of the cloud just over the Downs." Naturally the gentlemen had to spend another quarter of an hour debating the weather as the ladies stood shivering, Portia rolling her eyes at me behind Father's back. In the end they all agreed that, yes, it was indeed growing colder and darker and we ought to depart at once for the Abbey. — Deanna Raybourn

Your Aunt Hermia will not thank you for attempting to poach her maid. Do not look to me for protection," he advised. "I have my hands quite full with one March lady. I could not rise to the challenge of taking on another. — Deanna Raybourn

If I were going to play the adventuress, I might as well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb, I supposed. — Deanna Raybourn

Aunt Nell used to say it was not decent to have violet eyes, that they were a telltale sign of bad nature, like ginger hair or a hunchback. — Deanna Raybourn

Julia, we are all children at Christmastime."
"You are not," I pointed out.
He gave me a shadowy smile. "I think you told me once I was born old. — Deanna Raybourn

To walk away from something is only half the picture. What are you walking towards? — Deanna Raybourn

He slid his arms around her. "Is that how you fixed us together? Magic potions in my evening whisky?" She put her hands into his hair, twisting her fingers and tugging ever so slightly. "I didn't have to fix us. We came that way."
(Johnny and Delilah) — Deanna Raybourn

Even now you do not know what to make of me and I will not own what I am. I want you to think of me when you eave this place and wonder whether I am merely a mortal or something beyond. A better man would release you and want you to love another. I am no better man. I am selfish and flawed and I have nothing to offer you that is not broken or imperfect including myself, and so I offer you nothing but I love you until the day I die and no man will love you more. — Deanna Raybourn

Our motto is Audeo. I dare. Dare to take the life you want in your own two hands and do not let it go, do you hear me? — Deanna Raybourn

It sounds ghoulish, but it would have been fascinating to be in Paris in 1789 and watch the revolution begin. I can't even imagine what the energy must have been like that year with all of that change crackling in the air. — Deanna Raybourn

I matched my heated tone with one of pure ice. "I believe I did attempt to relate to you the facts of my calls and you interrupted me with a rather magnificent display of temper much as you are doing now. If you do not have all the facts of the case perhaps you have no one but yourself to blame." Brisbane opened his mouth and shut it with a snap. His mouth remained closed but I could hear him muttering under his breath. "What are you saying?" "I am counting. To one hundred. In Cantonese. — Deanna Raybourn

To know how a character will behave in any given situation is a necessity and a gift. — Deanna Raybourn

I slammed the door in her face and applied my bloody shoe to the lurkers in the bathtub, — Deanna Raybourn

I may not read tea leaves or palms, my lady, but it is easy enough to read faces. Yours is a questioning face, always looking for answers, always seeking the truth, for yourself and for others." I smiled at her. "I think that is a very polite way of saying I am curious as a cat. And we all know what happened to the cat - curiosity killed her." Rosalie took the last slice of cake onto her plate. "Yes, but you forget the most important thing about the little cat," she said, giving me a wise nod. "She had eight lives left to live. — Deanna Raybourn

He cupped the back of her head with one large hand and kissed her, slowly, sweetly, as if he were courting her again. When he pulled away, he wasn't surprised to find the tears that had stood unshed in her eyes were gone. He had always said Delilah Drummond was a force of nature. She had swept into his life with all the impact of a hurricane, and he had never entirely recovered from the first time she had looked up into his eyes and given him her slow, inviting smile. — Deanna Raybourn

He isn't interested in simple. He wants what he wants. No matter how much trouble she is and no matter whether he even understands it himself. — Deanna Raybourn

In my experience it is far better to tell a man what he wants to hear then do as you please, than attempt to reason with him. — Deanna Raybourn

I'd had my heart broken, you see. Fell in love with the wrong chap and he crushed me right down to the bedrock. Nothing left but humiliation. — Deanna Raybourn

After all, I might not intend to use him for a plaything, but I could still appreciate looking through the toy-shop window. — Deanna Raybourn

If you lift the romantic element out of my plots, you still have fully formed mysteries. In the same fashion, if you pull the mystery out of a historical romance, you are left with a perfectly satisfying story. — Deanna Raybourn

Those are facts. Are they the truth? No, for they do not tell you of the heart, and that is where truth lives. — Deanna Raybourn

O, the perfidy of men." "What have I done?" he protested. "Nothing at present, but you are the only representative of your sex I have at hand to abuse. Take your lumps for your brothers. — Deanna Raybourn

Did you mean what you said? You will pursue this?'
Brisbane sipped at his tea. 'I suppose. I have a few other matters that I must bring to conclusion, but nothing that cannot wait. And I have no other clients questioning either my integrity or my courage at present. — Deanna Raybourn

He smelled of leather and wool and tasted of apples and I could have died in that moment and counted myself happy. — Deanna Raybourn

sausages. Behind — Deanna Raybourn

We arrived back at the Abbey hand in hand and in perfect amity. In the space of our short walk we had agreed upon a new career and a new style of living. We should embrace simplicity, at least a privileged and eccentric sort of simplicity. We would have rooms for consulting and photographic equipment as well as a sitting room and bedroom with further accommodation for Morag and Aquinas. A pair of guest rooms and another pair for a cook and maid would complete our domestic arrangements. That still left a few rooms unused, but I had little doubt we would eventually put them to good purpose. As to the work Brisbane proposed, I felt a thrill at the prospect of taking on such important and clandestine activities. There was much yet to be discussed, but I felt the new year had dawned full of expectant promise, and already it was being fulfilled. — Deanna Raybourn

Did you never think of children then? Ours?" His voice was thick with emotion. "I never expected in the whole of my life that God would be so generous as to give me you. I did not think to ask for more. — Deanna Raybourn

In creating a new character, it's sometimes difficult to find a touchstone, a North Star that will always point you in the direction that character will travel. — Deanna Raybourn

One cannot innovate new improvements without understanding old failures. — Deanna Raybourn

I will make arrangements for you and Portia to return to London the following day. I will be closing up the house. I am leaving England for a while." "For how long?" I asked him, determined to keep my composure. "Until I am quite recovered from you," he said evenly. "When will you return?" "Never. — Deanna Raybourn

A woman could love a jackass. She could not love a son of a bitch. Many have tried, Gideon. Many have tried. — Deanna Raybourn

You have to love someone completely to be willing to destroy them. — Deanna Raybourn

She didn't look at me and I didn't look at her. Some questions are so direct the only way to ask them is sideways. — Deanna Raybourn

There were cycles in the life of a great house such as ours. When a lord is young, his family is boisterous and the house comes alive. But the wheel turns, as it must, and a quiet settles over the place as softly as a snowfall, muffling its gaiety as the lord ages and his family is flown. And then the wheel turns again and the house his handed over to the new lord and it stirs to life again, sheltering the family as it has so many before. — Deanna Raybourn

It is madness," Brisbane said, and he laughed until tears gathered in his eyes. "It may be madness, but it is an entirely March Christmas," I told him. "And do not forget, this is only half the family. The rest will be here for Twelfth Night." But that is a tale for another time. — Deanna Raybourn

We are mere humans, Veronica. We are destined to prefer beauty to ugliness." His — Deanna Raybourn

Apparently, he uses disguises sometimes in the course of his investigations. In his liaison with Mariah, he used them for discretion. He came to her once dressed as a chimney sweep. Quite invigorating, don't you think? — Deanna Raybourn

I adored history, not the dry dates and boring battles, but the stories and the people who populated them. — Deanna Raybourn

I put my hands on my hips, not caring if I sounded like a Billingsgate fishwife. "Yes, it was a dangerous thing to do, but as it seems to have escaped your attention, I remind you I am above thirty years of age, of sound body and mind, and in control of my own fortune. That means," I said, moving closer still, poking his chest for emphasis, "I am mistress of myself and answer to no one. — Deanna Raybourn

Only you mattered in that moment. Only you. And I would have done anything to save you. I would have paid any price committed any sin sold my very soul to do it. — Deanna Raybourn

I would kiss the ground where your shadow fell just to be near you. — Deanna Raybourn

Aunt Dove stepped behind her and looked at her reflection in the cheval glass. You haven't been to India, pet, but in the Nilgiri Hills, there's a flower called a kurinji flower. It doesn't bloom often. In fact, you can go a dozen years or more without seeing a single blossom. But then, just when you've given up hope of ever seeing one, they burst into flower, whole mountainsides at the same time, carpeted in the most astonishing shades of purple. It's as if God himself shook out a rug of petals and spread it at your feet. It's unexpected and magnificent, and very much worth the wait. — Deanna Raybourn

If you were a man, your ladyship, I would cordially horsewhip you for that remark. — Deanna Raybourn

You must engage in horizontal refreshment. It isn't healthy to congest oneself like that. — Deanna Raybourn

It seemed a very great folly to attempt to force a declaration from him, but it seemed a greater folly to let him go. If there was a single chance at happiness with him, I was determined to seize it. — Deanna Raybourn

He smiled again. "Your reputation undoubtedly precedes you."
I bristled. "I am not that curious!"
"You are curious as any cat, my love ... — Deanna Raybourn

Have you not yet learned that it is easier to pull a star down from the heavens than to bend a woman to your will? — Deanna Raybourn

She is wrong, you know. What you do is important. You save people," I told him, pressing my lips to the half-moon scar high upon his cheekbone. "You saved me." His arm tightened about my waist and we stood for a long moment, wrapped in each other. — Deanna Raybourn

And yours? What is your opinion? Truly?" She turned to face me, her green eyes brilliant in the lamplight. "Would it matter?"
"No. I love him and, damn the world, I will have him."
She grinned. "Good girl. And since my opinion doesn't matter, I give it freely: Brisbane is worth twenty Marches and dearer to me than most of my own brothers. If you do not marry him, I will do so myself, simply to keep him in the family."
I turned away quickly. "Are you weeping?" she asked.
"Don't be absurd." My voice was muffled and I swallowed, blinking furiously. "I have a cinder in my eye." Portia dropped a swift kiss to my cheek. "Happiness is within your grasp now, pet. Hang onto it, and do not let it go, whatever you do. — Deanna Raybourn

Fate is by far the greatest mystery of all. — Deanna Raybourn

She had the face of a chocolate box Madonna and larceny in her heart. — Deanna Raybourn

Brisbane and I passed a thoroughly satisfactory and entirely private evening in the solitude of our room. "Thank God for stout stone walls," he said at one point, and I heartily agreed. — Deanna Raybourn

A tiny smile played over his lips as he glanced down at my hand. "Do you mean to win me over with feminine wiles? I must admit it is a more diverting notion than your usual method of screaming at me like a fishwife."
I did not rise to the bait. I simply looked at him. "Please."
He caught his breath, a slow smile warming his features. "My god, you are trying to seduce me."
"I am not." I said primly. "I am merely trying to get your attention."
He bent swiftly and kissed me hard, pulling back so suddenly I nearly toppled over. "I believe I have already made it quite clear you have my attention. — Deanna Raybourn

I would have appreciated the satisfaction of a carnal paroxysm - in my experience, they bring a sparkle to the eye as well as brightness to the complexion and a spring to the step - but using Stoker to achieve that end was a means I could not begin to contemplate. — Deanna Raybourn

Should I be in distress? In a meadow? You mean if the cows organize some sort of attack? I have extensive experience with cows. They almost never do that." "Forget — Deanna Raybourn

I went to stand next to him, and he gave me his hand, warm and strong. "I am sorry I kept you waiting," I murmured. "I have waited for you the whole of my life," he replied softly. "What is another minute more? — Deanna Raybourn

Before I could ask, he caught sight of the garment in my hand. "In the name of bleeding Jesus, what are you sewing? Is that my shirt?" "It is, and I must say, it is in a deplorable state. But at least the material is quite good and will stand up to proper mending. Unfortunately, mending is not one of my skills," I said, holding up the shirt. Somehow I had managed to attach it to my own skirt, and I took up scissors to snip it free. — Deanna Raybourn

Julia, why are you smiling?"
"Because," I told him happily, "it's only our first night in this house and we already have two mysteries to solve. A most excellent beginning. — Deanna Raybourn

Now I was more certain than ever of my decision. I could not love a man who did not love Jane Austen. — Deanna Raybourn

The men stood back, chanting a song of one who would not be forgotten, of loved ones lost and returned to the earth, and of the land itself which does not die but is always born anew with each fall of the long rains. They chanted of life, which is short as a spear of summer grass or long as the heart of the Rift itself, and of the silent land that waits beyond. — Deanna Raybourn

When the light has fled but the stars have not yet shown themselves. That is the gloaming, the loveliest and saddest hour of the day. — Deanna Raybourn

I reached up to press a kiss to his cheek. "Do not be too angry with Father. He did not mean it not really."
"Angry? I feel rather sorry for him. We are kindred spirits," he observed with a wry twist of his mouth.
"How so?"
"We both suffer because you will not understand how utterly essential you are to our happiness. — Deanna Raybourn

He smiled. "I think a blonde. Anything with black hair has always been trouble for me. — Deanna Raybourn

I had a vision of you, the first time I stepped into Grey House, the night Edward died. That was why I kept staring at you while he lay on the bed, convulsing between us. I had seen you standing before me, your hand in mine. I could not hear what was said between us, but there was a sense of belonging to you, as if I had always known you somehow, and you had been waiting for me. It came as rather a nasty shock to realise you were already married. — Deanna Raybourn

Portia countered with something cutting and I left my sisters quarrelling over the details whilst I mooned about, waiting for a letter from Brisbane. While Olivia had wanted a smart town wedding, the rest had mercifully overruled her and decided I would be married from the church of St. Barnabas in Blessingstoke, the village nestled at the foot of our family seat at Bellmont Abbey, surrounded by friends and family. — Deanna Raybourn

Eva Stachniak has given readers a thrilling glimpse into the scandals and secrets at the heart of the Russian Imperial court. With deft prose and exquisite detail, Stachniak has resurrected one of the most compelling ages in history. Turn off the phones and lock the doors - you will not put it down. — Deanna Raybourn

I know. Of course I know that. It is just that the calamities do seem to be piling up," I said, shivering a little as a goose walked over my grave.
Brisbane pinned me with a look. "You said once you would follow me to the ends of the earth in a white petticoat to be my wife, if that is what it took."
I pursed my lips. "You were not supposed to hear that. You were unconscious."
"Did you mean it?" I held that striking black gaze with my own. "You must know I did."
"That is why I know you will be there tomorrow, whatever calamities may come. As I will be." I looked down at the soaked, sooty gown. "I may have to wear a white petticoat, if it comes to it." Brisbane gave me a slow smile. "I wish you would. The sooner I can get you into just your petticoat - " "Ah, Brisbane! Good of you to come, my lad," Father said, rousing himself from his reverie. "Did you hear, we nearly lost poor old Crab. — Deanna Raybourn

After a moment, he turned sharply to me. 'Are you quite all right?'
'Yes, perfectly. Why do you ask?'
'Because I have just called you contrary and you did not bother to contradict me. I thought you might be ill. — Deanna Raybourn

The hardest lesson I had learnt upon my travels was patience. There are times when every muscle, every nerve, screams for movement, when every instinct urges escape. But the instinct to fly is not always a sound one. There are occasions when only stillness can save you. — Deanna Raybourn

Oh, yes. I mean to marry him. But not because I want him to give me a life. I want to marry him to share the life I already have. The difference, I think you will find, is a significant one. — Deanna Raybourn

But this month is all about CITY OF JASMINE which I hope you already have in your hot little hands. My favorite review snippet? KIRKUS REVIEWS said it's "part screwball comedy".
I can't tell you how much time I spent with Carole Lombard and William Powell and Irene Dunne when I was writing it. I adore the 30s comedies for their light-hearted take on relationships and adventure - and the glamorous settings and occasional dash of intrigue only heighten the magic. (Did you know that Nicholas Brisbane from my Lady Julia series was named for THE THIN MAN's Nick Charles? And apologies to Dashiell Hammett, but I fell in love with the film long before I read the book and appreciated how much it had been lightened in the adaptation!) So when you're reading CITY OF JASMINE, give some thought to who you'd like to see playing Evie and Gabriel - I'd love to hear who you'd cast in your own production. — Deanna Raybourn

Dove smiled in satisfaction. "Something I picked up in the south of France. It's the purest jasmine from Grasse, which makes it very special indeed."
"Why?" Evie sniffed again. The scent was rich and sensual, curling against her like a cat and warming itself on her skin.
"Child, jasmine is one of the most seductive scents imaginable, and the stuff from Grasse is the finest in the world. In the little village where I collected that, the farmers won't even let their nubile daughters walk through the fields when the flowers are ripe for fear they won't be able to control themselves."
"I can see why," Evie murmured. The heavy fragrance was intoxicating, and she felt like someone entirely new. — Deanna Raybourn

She rose suddenly and put out — Deanna Raybourn