Megan Frampton > Quotes

“The party had gone spectacularly well, with only one and a half vomiting incidents, two hair-pulling fights, and four tragic tantrums about not winning.”
― Megan Frampton, The Duke's Guide to Correct Behavior

“Eleanor's sisters all murmured their assent, making her heart swell with love. She was so lucky to have these people in her life, people who could be annoying (Olivia), pedantic (Ida), and quiet (Pearl), but who ultimately loved her and wanted her to be happy, no matter how it might affect them.”
― Megan Frampton, Lady Be Bad

“Ask the questions you want to. Not the ones you think you should.”
― Megan Frampton, Lady Be Bad

“I apologize," Eleanor said in a quiet voice. "I did not mean to be impolite. Or improper." She raised her eyes to his face. "It seems as though I have been nothing but both of those things since we were introduced."
His expression froze, and Eleanor felt as though she were moving in slow motion again, that spun-sugar feeling catching her limbs and making it impossible to move. As though there were only the two of them in this world.”
― Megan Frampton, Lady Be Bad

“Her cheeks began to burn. Again. Was this going to be her permanent state? Blushing every time Mr. Salisbury did or said anything, or anyone (such as her grandmother) did or said anything around him? Was she to be in a constant state of acute Salisburyness? The sooner she learned how to do what needed to be done, the better. She did not want to Salisbury her way through life.”
― Megan Frampton, My Fair Duchess

“I will be making my own choices in life. I know you say you want the best for us, but the best isn't whether or not we are able to afford clothing that suits our position. The best is when you find someone you love, who loves you back, and you decide you want to spend your lives together.”
― Megan Frampton, Lady Be Bad

“perhaps firmness was a requirement of the military? She presumed so. It would be awkward to be on a battlefield and pause to look at your fellow soldier in arms and ask, “Should we attack? I think we might want to attack, but what do you think?”
― Megan Frampton, My Fair Duchess

“Choice, what people really want, is the most important thing. Choosing the life you want, making your own choices-that is what defines you as human.”
― Megan Frampton, Hero of My Heart

“Titania! Was the Hagans’ rout not a mad crush? Much better than the theater, which I attended the night before. Very dull, and whoever told that playwright he could tell a story must have been a doting aunt, there is no other explanation. Such nonsense.” “What play was it?” “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”
― Megan Frampton, A Singular Lady

“Of course, he was a Captain (Ret.), so perhaps firmness was a requirement of the military? She presumed so. It would be awkward to be on a battlefield and pause to look at your fellow soldier in arms and ask, “Should we attack? I think we might want to attack, but what do you think?”
― Megan Frampton, My Fair Duchess

“Remind me how to play? Or actually, tell me how to play. I don't think I ever have before." His mouth tensed, briefly, and Lily added another item to her increasing store of knowledge of how sad the duke's childhood had been.

All three of them had been orphaned in their own ways, hadn't they? No wonder they got along so well. It felt . . . it almost felt as though they were a family.”
― Megan Frampton, The Duke's Guide to Correct Behavior

“You, of all people, should know that what you wear is ninety percent of what people perceive about you." He kissed her head. "Such as when you put on that ferociously pink dress to wear to our ball, knowing that it looked lovely on you, but also knowing that it was what people were expecting you to wear. Whereas when you wore that black habit to go riding..."
He paused. "What?" she asked.
"Well, you did not look at all as I'd been led to believe."
"And that was... all right?"
He made a tsking noise. "I cannot believe you still have to ask that. It was glorious to see, you descending the stairs like a fearsome dark goddess, rather than the princess I'd married. I knew then, even though I couldn't actually say it to myself properly, that there was more to you than what you present.”
― Megan Frampton, Put Up Your Duke

“This is- cricket?" she said, sounding skeptical.
"What did you imagine it was? Unless you thought the actual insects were wandering about playing some sort of organized entertainment," he said, raising an eyebrow at her as he spoke.
She looked at him, her blue eyes wide, and then they narrowed and her words emerged before, he would guess, she had time to consider what she was saying. And the lady from the bookstore reappeared.
"You seem to think I am so idiotic that I would possibly imagine that insects would be engaged in a sporting activity." Her tone dripped with icy disdain, and he felt himself heat at the sight of her enraged. "I assure you, my lord, that simply because I have not yet had experience with things that I am not entirely stupid." She glared at him, her eyes narrowing even more. "That is what you believe, isn't it? That I am unintelligent?" She focused her attention on a small purse she'd brought along with her, opening it with shaking fingers. "I am many things, or not many things, depending on what your perspective is, but I am not stupid." She withdrew a pair of spectacles from her purse and placed them on her face, settling the wires behind her ears. "As it happens, I am poorly sighted. That much is true." And she resumed glaring at him from across the seat. "Likely you have misjudged my expression because I have a lack of vision. But since you don't seem to think very highly of me in the first place, I might as well wear my spectacles so I can see your disdain."
He wanted to both applaud and kiss her all at the same time.”
― Megan Frampton, Lady Be Bad

“What would you do if you were a goddess, Cotswold?"
Her maid, who had been pulling Eleanor's covers up the bed, stilled her motion. Her expression drew together, as though she were considering it.
"I suppose I would find the most handsome man in the world and make him my... my..." She waved her hand to indicate the word she shouldn't be saying.
"Cotswold!" Eleanor exclaimed, delightedly. "That sounds scandalous!"
"Wouldn't it be what you did?"
Eleanor shrugged. "I was thinking more along the lines of being able to have and read all the books I wanted to."
Cotswold returned to her task. "Choosing a book over a handsome man." She shook her head, mock ruefully. "And here you were wanting to do something scandalous."
The honest part was, it would be scandalous.
If it were possible to not be a duke's daughter and be someone else, she would choose to work in a bookshop. Not one that sold the material it seemed Lord Alexander wanted to purchase; one with fairy tales and mythological books and any kind of literature where it was just as likely a dragon would drag you off somewhere as a viscount.
"I just might," Eleanor said in a defiant tone, making her maid snort.”
― Megan Frampton, Lady Be Bad

“You say you want these things to happen for the family's respectability, so that the girls and I can marry well. But that's not what it is about, is it? It's all about you. You can't bear the thought of being less than the highly venerated Duchess of Marymount. God forbid one of your daughters makes a mistake, runs off with the wrong man.”
― Megan Frampton, Lady Be Bad

“And so I would ask you if you would do me the honor of becoming my wife?" As he spoke, she saw him glance over her shoulder, looking at the clock that stood in the corner. As though he had another appointment after this one. The one where he decided her fate.
Unless she decided it for herself. The emotion she'd felt on recognizing Lord Alexander in that ballroom rushed over her, the unfamiliar feelings of want and dissatisfaction and wishing she could just be herself, just do something that wasn't related to who she was- she wanted to stand up and demand that Lord Carson, that anyone see her as Eleanor, the pun-loving, adventurous woman who adored Italian.
Not a female to be bartered from one family to another.”
― Megan Frampton, Lady Be Bad

“As you command, Duchess,” he said, smirking. He kept his eyes locked on hers as he removed his jacket, tossing it onto the grass. His shirt was next, and he pulled it up and over his head, revealing his chest.
“Hold on,” she commanded, putting her hand out. “I want to look first before you’re all done.” She twirled her finger. “Turn around so I can see all of you.”
He grinned and began to turn, slowly, so she could see each and every part of his upper body. The firm curve of his biceps, the definition of the muscles on his chest, the intriguing indents lower down leading into his trousers.
“What do you think?” he asked.
“You’re gorgeous,” she replied. “And now the rest, please.”
“Didn’t I remind you not to say please?” he teased, his fingers going to the placket of his trousers.
“You did. Trousers!” she commanded, trying to keep herself stern and unsmiling, and failing utterly.
“Much better,” he said as his trousers dropped down to the ground.”
― Megan Frampton, My Fair Duchess

“It's hard to believe anyone would want to do this to oneself, but then again, I am not a man."
Nicholas let his eyes drift over her, from her gorgeous face and its lush lips, currently pressed into a thin line, down over the fragile bones of her neck, over her breasts, her waist, her hips. Felt how warm and soft she was between his legs. "No, you are most definitely not a man," he said in a voice that had grown huskier over the past few minutes.”
― Megan Frampton, Put Up Your Duke

“She practically stumbled walking out the door- she, who had mastered the task of walking across a bushel of grapes in dancing slippers with a full water glass on her head, stumbled.”
― Megan Frampton, Put Up Your Duke

“And just as many are going to want to see you succeed,” he interrupted.
“Yes, of course.” She waved her hand to brush that aside. “Those people, however, are people like me. That is, not precisely like me, I am the woman in charge, but I am a woman. I don’t have any intrinsic power. If it weren’t for this external thing that has happened to me, I would be as powerless as any of the people who depend on the duchy for their livelihoods. It’s unnerving.”
― Megan Frampton, My Fair Duchess

“I want you to be able to see clearly." He paused, and she saw his jaw tighten. "Everything."
What did that mean? Perhaps more importantly, why did that make her body prickle in awareness?
"Well, then," she said, pushing her spectacles farther up her nose, "we should go inside so you can overwhelm me."
And she couldn't resist giving him a smile that she hoped was as alluring as one of the ancient seductresses she'd read about in her books- strong, fearless females like Helen of Troy or Venus (who had the added benefit of being a goddess). Not Lady Eleanor Howlett, nondescript eldest daughter of the Duke of Marymount.
She heard his sharp intake of breath when he looked at her, and a new sensation, one of feminine satisfaction, coursed through her.”
― Megan Frampton, Lady Be Bad

“Well, perhaps I will go to my parents' house and see Margaret. I need to start shopping for a gown for our ball- I have many nice gowns, of course, but nothing anybody hasn't seen before, and I want to do you justice."
She met his gaze then, and he took in the lovely, warm brown depths of her eyes, her full, intensely kissable mouth, that porcelain skin, and her figure, which he'd seen enough to know was spectacular. And seen enough to wish he could see all of it, preferably underneath his body.
"You would do me justice wearing a sack, princess," he said, hearing his voice get just a bit husky.”
― Megan Frampton, Put Up Your Duke

“That would be awkwarder--for her, at least--than expiring in his bedroom. And yes, she knew that wasn't a word.
She reached his door without either fainting or falling, and counted it as a victory already. And then she raised her hand to knock, but the door whooshed open, and she was pulled inside.
"I was hoping," he began, before lowering his mouth onto hers.”
― Megan Frampton, No Groom at the Inn

“Now that you are a respectable married woman, I expect you to have no fewer than two glasses with dinner. And maybe- if you are feeling daring- a glass of sherry after."
She shook her head, as though it were an automatic response, then paused and met his eyes, her gaze direct and intense. "I think I should do just that, husband. And other things that were not allowed when I was a young unmarried lady." Only just as she said that, she must have realized what it sounded like, and her whole face turned a bright shade of pink, and her eyes widened.
She looked adorable, and he absolutely, positively could not laugh at her.”
― Megan Frampton, Put Up Your Duke

“Even from here, he could see her heightened color- not quite chaise-longue color, but a bright pink- and that she kept touching her mouth. It was likely bruised from his kiss, and even though he felt profound regret at it having happened, he also couldn't help but be proud he'd affected her so.”
― Megan Frampton, Lady Be Bad

“If a woman had been my general. Well, I think the battles would have been shorter, for one thing.”
“Why?”
“It is probably not right to say that women are softer,” he began, “because they can be hard when they want to be.” His lips thinned, and she felt a stab of jealousy at whatever female had given him such an impression. “But they are far more reasonable when honor is involved.”
He met her gaze, a hint of laughter in his eyes. “Back to honor again,” he said. “Now that I am no longer in it, I have to say that there is very little honor in battle. There is courage, and strength, and forethought. But when it comes down to it”—and he shook his head almost mournfully—“the only honor is the false honor paraded around to puff up the people who are determined to lead men to their deaths.”
― Megan Frampton, My Fair Duchess

“She was badly hurt once, but that doesn’t mean she won’t find happiness again”
― Megan Frampton, Gentleman Seeks Bride

“inevitably,”
― Megan Frampton, The Scot's Seduction

“But we were just getting acquainted," he said, his tone faintly amused.
"Yours is not an acquaintance I wish to pursue," Eleanor replied. She felt uncomfortable with how cold she sounded. At least until he laughed. Then she just felt embarrassed.
"Unfortunate. It seems we share a passion"- and he paused, letting the impact of the word roll through her- "for Greek mythology.”
― Megan Frampton, Lady Be Bad

“Don't freeze up on me, princess," he said in a low voice.
Her eyes snapped to his face, and what she saw there was not lustful, or greedy, or wanting.
He had a gentle, almost kind, expression on his face, and that, more than anything, nearly made her weep.”
― Megan Frampton, Put Up Your Duke