D.G. Rampton > Quotes

“Chérie, whatever is the matter ? Did you not enjoy the dance? It seemed to me that you performed it well.’

‘Nothing at all is the matter,’ returned Artemisia, smiling forcefully. ‘I enjoyed myself immensely! And I did manage to step on your brother’s toes on several occasions, so it was a worthwhile experience all-round.”
― D.G. Rampton

“Artemisia maintained a reserved silence for as long as she could, but by the time they entered the tranquillity of the park her amicability had reasserted itself. Besides, she concluded that there was no point in ignoring a person when they were so obtuse as to not realise they were being ignored.”
― D.G. Rampton

“You forget yourself, your lordship. You have no rights to allow or disallow anything I may choose to do. You have, in fact, no claim over me whatsoever – a circumstance for which I thank the Lord on a daily basis! I am neither your ward nor your dependent, and I will not allow you to talk to me in that odiously overbearing fashion. You are the most obnoxious and conceited man alive, and I cannot wait to be gone from England and from you!”
― D.G. Rampton

“But I beg you remember,’ said her ladyship, turning back to Artemisia, ‘not to walk down St James’s Street.’ ‘Yes, I know: it would be a moral hazard to my reputation,’ said Artemisia, reciting what she had been taught. ‘Though why people should make such a fuss over a lady being ogled by the gentlemen in St James’s Street is beyond me. Debutantes are paraded in front of those very same gentlemen to be ogled at in every other setting and no one has any objections to that practice! Rather than having to go through a whole Season to catch a husband, it would be far quicker if each girl was walked up and down St James’s, whirled around so she could be seen from all angles and auctioned off to the highest bidder. Why, St James’s could become the Tattersall’s of the marriage mart!’ Lady Lubriot choked on what sounded suspiciously like a laugh, and then tried to recover the situation by looking stern. ‘Chérie!’ she exclaimed. ‘You must never – never! – voice that particular notion of yours in public.’ ‘Tattersall’s?’ repeated Aunt Ophelia with incredulity. ‘Did the child just compare the Season to a horse auction?”
― D.G. Rampton, Artemisia