Anna Castle > Quotes

“Tom smiled at the Fleming — a bright, friendly smile — and bobbed his head courteously. That confused the jolt-head. Then, by way of making conversation while his confederates gained their positions, he said, "I suppose someone must have told you — your mother, perhaps, or your father, though I doubt you ever knew him — that you're an idle-headed canker. A rank pustule? No? Not even an irksome, crook-pated, pathetical nit?"
The Fleming, his face as red as hot steel, roared and swung a fist like a blacksmith's hammer.”
― Anna Castle, Murder by Misrule

“Tom." Mrs. Sprye's tone was severe. "I expect you to look after this boy, not encourage him to go about brawling in the street. In broad daylight!"
Tom was stung. "It's nigh impossible to brawl in the dark, Mrs. Sprye. And look—" He put his hands on Trumpet's shoulders and turned him full circle. "Scarcely a scratch on him. A bit dirty, true, but I believe that Pygmies can be washed.”
― Anna Castle, Murder by Misrule

“[Francis] skipped chapel for the first time in seven years, praying that his mother would never come to hear of it. He spent a hair-raising half hour sneaking into every staircase and running up and down on tiptoe, straining his ears to catch the murmur of chanting and sniffing at gaps under doors for the scent of incense.”
― Anna Castle, Murder by Misrule

“That’s close,” Francis said. “I’m using a small fish to catch a larger one and fear mine will slip the hook and join the school, swimming happily away and forgetting all about his assignment.”
“Wait a minute.” Trumpet swung his legs around to sit upright at the edge of the bed, spilling more ale in the process. “Are you suggesting Tom might become one of the people he was sent to investigate? That he might honestly become one of those narrow-minded Puritans?”
“Yes,” Francis said. “I fear that is precisely what is happening.”
― Anna Castle, Death by Disputation

“Earl of Dorchester.”
― Anna Castle, Murder by Misrule

“Like so much academical philosophizing, it was superficially plausible yet wholly divorced from reality.”
― Anna Castle, Murder by Misrule

“Things had been simpler when Trumpet had been only a boy.”
― Anna Castle, Murder by Misrule

“center”
― Anna Castle, Murder by Misrule

“She tried a new stance, right foot forward, and took aim at the butt. "I'm very resourceful." Tom heard a world of loneliness under that simple remark. He caught Ben's eye; he'd heard it too. They nodded at each other. She was theirs now, and they would look out for her.”
― Anna Castle, Murder by Misrule

“Chatter, chatter, chatter and nothing said of matter.”
― Anna Castle, Murder by Misrule

“it is far too easy these days to drag one's neighbors into court on frivolous grounds. Half the populace is waging law against the other half. It enriches the courts but impoverishes the nation.”
― Anna Castle, Murder by Misrule

“Really," Bacon said, his words gaining speed, "it is far too easy these days to drag one's neighbors into court on frivolous grounds. Half the populace is waging law against the other half. It enriches the courts but impoverishes the nation.”
― Anna Castle, Murder by Misrule

“Tom was going to be vastly better off in Cambridge. A world of men dedicated to the life of the mind. A bracing challenge for his wits and a restorative vacation for his tangled feelings. No women; therefore, no trouble.”
― Anna Castle, Murder by Misrule