Claudia Dain

“Somewhere in your nursery rhymes,” Cranleigh said, intruding yet again, “you must have learned that men do talk. They compare. They
judge. They even, Lady Amelia, are known to make coarse jests.”
“Darling Cranleigh,” Sophia said from behind her. “How generous of you to instruct Lady Amelia, who is surely the most innocent woman of my acquaintance, in the habits of the man about Town. Certainly, if a woman is to find her way to the altar, with the appropriate man at her side, she does need keen instruction. Naturally, her brother, the Marquis of Hawksworth, is not the man for the job, as no brother ever is for a sister. But you, you have risen up to help Lady Amelia. I don’t know the last time I’ve seen such gallantry in action.”
― Claudia Dain, The Courtesan's Wager

“Anne, I'm sorry about your pa… all this time… all that waitin'." "All that time?" she said, taking a step toward him. "You were waiting for him. He was all you ever wanted. I know it, and I'm sorry," he said. "Jack," she said, her voice husky and soft. "It was you," she said. "It was you all that time, all those years. I was waiting… for you."

- Jack & Anne”
― Claudia Dain, A Kiss to Die For