hathaways

But I must warn you, Miss Hathaway ... life has a way of fouling up our plans. I speak from experience.

I don't want adventure.""I think you do. I think in a moment of weakness, you might surprise yourself.

We assured Phelan that we were more than happy to let him have you and your menagerie,_ Leo retorted.__fter that, he said he needed to think.___bout what?_ Beatrix demanded. __hat is there to think about? Why is it taking him so long to make a decision?___e__ a man, dear,_ Amelia explained kindly. __ustained thinking is very difficult for them.

Ah. That is the price of love, I'm afraid__he pain one suffers from its loss. I'm not convinced it's worth it. Perhaps if one must love, one should do so in moderation.""Moderation in love," she mused aloud. "It's not something that would inspire a poet, is it?""A poet's view of the world would make for an uncomfortable life, wouldn't it? Everyone at the mercy of his or her passions, all of us tearing our hair out for the sake of love...

Be that as it may, I think someday you'll meet a man worth giving up your independence for.

Her chances of a decent marriage were about to be dashed-and all because of a ferret.

After a universal silence, Leo was the first to speak. __id anyone else notice____es,_ Catherine said. __hat do you make of it?___ haven__ decided yet._ Leo frowned and took a sip of port. __e__ not someone I would pair Bea with.___hom would you pair her with?___anged if I know,_ Leo said. __omeone with similar interests. The local veterinarian, perhaps?___e__ eighty-three years old and deaf,_ Catherine said.__hey would never argue,_ Leo pointed out.

Christopher heard a pair of women gossiping nearby, whispering in disapproving undertones. "... Ramsey was found flirting in a corner with a woman. They had to drag him away from her." "Who was it?" "His own wife." "Oh, dear.

Of all the Hathaway sisters,_ Cam said equably, __eatrix is the one most suited to choose her own husband. I trust her judgment.__eatrix gave him a brilliant smile. __hank you, Cam.___hat are you thinking?_ Leo demanded of his brother-in-law. __ou can__ trust Beatrix__ judgment.___hy not?___he__ too young,_ Leo said.____ twenty-three,_ Beatrix protested. __n dog years I__ be dead.

Poppy took a deep, appreciative breath. __ow bracing,_ she said. __ wonder what makes the country air smell so different?_ __t could be the pig farm we just passed,_ Leo muttered. Beatrix, who had been reading from a pamphlet describing the south of England, said cheerfully, __ampshire is known for its exceptional pigs. They__e fed on acorns and beechnut mast from the forest, and it makes the bacon quite lovely. And there__ an annual sausage competition!_ He gave her a sour look. __plendid. I certainly hope we haven__ missed it._ Win, who had been reading from a thick tome about Hampshire and its environs, volunteered, __he history of Ramsay House is impressive._ __ur house is in a history book?_ Beatrix asked in delight. __t__ only a small paragraph,_ Win said from behind the book, __ut yes, Ramsay House is mentioned. Of course, it__ nothing compared to our neighbor, the Earl of Westcliff, whose estate features one of the finest country homes in England. It dwarfs ours by comparison. And the earl__ family has been in residence for nearly five hundred years._ __e must be awfully old, then,_ Poppy commented, straight-faced. Beatrix snickered. __o on, Win._ ___amsay House,__ Win read aloud, ___tands in a small park populated with stately oaks and beeches, coverts of bracken, and surrounds of deer-cropped turf. Originally an Elizabethan manor house completed in 1594, the building boasts of many long galleries representative of the period. Alterations and additions to the house have resulted in the grafting of a Jacobean ballroom and a Georgian wing.__ __e have a ballroom!_ Poppy exclaimed. __e have deer!_ Beatrix said gleefully. Leo settled deeper into his corner. __od, I hope we have a privy.

It's the perfect solution. We argue all the time. We can't stand each other. It's like we're already married.

You may choose to live like a miser,_ Leo said, __ut I__l be damned if I have to. You__e incapable of enjoying the moment because you__e always intent on tomorrow. Well, for some people, tomorrow never come

I__ fairly certain, Captain,_ she said, __hat the more you discover about me, the more you will dislike me. Therefore, let__ cut to the chase and acknowledge that we don__ like each other. Then we won__ have to bother with the in-between part.__he was so bloody frank and practical about the whole thing that Christopher couldn__ help but be amused.____ afraid I can__ oblige you.___hy not?___ecause when you said that just now, I found myself starting to like you.___ou__l recover,_ she said.Her decisive tone made him want to smile. __t__ getting worse, actually,_ he told her. __ow I__ absolutely convinced that I like you.__eatrix gave him a patently skeptical stare. __hat about my hedgehog? Do you like her, too?__hristopher considered that. __ffection for rodents can__ be rushed.___edusa isn__ a rodent. She__ an erinaceid.

I'm not good enough for you. But no one is. And most men, good or bad, have limits to what they would do, even for someone they love. I have none. No God, no moral code, no faith in anything. Except you. You're my religion. I would do anything you asked. I would fight, steal, kill for you."-Kev to Win