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Quote by Sarah MacLean

“She watched him carefully, riveted to his story, and for one, fleeting moment, he allowed himself to look at her, taking in her unbound hair and her blue eyes- full of knowledge and more understanding than he deserved. He couldn't imagine how he'd ever imagined her ordinary or plain. She was stunning. And if her beauty weren't enough, there was her mind. She was brilliant and quick-witted, and so perfectly different than anyone he'd ever known. Two and two made him. On anyone else's lips it would have been gibberish, but on Pippa's it was the most seductive concept he'd ever considered. She was everything he'd never known he wanted.”

Quote by Sarah MacLean

Work

One Good Earl Deserves a Lover

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Author

Sarah MacLean
Sarah MacLean

Sarah MacLean, born on December 17, 1978, is a renowned American historical fiction author. Her works are set in 18th-century England and depict love, power, and adventure of that era. MacLean's novels have gained great popularity among readers and have won numerous literary awards. more

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“Most people think you're odd." She smiled. "On that, most people are right." "You know, I used to think they were. You're brilliant and have a passion for animals and strange flowers, and you were always more interested in the crops that rotated on my estate than in the trappings of my town house. I'd never met a woman like you. But, even as I knew you were smarter than I, even as I knew that you knew that you were smarter than I... you never showed it. You've never given me any reason to believe you thought me simple. You always went out of your way to remind me of the things we had in common. We both prefer the country. We both enjoy animals." He shrugged one shoulder. "I was happy to think that you would one day be my wife." "I don't think you simple," she said, wanting him to know that. Wanting him to understand that this mess she was making had nothing to do with him. He was not lacking. "I think you will make someone a very happy match.”

“She looked to Pippa. "Have I made it difficult for you?" Pippa hedged. "Not at all. Castleton sent news to Father just last week that he was planning to court me in earnest, and it's not as though I'm the most ordinary of debutantes." It was an understatement. Pippa was something of a bluestocking, very focused on the sciences and fascinated by the insides of living things, from plants to people. She'd once stolen a goose from the kitchens and dissected it in her bedchamber.”

“It ain't my problem if the ladies are drawn to me," Digger said. "A gentleman doesn't turn 'em away if they're askin' for a minute or two." His eyes slid to Pippa once more. "Ain't that right, Lady Soon-to-be-a-countess?" "I find it difficult to believe either that ladies are drawn to you or that, in such a case, you would act the part of a gentleman," Pippa retorted.”

“And Tottenham shan't be able to to resist me in this dress. No man could." "Olivia!" the marchioness said from her place. "That is entirely unladylike." "Why? That is the goal, is it not? To tempt one's husband?" "One does not tempt one's husband!" the marchioness insisted. Olivia's smile turned mischievous. "You must have tempted yours once or twice, Mother." "Oh!" Lady Needham collapsed back against the settee. Madame Hebert turned away from the conversation, waving two girls over to work on Pippa's hem. Olivia winked at Pippa. "Five times, at least." Pippa could not resist. "Four. Victoria and Valerie are twins." "Enough! I can't abide it!" The marchioness was up and through the curtains to the front of the shop, leaving her daughters to their laughter.”

“I beg your pardon, Mr. Cross, but in this conversation, you are superfluous." He gave her his most frightening stare. "I assure you, I am anything but that." "Am I right in understanding that you have neither the time nor the inclination to speak to me at this particular moment?" She had backed him into a corner. "Yes." She smiled. "There it is, then. As I find myself with both, I believe I shall begin my research now. Without you." She turned her back on him.”

“Pippa is virtually engaged to Lord Castleton; we expect he'll propose within a matter of days of her return to London." His hand stilled for a moment before continuing its long, slow slide. "How did she and Castleton come to know each other?" She thought of the plain, uninspiring earl. "The same way it happens with anyone, really. Balls, dinners, dancing. He seems nice enough, but... I do not care for the idea of him with Pippa." "Why not?" "Some would say she's peculiar, but she's not. She's simply bookish, loves the sciences. She is fascinated by how things work. He doesn't seem to be able to keep up with her. But, honestly? I don't think she gives a fig one way or another about whether or whom she marries. As long as he has a library and a few dogs, she'll make a happiness of sorts for herself. I only wish she could find someone more... well, I hate to sound cruel, but... intelligent.”

“Not that we expect anything less of Lord Bourne- husband or not, he remains a rogue! And that which we call a rogue, by any other name would scandalize as sweet!" "Oh, for heaven's sake." Penelope did roll her eyes at that, looking to Michael, who looked... pleased. "You're complimented?" He turned innocent eyes on her. "Should I not be?" "Well," Philippa added thoughtfully, "anything Shakespearean must be at least a vague compliment." "Precisely," Michael said, gifting Pippa with a smile that made Penelope more than a little envious of her younger sister.”

“I might as well marry Castleton," Pippa said. "It will make Father happy. And I shall never have to see the inside of a season again. Think of all the visits to the dressmaker I can forgo." Penelope smiled at the jest, even as she wanted to open her mouth and scream at the unfairness of it all. Pippa did not deserve a loveless marriage any more than the other Marbury girls did.”

“May I help you?" She did not look up. "You've miscalculated column F." What in hell? "I have not." She pushed her glasses up her nose and tucked a stray strand of blond hair behind her ear, entirely focused on the ledger. "You have. The proper calculation should be one hundred and twelve thousand, three hundred forty-six and seventeen pence." Impossible. He stood, moving to look over her shoulder. "That's what it says." She shook her head, placing one long finger on the tabulation line. He noticed the tip of the finger was slightly crooked, leaning a touch to the right. "You've written one hundred twelve thousand, three hundred, forty-five and seventeen pence. You-" She looked up at him, eyes owl-like behind her spectacles as she took in his height and his bare chest. "You- you've lost a quid." He bent over her, deliberately crowding her and enjoying the way her breath caught at his nearness. "That is a six." She cleared her throat and looked again. "Oh." She leaned in and checked the number again. "I suppose you've lost your handwriting skills, instead," she said dryly, and he chuckled as she reached for a pencil and repaired the number. He watched, riveted to the callus at the tip of her second finger, before he whispered low in her ear, "Are you an accounting fairy sent in the dead of night to check my figures?" She leaned away from the whisper and and turned to look at him. "It's one o'clock in the afternoon," she said, matter-of-factly, and he had an intense desire to take her spectacles from her face and kiss her senseless, just to see what this odd young woman would say.”

“He showed her things she'd never known about things she'd always thought she understood. And she adored it... even as it terrified her. Even as it made her question everything she thought true. She resisted the thought, her gaze rising to one large wall of the club, where the Angel's namesake fell in beautiful glass panels from Heaven to Hell, from good to evil, from sainthood to sin. It was the most beautiful window Pippa had ever seen, the work of true artisans, all reds and golds and violets, at once hideous and holy. It was the angel himself who fascinated her, the enormous, beautiful man crashing to Earth, without the gifts he'd had for so long. In the hands of a poorer artist, the detail of him would have been less intricate, the hands and feet and face would have been shaped with glass of a single color, but this artist had cared deeply for his subject, and the swirls of darks and lights in the panels were finely crafted to depict movement, shape, and even emotion. She could not help but stare at the face of the fall- inverted as he fell to the floor of the hell- the arch of his brow, the complex shade of his jaw, the curve of his lip. She paused there, thinking on another pair of lips, another fall. Another angel. Cross. Emotion flared, one she did not immediately recognize. She let out a long breath. She wanted him- in a way she knew she should not. In a way she knew she should want another. A man destined to be her husband. To be the father of her children. And yet, she wanted Cross. This angel.”