Among my favorite half-dozen topics is the field of Victorian female explorers, the intrepid women who packed up their parasols and petticoats and roamed the world in search of adventure. Some were scientists, some artists, some unabashed curiosity-seekers who simply went out to see what they could see.

Deanna Raybourn

When the wind is right and the cloud is gone, you can see down this road as far as Darjeeling," I told her. "But it is a long and difficult road, full of perils, and if a traveller on foot were to look at the length of it, his spirit would be overcome and he would sit down and refuse to go any further. You must not look to the end of the road, Portia. Look only to the step in front of you. That you can do. Just one step. And you will not make the journey alone.

Deanna Raybourn

journey clouds wind

If you were a man, your ladyship, I would cordially horsewhip you for that remark.

Deanna Raybourn

remarks ifs men

I am sorry " I murmured. "I know. I ought not to have threatened to beat you " he returned. He pressed a kiss to my hair. "I just cannot bear to be kept out of your life " I said into the dark. He gave a sigh. "Julia you daft woman. When you will you understand You are my life.

Deanna Raybourn

kissing sorry dark

I stepped closer still. He closed his eyes again and covered my hand with his own. 'You smell of violets. You always smell of violets,' he said. 'You've no idea how many times I have walked these moors and smelled them and thought you were near. On and on I walked, following the scent of you, and you were never there. When I saw you in the hall tonight, I thought I had finally gone mad.

Deanna Raybourn

eye hands ideas

I see only a little, lady, but I know that your fortune is as twined with his as the ivy to the oak.

Deanna Raybourn

ivy fortune littles

Now I was more certain than ever of my decision. I could not love a man who did not love Jane Austen.

Deanna Raybourn

certain decision men

One is not born English without knowing how to converse easily about the weather.

Deanna Raybourn

born knowing weather

If one has a purpose, life is bearable enough, do you not think so?

Deanna Raybourn

purpose life-is thinking

I adored history, not the dry dates and boring battles, but the stories and the people who populated them.

Deanna Raybourn

battle stories people

She left me then, surrounded by my extravagantly simple finery and I sat for a long time, uncomfortable both with the person I had been and the person I was finally becoming. Caught between the two of them, I felt rather lonely, as one often does with a new acquaintance.

Deanna Raybourn

lonely simple two

Fate is by far the greatest mystery of all.

Deanna Raybourn

fate mystery

I hesitated for all the right reasons. And I accepted for all the wrong ones.

Deanna Raybourn

accepted reason

Life is too uncertain... You must seize happiness where you find it.

Deanna Raybourn

uncertain life-is

Without an expectation of success, one is rarely successful.

Deanna Raybourn

successful expectations

Those are facts. Are they the truth? No, for they do not tell you of the heart, and that is where truth lives.

Deanna Raybourn

truth-of-life heart facts

To say that I met Nicholas Brisbane over my husband's dead body is not entirely accurate. Edward, it should be noted, was still twitching upon the floor.

Deanna Raybourn

husband body should

What virtue is there in a man who demonstrates goodness because he has been bred to it? It is his habit from youth. But a man who has known unkindness and want, for him to be kind and charitable to those who have been the cause of his misfortunes, that is a virtuous man.

Deanna Raybourn

be-kind want men

I would give up everything for you, Giulia" I smiled at him gently. "But you must understand. I should never want a man to give up anything for me. I should want him to feel in winning me he has won the whole world.

Deanna Raybourn

giving-up winning men

Eva Stachniak has given readers a thrilling glimpse into the scandals and secrets at the heart of the Russian Imperial court. With deft prose and exquisite detail, Stachniak has resurrected one of the most compelling ages in history. Turn off the phones and lock the doors—you will not put it down.

Deanna Raybourn

phones heart doors

But this is a thing that I know--to live with fear is not to live at all. A man will die every moment he is afraid.

Deanna Raybourn

moments knows men