Almost immediately, I found the red door into the library. I opened it idly- and the breath stopped in my throat. It was the same room I remembered: the shelves, the lion-footed table, the white bass-relief of Clio. But now, tendrils of dark green ivy grew between the shelves, reaching toward the books as if they were hungry to read. White mist flowed along the floor, rippling and tumbling as if blown by wind. Across the ceiling wove a network of icy ropes like tree roots. They dripped-not little droplets like the ice melting off a tree but grape-sized drops of water, like giant tears, that splashed on the table, plopped to the floor.

— Rosamund Hodge

And you would know so much about women, locked up in your castle."" Locked up with eight wives. And sometimes I make house calls for my bargainers. There's many a lovely woman desperate enough to bargain with me." This idea had never occurred to me before. "You touch another woman, and I'll cut your hands off," I snapped. He looked delighted. "I thought you were afraid of hurting me.

— Rosamund Hodge

But I can’t. . . I can’t leave anyone to the darkness.

— Rosamund Hodge

Do you think he would dare half as much for your love as I have?”“No,” she said. “He never could. That’s why I love him.”“You were desperate for me.”“Desperate. Not happy.” For the first time in all the years she had known him, she truly pitied him. “You can never, ever make me happy. My heart will never rest in you.

— Rosamund Hodge

Ghosts are laid to rest when injustices are righted, when their duties are fulfilled. But my mother's duty is to make me happy so long as I live. So there is no rest for her, and no escape for me. I will be happy and happy until it kills me.

— Rosamund Hodge

He's kissing me and though this is the first time, it feels like recovering a long-forgotten memory. My body seems to say, "Yes, this," and then I'm kissing him back as if I were born to be in his arms. I never realized how tightly guilt and fear had been wound about me until this moment, when they unwind into the air and fly away, leaving me with nothing but this guileless delight.

— Rosamund Hodge

He stared at her a moment longer, then laughed softly. “I wouldn’t love you if you were any weaker,” he said, and let go of her.

— Rosamund Hodge

His kindness was only meant to make later torments crueler.

— Rosamund Hodge

I couldn't be kind to him after what he'd done, couldn't be cruel after what I had done

— Rosamund Hodge

I don’t hate you,” I said, and I almost believed it.

— Rosamund Hodge