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3a8a6e5
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I inhale hope with every breath I take.
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Sharon Kay Penman |
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f5044fe
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she remembered watching a summer sunset from this very spot. Not so long ago; just a lifetime.
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Sharon Kay Penman |
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f13718b
|
We tend to forget at times that it is the little ones, the children, who do suffer the greatest hurt. If we cannot comprehend why certain sorrows are visited upon us, how on earth can they?
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pain
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Sharon Kay Penman |
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efef8bc
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Autumn that year painted the countryside in vivid shades of scarlet, saffron and russet, and the days were clear and crisp under harvest skies.
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sky
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Sharon Kay Penman |
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d860783
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Poor Wales. So far from Heaven, so close to England.
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Sharon Kay Penman |
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b0f353f
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Men are born to sin...What does matter most, is not that we err, it is that we do benefit from our mistakes, that we are capable of sincere repentance, of genuine contrition.
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repentance
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Sharon Kay Penman |
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21fbcb8
|
I'll admit that my garden now grows hope in lavish profusion, leaving little room for anything else. I suppose it has squeezed out more practical plants like caution and common sense. Still, though, hope does not flourish in every garden, and I feel thankful it has taken root in mine.
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hope
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Sharon Kay Penman |
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e3489fd
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For every wound, the ointment of time.
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Sharon Kay Penman |
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ef5b475
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a cynic who was still saddened whenever his jaundiced view of mankind was confirmed...
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hope
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Sharon Kay Penman |
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7e7e400
|
I should like to freeze in time all those I do love, keep them somehow safe from the ravages of the passing years..."Rather like flowers pressed between the pages of a book!"
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time-passing
wars-of-the-roses
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Sharon Kay Penman |
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afcedac
|
The great hall was shimmering in light, sun streaming from the open windows, and ablaze with colour, the walls decorated with embroidered hangings in rich shades of gold and crimson. New rushes had been strewn about, fragrant with lavender, sweet woodruff, and balm... the air was... perfumed with honeysuckle and violet, their seductive scents luring in from the gardens butterflies as blue as the summer sky.
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light
scent
perfume
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Sharon Kay Penman |
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e20edaf
|
It was just like him, she thought; with him, a happy ending was always a foregone conclusion. But such was the power of his faith that when she was with him; she found herself believing in happy endings, too.
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hope
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Sharon Kay Penman |
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e747f66
|
I think the day might come, Bess, when all men will know of Dickon is what they were told by Tudor historians like Rous." "Jesu, no!" Bess sounded both appalled and emphatic. "You mustn't think that. Whatever the lies being told about Dickon now, surely the truth will eventually win out. Scriptures does say that 'Great is truth and it prevails,' and I believe that, Grace." Bess straightened up in the bed, shoved yet another pillow against h..
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Sharon Kay Penman |
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206a4e9
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Men kill for many reasons, they steal but for one-greed.
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killing
theft
stealing
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Sharon Kay Penman |
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622637e
|
Why is it honesty when a man speaks his mind and madness when a woman does?
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men
women
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sharon kay penman |
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0f35593
|
The art of governing, Dickon, is that of making use of talent wherever you do find it. Trust is too rare an attribute to make it your prime prerequisite for holding office. If I relied only upon those I truly do trust, we'd have a council of empty chairs!
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Sharon Kay Penman |
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f3ccdcc
|
Richard knew, of course, that his was thought to be an unlucky title; only twice before had a Richard ruled England, and both met violent ends.
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medieval-history
plantagenet
richard-iii
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Sharon Kay Penman |
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7c00fb7
|
Richard, might I ask you something? We've talked tonight of what you must do, of what you can do, of what you ought to do.But we've said nothing of what you want to do.Richard, do you want to be King?" At first, she thought he wasn't going to answer her. But as she studied his face, she saw he was turning her question over in his mind, seeking to answer it as honestly as he could. "Yes," he said at last. "Yes...I do." --
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richard-iii
wars-of-the-roses
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Sharon Kay Penman |
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c5058a8
|
During the day, memories could be held at bay, but at night, dreams became the devil's own accomplices.
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memories
princes
wales
nightmares
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Sharon Kay Penman |
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bd604d2
|
He could still remember how breathtakingly beautiful Eleanor was that day. He'd have been content to gaze into her eyes for hours, trying to decide if they were green with gold flecks or gold with green flecks. She had high, finely sculpted cheekbones, soft, flawless skin he'd burned to touch, and lustrous dark braids entwined with gold-threaded ribbons he yearned to unfasten; he'd have bartered his chances of salvation to bury his face in ..
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Sharon Kay Penman |
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2600270
|
Life without sinning was like food without salt, pure but tasteless.
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henry-ii
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Sharon Kay Penman |
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792f1b3
|
Edward was now expressing himself on the subject of the French King, drawing upon a vocabulary that a Southwark brothel-keeper might envy. Some of what he was saying was anatomically impossible, much of it was true and all of it envenomed.
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humourous-situations
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Sharon Kay Penman |
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0133ea6
|
When does he ever think?" Richard straddled a chair and accepted a wind cup from Raoul. "If he were to sell his brain, he could claim it had never been used.", Chapter 7"
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Sharon Kay Penman |
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9df4910
|
What shall we drink to, Ned? To England?" "I've a better thought than that. It is not precisely the season for it, with Epiphany still four days hence, and I daresay our lady mother would never forgive me for saying it! But blasphemy or not, I think it fitting, nonetheless." He touched his cup to the one Richard now held. "To the Resurrection," he said."
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Sharon Kay Penman |
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e71e4a6
|
There's not a man alive who doesn't know fear, Dickon. The brave man is the one who has learned to hide it, that's all
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Sharon Kay Penman |
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c65c394
|
What do you know of sacrifice? Need I tell you of York's dead . . . of Sandal Castle? My brother did survive the battle, his first. He was seventeen and he entreated them to spare his life. They cut his throat. Their heads were then impaled on York's Micklegate Bar to please the House of Lancaster, to please a harlot and a madman. She had my father's head crowned with straw and she left a spike between the two. . . . That one, she said, was..
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Sharon Kay Penman |
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d14ecb0
|
We've schemed and fought and loved until we are so entangled in hearts and minds that there is no way to set us free. God help us both, Harry, for we will never be rid of each other. Not even death will do that.
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henry-ii
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Sharon Kay Penman |
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6433e20
|
She knew she'd wounded him when he'd least expected it, and her satisfaction lasted until the door had closed behind him. Once he was gone, it ebbed away along with her anger, leaving her with naught but the ashes and embers of a dying hearth fire.
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henry-ii
|
Sharon Kay Penman |
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1bc80e0
|
At least it was never dull, my darling. And you will be remembered long after we've all turned to dust. But so will I.
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Sharon Kay Penman |
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37bcbbb
|
What followed was for him a very entertaining spectacle, with one of Edward's brothers seemingly intent upon the most subtle of seductions and the other barely able to force malmsey past the gorge rising in his throat.
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Sharon Kay Penman |
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489a5a4
|
I would see him, Edward.' It was no request; he knew it to be an ultimatum. He shook his head violently, not trusting his voice. Time passed. She was staring at him, saying nothing, and on her face was a look of stunned disbelief, of anguished accusation he knew would haunt him for the rest of his life. But when she spoke, her voice held no hint of tears. It was not a voice to offer either understanding or absolution, spoke of no quarter gi..
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Sharon Kay Penman |
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e0aa484
|
He looked upon this verdant, blossoming spring, a spring Joanna would never see, he looked upon a field of brilliant blue flowers- the bluebells Joanna had so loved- and at that moment he'd willingly have bartered all his tomorrows for but one yesterday.
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death
tomorrow-s
yesterday-s
wishes
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Sharon Kay Penman |
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12c34c7
|
May I offer you some advice?" "I'd rather you offered me a fast horse and a head start," Richard said with a tight smile. "But I'll take the advice, too."
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Sharon Kay Penman |
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daa76d2
|
In time of war, the Devil makes more room in Hell.
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Sharon Kay Penman |
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d99a6e5
|
Outside, the sky was clear, stars gleaming in its ebony vastness like celestial fireflies. It was bitterly cold, and Hywel's every breath trailed after him in pale puffs of smoke. The glazed snow crackled underfoot as he started towards the great hall.
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stars
night
snow
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Sharon Kay Penman |
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028149b
|
Francis stared down at the Duchess of York's letter. He swallowed, then read aloud in a husky voice, "It was showed by John Sponer that King Richard, late mercifully reigning upon us, was through great treason piteously slain and murdered, to the great heaviness of this City." As Margaret listened, the embittered grey eyes had softened, misted with sudden tears. "My brother may lie in an untended grave," she said, "but he does not lack fo..
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tragedy
richard-iii
wars-of-the-roses
|
Sharon Kay Penman |
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a9025eb
|
Messages continued to arrive from the Earl of Warwick, urging Londoners to hold firm for King Harry. Marguerite d'Anjou and her son were expected to land at any time, while from St Albans, Edward sent word that Harry of Lancaster was to be considered a prisoner of state. At that, John Stockton, the Mayor of London, contracted a diplomatic virus and took to his bed.
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Sharon Kay Penman |
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f9d7e9c
|
I suppose I should just be thankful that since you are so much given to treachery, you're so reassuringly inept at it.
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Sharon Kay Penman |
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d828e1e
|
She opened her mouth, clamped it shut again. This was new, this sudden favor shown Gloucester, had been brought back with him from Burgundy like some malevolent foreign pox.
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Sharon Kay Penman |
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e6ddd3a
|
You seem to forget, Dickon, that we are dealing with the Spider King. Louis realized, just as you have, that it would take more to mate dog to cat than a shared lust for the English crown.
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Sharon Kay Penman |
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48ba45f
|
Whilst stupidity may indeed be a sin, it is also possible to be too clever. I sometimes fear, John, that you are too clever by half.
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Sharon Kay Penman |
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eb5b8c8
|
He'd passed the longest night of his life locked in mortal combat with his ghosts, calling up and then disavowing twenty years of memories. He would banish that bitch from his heart if it meant cutting her out with his own dagger. And when at last he allowed himself to grieve, he did so silently and unwillingly, his tears hidden by the darkness, his rage congealing into a core of ice.
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marriage
treason
|
Sharon Kay Penman |
|
fbb848a
|
Forget the threat of Hell's infernal flames. The true torture would condemn a man to wait and wait and wait - for an eternity
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historical-fiction
hell
|
Sharon Kay Penman |
|
a685b77
|
Twilight was laying claim to the cite, and the sky was a deepening shade of lavender, spangled with stars and fleecy clouds the colour of plums.
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stars
sky
|
Sharon Kay Penman |