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812a204
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Determined to look on the bright side of things, Philippa collected her winnings, and ate them. 'I don't know,' she said. 'We're a nice, representative group. I can do card-tricks, and you can train animals and Haji Ishak can he on nails and Sheemy Wurmit can do a comic turn with his parrot and Signor Manoli can swear in ten different dialects of Sicilian. We only need a good bass-baritone and a tenor rebec, and we could work out a tour.
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Dorothy Dunnett |
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19a8983
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Extraordinary, is it not, how he cannot bear music?
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Dorothy Dunnett |
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16a51f2
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This and your music ... you have happiness. Why cannot I find it?' 'Because you do not look in the right places,' said Kiaya.
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Dorothy Dunnett |
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cd4a533
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Will you pack up all your cold-boiled emotions, and do what the hell you are told?
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Dorothy Dunnett |
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355cc3a
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If he is mad, I can agree with him.' 'He isn't mad,' said Jerott.
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Dorothy Dunnett |
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368173a
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Because he knew ... God, he knew! Jerott's terrible romanticism, which would taste death so readily; so splendidly offer the blood of his fellows, in defence of the weak and the puny.
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Dorothy Dunnett |
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1bdbbbc
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As a man, this child would be one's offering to the future races of men. The burden of his upbringing, wherever it fell: however tiresome or onerous, was of no importance compared with his living grasp of the future.
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Dorothy Dunnett |
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80eda88
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What was original sin? Was it more than an arbitrary pattern set in the loom, of talents and weaknesses, picked out from the warp of one's forebears?
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Dorothy Dunnett |
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f749f70
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The world is full,' said Jerott wearily, 'of people who might have wanted to meet Francis Crawford, and who are going to be disappointed.
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Dorothy Dunnett |
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5228991
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What I desire, thou dost not possess for thyself. How canst thou render it then to another?
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Dorothy Dunnett |
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739d737
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You have a tongue, have you not, which breaks backs? I have madness in many forms, but that which springs from the passions of the heart is not in my nature. That is all. We are all fashioned differently.
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Dorothy Dunnett |
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2a975f2
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It is laid on me by love,' said Mikal. 'As a cord of twisted bark bound upon the neck of each ploughing bull, I waded to thee through darkness, as though I waded through a full sea; but thou didst not receive me. I stood in darkness, with fear my innermost garment, and thou didst not warm me. Soon the devil thou dost swallow will claim thee, and where shall I be? I am a Pilgrim of Love, Hakim; and thy soul is of rock.
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Dorothy Dunnett |
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e5a00f1
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The sight of the food made Jerott want to vomit. He said cheerfully, 'Well, well. Thank God you're a dab hand at chess.' 'If you're going to be bright,' said Lymond, with a soft and frightening venom, 'I'll break your sweet little neck.
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Dorothy Dunnett |
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eb36c6a
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Lymond said, very softly, in English, 'This is part of a plan to escape. Pretend to strike me, and listen.' 'You stinking catamite,' said Jerott; and with all his considerable strength launched a blow at Lymond's face which was very genuine indeed.
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Dorothy Dunnett |
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9d59ab1
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If you're coming with me, listen,' said Lymond. He ducked, and then swung a punch that did not quite go wide. 'And then knock me out cold.' 'With pleasure,' said Jerott. His dark eyes were bleak. 'And if I succeed?' 'You won't,' Lymond said.
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Dorothy Dunnett |
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379fc5e
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For spirits one requires a strong head or else a weak brain, and I fear I possess neither.
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Dorothy Dunnett |
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e2adae7
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Liberty to drink and to debauch are said to recreate and refresh the soul.' 'Then----' said Kiaya Khatun. 'I have no soul,' said Lymond. 'Forgive me.
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Dorothy Dunnett |
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c1272bf
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Humility is a virtue Scotsmen require to be taught.
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Dorothy Dunnett |
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beb062d
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It had been a boy's trick, Jerott remembered. Standing bareback on your father's horses; somersaulting, chariot-riding. Francis, buried in books, had never publicly attempted it. What private practice, Jerott wondered fleetingly, had gone into that?
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Dorothy Dunnett |
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78fb173
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What intelligent remedy, like jumping in the river, do you suggest if we find this man Lymond irreconcilably dreadful?
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Dorothy Dunnett |
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dfcf9de
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Kate approved of the child's father, and so did she. Kate all her life had championed the underdog, and so therefore did she. And what more oppressed puppy in all the world was she likely to find than this one?
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Dorothy Dunnett |
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babeeab
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Once before, Jerott had seen him like that, in Algiers. He had seen him as he was now, with every skill of mind and body tuned to the ultimate pitch in pursuit of one object. Francis Crawford like that was uncontrollable and very close to invincible. But not invincible. And not impervious to the reckoning afterwards.
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Dorothy Dunnett |
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32e831c
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Lymond said suddenly, 'As alternatives, they leave a lot to be desired. Could no one bring us some raki? If we must have a wake let us make it a happy one. Heureux qui, comme Ulysse, a fait un beau voyage. Let's have Jerott's form of decadence for a change.' Jerott said, 'Francis, shut up.
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Dorothy Dunnett |
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789fe14
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Why not,' said Gaultier viciously, 'play chess?' It silenced Lymond. His head went back as if he had been struck, the indrawn air caught in his throat. He said nothing more.
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Dorothy Dunnett |
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0e11619
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Don't wrest from me my repentance. A whoremonger, a haunter of stews, a hypocrite, a wretch and a maker of strife.
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Dorothy Dunnett |
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f9782b3
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You mean my reputation is ruined? No wealthy gentlemen suing for my favours?' 'No respectable wealthy gentlemen suing for your favours,' he said.
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Dorothy Dunnett |
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f00854c
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I prefer a society which accepts that I have no choice, and does not pretend that I have. I prefer a God who does what he wills, and rules as he desires, and enjoins on me not to prevent anything against its destiny.
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Dorothy Dunnett |
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8af2df7
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You summon and you throw away. You treat love like a bird for the table ... Like a pawn, now in frankincense, now discarded and thrown in the dirt. You don't know what love is, either of you. And God help us and you, if you ever find out.
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Dorothy Dunnett |
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b700986
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Philippa ... release me from my promise.' She put her hands over her mouth, and then took them away. 'I can't. I can't.' He had pulled his own hands down, looking still at the stool, his face quite turned away. 'You can.
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Dorothy Dunnett |
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889728f
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Duty; friendship; compassion. Which moved him to die for you?
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Dorothy Dunnett |
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466bf90
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Jerott said, as Philippa had done, 'And you?' And Lymond stared at him, his brows delicately lifted. 'I shall gather frankincense,' he replied.
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Dorothy Dunnett |
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fb24445
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Poor bloody bastard: he hasn't a chance, has he? Kicked from cradle to whorehouse; his mother slaughtered by Gabriel, his father propped up by opium.
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Dorothy Dunnett |
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579e0f8
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The child, level with the kneeling man, had moved nearer, his eyes wide, his face uplifted as if to embrace him. Before he could touch him, Lymond rose, and, looking down, smiled. 'Keep thy kisses. Thou art almost a man; and a man chooses to kiss only the persons he loves. Then thy kiss will be a big gift indeed.
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Dorothy Dunnett |
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9a79466
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I am good?' said the strained treble. 'Thou art good,' said Francis Crawford in a dry voice.
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Dorothy Dunnett |
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1090372
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That was your son, man, who went out just now ... What better proof do you want? That and his looks ... and his guts.' 'Thank you,' said Lymond. 'If that is a compliment.
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Dorothy Dunnett |
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c395d3e
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His horse stumbled in the tussocky ground and made him realize, then, how thoughtlessly fast he was riding...how thoughtlessly fast he was thinking.
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Dorothy Dunnett |
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e0efef8
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I hope,' said Jerott, breathing softly and hard, 'that you never meet those who will judge what you have done. How would you recognize love? Or compassion? Francis at least has learned that.
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Dorothy Dunnett |
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72770a9
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I would have forgone even the body for the sake of the mind. And I would have claimed neither body nor mind, had I discovered a soul.
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Dorothy Dunnett |
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68ace61
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Hullo. A strange game, isn't it? I don't enjoy it much either. But we have to finish it. Then you choose what we play next.' And a smile broke over Khaireddin's face: a genuine smile; the first one, thought Jerott, that anyone there had probably seen. Then he said something in the little voice, so much less fluent than Kuzum's; and Lymond said, 'Of course, your shells are still there. Supper first, and then you shall play with them. Goodbye..
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Dorothy Dunnett |
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8dde0c5
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Lymond said, 'You were too intent on your own slaughter; too ruthless; too greedy. You have pushed me until I have no alternatives left. You must take the consequences of that.
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Dorothy Dunnett |
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17d5d98
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Lymond moved swiftly from Jerott's side to where the fine hair, curling like silk, lay on the Geomaler's arm; and bending his head, kissed the dead child, as he had not kissed the living, full on the mouth.
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Dorothy Dunnett |
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f548be1
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The moment is past. The chessboard has gone; and the people. You must let me take the room from you too.
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Dorothy Dunnett |
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4ac128f
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And then his true courtship of her had its beginning; and to the worship of his body, he joined the fairest garlands from the treasure-house of his mind, and made a bower for her. Adored; caressed into delight; conducted by delicate paths into ravishing labyrinths where pleasure, like carillons on glass, played upon pleasure, she leaned on his voice, and sometimes answered it.
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Dorothy Dunnett |
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1fa78d0
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It is not easy for Brehons to decide concerning bees that have taken up their lodging in the trees of a noble dignitary; with respect to which it is not easy to cut the tree.
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Dorothy Dunnett |