"You may be correct," she said, "but I have to do what I think is right." "You're not thinking," he said dismissively, turning and looking at her face as he sparked a flame. "Forget, if you will-- although I cannot-- what will happen to your reputation if people find out who you really are. Forget that people will cut you out, that they will talk about you behind your back." "Those people aren't worth worrying about," she said, her back ramrod straight.
"Perhaps not," he agreed, crossing his arms and staring at her. Hard. "But it will hurt. You will not like it, Penelope. And I won't like it."
She swallowed convulsively. Good. Maybe he was getting through to her.
"But forget all of that," he continued. "You have spent the last decade insulting people. Offending them."
"I have said lots of very nice things as well," she protested, her dark eyes glistening with unshed tears.
"Of course you have, but those aren't the people you are going to have to worry about. I'm talking about the angry ones, the insulted ones." He strode forward and grabbed her by her upper arms. "Penelope," he said urgently, "there will be people who want to hurt you."
His words had been meant for her, but they turned around and pierced his own heart.
He tried to picture a life without Penelope. It was impossible.
Romancing Mister Birdgerton - Chapter 17
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"In fact, the donor in the title was my maker. The canvas painted in my maker's studio. And in this case, the donation was...what is the modern word for it? In kind."
INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE (2024)
2.04 – I Want You More Than Anything in the World
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