Lion-hearted; her tremors braced with virtue, Philippa…

“I echo like a mynah, that’s why.”

— Dorothy Dunnett

“Haven't I been worth five years' excellent gossip to you? Are you not all waiting agog to see me seize my sister-in-law by the…

— Dorothy Dunnett

“Where are the links of the chain ... joining us to the past?”

— Dorothy Dunnett

“Standing safely on the opposite bank with her dry maid, her dry escort, and a company of streaming horsemen, Philippa said scathingly, ‘That’s men…

— Dorothy Dunnett

“It wasna a man,’ said Andrew Kerr broadly. ‘T’was my aunty. I tellt ye. I’m no risking cauld steel in ma wame for a…

— Dorothy Dunnett

“I don't like this war. I don't like the cold-blooded scheming at the beginning and the carnage at the end and the grumbling and…

— Dorothy Dunnett

“It is not easy for Brehons to decide concerning bees that have taken up their lodging in the trees of a noble dignitary; with…

— Dorothy Dunnett

“Go away and bleed to death,’ said his onetime saviour sharply. ‘On behalf of the female sex I feel I may cheer every lesion.”

— Dorothy Dunnett

Lack of genius never held anyone back. Only time wasted on resentment and daydreaming can do that.

— Dorothy Dunnett

“What do you hope for that you haven’t got? What can that child give you?’ There was a little silence. ‘A virgin audience for…

— Dorothy Dunnett

Did I ever tell you,’ said Lymond pausing on the afterthought, on his way to the flap, ‘that that aunt of mine once hatched…

— Dorothy Dunnett

“Which reminds me -' 'The new ladies have arrived,' said Adam grimly. 'Guaranteed of clean stock, and inured to Russian practices. Osep has announced…

— Dorothy Dunnett

“So: ‘Why did you laugh?’ demanded Philippa, and shook Jerott’s hand off her arm. ‘Oh, that?’ said Lymond. ‘But, my dear child, the picture…

— Dorothy Dunnett

It seems to me,’ said Philippa prosaically, ‘that on the whole we run more risks with Mr Crawford’s protection than without it.

— Dorothy Dunnett

“Gabriel,’ said Jerott firmly, ‘is now at Birgu, Malta, engaged in a life-and-death struggle for the Grand Mastership of the Order of St John.…

— Dorothy Dunnett