Best City Of Masks Quotes by Mary Hoffman

"It was like having custard in your veins instead of blood."

"Books that he knew already, like The Hobbit and Tom's Midnight Garden, were followed by ones that Dad remembered from his boyhood and youth, like Moonfleet and the James Bond novels."

"I must never tell anyone how I went into the water instead of Your Grace."

"Beauty is cash – that’s the Bellezzans’ motto – Bellezza è moneta."

"I have been waiting for someone without a shadow."

"I'm having some treatment which might eventually cure me but in the meantime it makes me feel a lot worse."

"Every night is passed awake in another world."

"We are drawn to one another, just as my mirror was to you."

"It’s all very interesting but it could have been the light playing tricks on you."

"He had no more trouble understanding the old man than he had listening to Rodolfo or Arianna."

"Our saint was once a sinner, who served the Lord."

"It seemed as if almost every week held some cause for celebration for the superstitious and volatile lagooners."

"But we Stravaganti can usually tell when another of us is in the vicinity."

"A new piece has entered the game. One I have been waiting for ever since that night Rodolfo came to me with his strange readings."

"Lucien came up spluttering, having grabbed something from the canal."

"You have done me good service tonight and you will be rewarded."

"The substitute Duchessa, a baker’s daughter called Simonetta, was very uncomfortable."

"The only chance they could be reprieved would be if Bellezza joined the Republic."

"Lucien was relieved to find himself back on his bed."

"‘It was a lovely day. Thank you for encouraging us to go,’ said Mum to Lucien."

"An ordinary rowing-boat ploughed its way through the waters of the lagoon."

"‘You are all right?’ Rodolfo asked, giving Lucien a long appraising look."

"As it happened, the torturers were not needed."

"Lucien’s parents continued to behave mysteriously."

"The Duchessa swept down the marble staircase of the Palazzo, magnificent in her violet satin."

"Arianna was bursting to find out what had happened to Lucien the night before."

"When Lucien materialized in Rodolfo’s laboratory the morning after the Maddalena Feast, he was surprised by the warmth of his master’s welcome."

"The trip to Venice was coming closer; Lucien had only a few days to adjust his mind to it and to prepare Rodolfo for his likely absence from Bellezza."

"Enrico was consolidating his friendship with Giuseppe, the Duchessa’s spy, over a glass or two of his favourite liqueur."

"Now that she knew he was safe and the excitement over the assassination attempt had passed, Arianna decided that she really was very cross with Lucien."

"Guido Parola moved his things into Egidio’s house, the Duchessa having arranged a nurse for his father."

"Rodolfo now kept one of his mirrors permanently fixed on Montemurato."

"The Mulhollands were up early for their first morning in Venice, determined to beat the crowds in the Piazza San Marco."

"The Mulhollands were staying in a little hotel on the Calle Specchieri."

"The young woman took a boat to Burlesca, with a heart as full as her purse."

"Lucien’s parents took him to the coffee bar in the Doge’s Palace."

"The Duchessa swept over the Bridge of Sorrow, her dress swishing on the flagstones."

"Giuliana enjoyed her fitting sessions on Burlesca."

"Arianna was moved from her poky little cell the same night that the Duchessa visited her."

"Unaware of how many thoughts were focused on him in Bellezza, Lucien continued to explore Venice."

"As soon as he had escorted the Duchessa back to her Palazzo, Rodolfo dropped Dethridge off at the laboratory."

"Enrico was rapidly becoming Rinaldo di Chimici’s right-hand man."

"Torcello was just as Lucien remembered Torrone, apart from the mosaic in the tiny cathedral, which was gold instead of silver."

"If all she had been told was true, she was seeing her mother’s face for the first time."

"It wasn’t easy. I have one serving woman whom I trust above all others."

"I had made up my mind to do it. I could not let myself care."

"I knew everything about you except what you looked like."

"The whole city seemed to float on the water, its gold spires and domes and gilded towers glowing in the setting sun."

"Executions of criminals took place here up to the eighteenth century."

"I made no sound when I bore you and I said no word when I gave you away."

"It was given out that I was unwell with a stomach disorder that lasted some months."

"It takes more than a di Chimici to kill me."
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"But what mattered was not where he was but how he could get the book back."

"He could easily have overpowered the woman but everything in him rebelled at the idea of attacking someone unarmed and harmless who was bringing him food."

"It was a very rare event, but perfectly constitutional."

"You often hear of people coming round after months, even years, in a coma."

"I’m going to have to tell the parents today."

"To all intents and purposes, he is dead already."

"He recognized him both as Smelly and as the spy with the blue cloak."

"Your son still lives, you know, only in another place."

"But I can’t bear it that I didn’t say goodbye to my parents."

"The cancer had never come with him to Bellezza and now he knew he had escaped any possibility of its doing so."