Somewhere In France Quotes
"If only there were armor for occasions like this."
"Your hair’s done already, so we’ve only to worry about your gown. We’ll have you ready in no time at all."
"But she could admit, assessing her appearance with a critical eye, that she looked passable tonight. Pretty, even."
"After tonight she could retreat to the quiet of Cumbria and enjoy what remained of the summer in peace."
"We’ll all be at war before the summer is out."
"Best to get it over with. Quick and sharp; that’s how we’ll do it."
"None of your war talk this evening, gentlemen. You’ll alarm the young ladies."
"Helena, my darling, you look utterly beautiful tonight. I’m so very proud."
"Was that what it felt like to love, and to be loved in return?"
"Only men who’ve never been to war can think it noble."
"Nobler to die in one’s bed after a long and happy life."
"I’m certain you’ll see him again. There’s the wedding, to begin with, and after that I’m sure we can contrive a meeting or two."
"I’ve been promoted up to captain—no idea why, really."
"If you are speaking to Helena, please apologize that I haven’t yet responded to her letters."
"Thank you, my darling girl, for the parcel of books and magazines and the seedcake from Cook."
"You never thought of returning home to Scotland?"
"I do hope you are well and not too exhausted by your work."
"I thought of sending you a scarf but presumably your mother keeps you well supplied with such things."
"What are your plans? What sort of work do you want to do?"
"I was feeling very tired. Would you mind if I said good night?"
"It’s only inevitable if enough people believe it to be so."
"I am delighted that you wrote and I look forward to our correspondence."
"I feel sure your brother would have told me, but you haven’t married, have you?"
"I had meant to ask you. And then, I must confess, I quite forgot."
"Let’s meet at the Lyons tea shop on Victoria Street (at Palace Street) at eleven o’clock."
"She was suddenly aware of the pressure of her tiara and the hairpins that secured it."
"I was delighted to receive your letter, all the more because we are just now returned from Portsmouth."
"You know perfectly well what I mean. You and everyone else."
"I shall expect you downstairs at half-past twelve and not a moment later."
"It’s quite hard to see him go, though as Edward deplores tears or any kind of fuss, I was careful not to allow myself to become overset."
"Let us talk instead of the work you are doing."
"That’s better, isn’t it? Now we can talk and have no fear of interruption, at least for a few minutes."
"I’m sorry, Mr. Maxwell. I couldn’t hear you. Could you repeat what you just said?"
"Once a week I’m allowed to attend a gathering of worthies as we pack parcels for the BEF, roll bandages, or unravel old jumpers to scavenge yarn for knitting."
"I’ve only the evening paper and a cold supper to look forward to when I get home."
"And as I will be up with the larks tomorrow, I thought it best to reply straightaway."
"I can’t imagine how one could be a nurse and not work hard."
"We’ll start you on Lord Ashford’s old coupe. A Vauxhall Prince Henry and a real beauty."
"How could you stand by and let this happen? The Pringles have served you faithfully for generations."
"It will take at least a half hour to drive there."
"Please let me know if there is anything else I might send that would aid in your comfort or that of your colleagues and patients."
"It was difficult to believe that little more than two months had passed since the declaration of war."
"And what about Captain Fraser? Will you write to him?"
"We thought it was the twentieth century and that women could and ought to do anything they wished to do."
"Good luck, Mrs. Collins. I’ll be off to bed."
"I hope you will write to me again; if you do so, I promise to answer with prettier words."
"Light as it was, the caress burned like a brand on his skin, lingering after even the memory of her scent had faded."
"Do sit down," she prompted, and only then did he realize he was still on his feet, looming over her, his coat slung over one arm."
"I’ve never been on a sleeper train. Do they give you a proper bed?"
"Thanks, but I’ll wait a minute or two. A legacy from my days as a resident at the London. We’d drink our tea so strong you could stand a spoon in it."
"I wish I knew what to say," she said softly, her voice tremulous with emotion. "I had no idea it was so bad. You never said . . . in your letters you never said."
"Let it go, Lilly. You’ve atoned for what you believe you did wrong. Let it go, and stop punishing yourself. Promise me?"
"Goodbye, Lilly," he whispered, and turned away.
"I’m here so I can make a difference. Just like you promised I would."
"What sort of world is this, where men learn to joke about rats and lice and dysentery?"
"When this war is over I want to go somewhere with no mud, a place where the people have never seen mud—where they have no word to describe it, even."
"The misery of that, and how I can learn to bear it."
"I’m glad to see you here. In spite of everything I said this morning, I am glad."
"Your face, your beauty, they are always on my mind."
"No one issh more contented, hic, in all the world than ussssh."
"I don’t think he could have been more than twenty, but he was brave enough to speak his mind, even to my mother."
"He’s gone missing. It might happen that you go and tell Captain Fraser about your brother, and he says thank you and you go your separate ways. But it might also happen that you don’t leave."
"Économisons le pain en mangeant des pommes de terre."
"I know we’ve been at odds with one another, but he deserves to know."
"For God’s sake, Lilly, give me some credit. A few shells going off isn’t enough to unhinge me. But the chance of your being hurt or killed is."
"It’s just a courtesy title, you know. It has nothing to do with me."
"It doesn’t bother me. None of it did. Still doesn’t. I don’t get nervous before a big push, I sleep well enough, I can choke down whatever food they put in front of me."
"I can’t bear the idea of going somewhere out of harm’s way, miles and miles behind the lines. What good would I be able to do? I’m needed here. I’m useful here."
"If I’m to survive this war, I cannot think about anything else apart from the work I do. And that includes you."
"I apologize for intruding. I won’t take long. May I come in for a moment?"
"But what if he wasn’t captured? What if he was killed that night? Don’t tell me it’s not possible."
"I brought my carpetbag. I left it with the concierge."
"I’m ready to go, but my coat and hat aren’t where I left them."
"It’s not a maths exam, Lilly. And I promise there’s nothing to be frightened of."
"I had no idea it was so long," he murmured. "Has it never been cut?"
"Thank you," Robbie replied. "Can you accommodate us for dinner?"
"It’s the price I must pay in order to do my duty."
"Thank God for Bridget," he gasped. "I wonder if I’ll ever have the courage to thank her."
"But it’s not very grand, as engagement rings go . . ."