The Mitford Murders Quotes
"The bleak chill of January had long killed the jollity of Christmas, let alone the novelty of a new decade."
"Too much had changed; too much grieving had been done."
"Florence saw him glance at her war medal and he gave her a look as if to say: You're one of us."
"Walking through the world without her corset felt as naked as parading down the street without clothes."
"The way before her felt vast and empty, more like an aeroplane hangar than a train station."
"Recalling this feast did not stir Florence's appetite. Hot, sweet tea was all that she wanted."
"In the midst of confusion, she slipped her hand in his pocket and had just caught the wallet in her grip when she felt a light touch on her arm."
"The idea that she might be able to do this, that she had been given a chance to change her life, was overwhelming."
"She pressed herself into the corner to make herself as small as possible, and watched the cook and the maid as they served supper."
"The tears streamed down her face. If it wasn't for her mother, she'd have lain down in the ditch and waited for death."
"This was something that would make them men at last, like their friends and brothers who had been to war."
"She knew, she absolutely knew what it was, and she had to get hold of it."
"She could no more work here than be a nursery maid in Buckingham Palace."
"Speaking of which, when would you be able to start?"
"I'm not the queen. Mrs Windsor will take you up to Nanny Blor, who will show you around."
"It wasn't as if they'd managed to find anyone local who wanted the work and they were in desperate need of a nursery maid."
"This is a troublesome murder, men. We've got no weapon and no real witnesses."
"There was a confusion in their minds that only the other could understand: shock, awe, and manliness."
"Guy wondered over and over again if there was something he should have spotted."
"‘Sir? Perhaps we could ask at pawnbrokers and second-hand shops to see if anyone has tried to sell a brown suit, like the one Miss Rogers said the man was wearing?"
"‘Absolutely, sir,’ stammered Guy. ‘Sorry sir.’"
"‘Look,’ she said, and Louisa saw the gravestones of the churchyard next door."
"‘When it’s full moon, it’s easy to frighten the others about ghosts in the house,’ she tittered."
"It’s beautiful out here. I shan’t ever want to leave the countryside."
"Richly yet quietly dressed in a morning suit of grey tweed, a natty pearl tiepin stuck airily into his chocolate tie, the man presented a prepossessing exterior…"
"‘What? All the pawnshops in Sussex?’ Haigh chewed on his unlit cigar."
"‘Suddenly his appearance of noble languor vanished and he sat upright, fork in hand with all the air of one who sees his end approaching."
"‘Miss Nancy Mitford! You’re not too old to be put across my knee and spanked with a hairbrush if you don’t stop this minute,’ threatened Nanny."
"‘That poor woman,’ muttered Nanny. ‘She deserved much better than that.’"
"The engagement is announced between Rupert, son of Lord and Lady Pawsey of Shimpling Park, Suffolk, and Lucy, daughter of Mr Anthony O’Malley and the late Mrs O’Malley of North Kensington, London."
"‘No decent man would wear a pearl tiepin! And what is a chocolate tie? What utter rot,’ Lord Redesdale called out across the library."
"Don't be silly," said Louisa, already feeling uncomfortable about reading it out loud.
"There's a train from Paddington to St Ives, where my aunt runs a small bed and breakfast."
"Guy would never suggest anything that was racy," said Louisa, trying and failing to look indignant.
"I am my own woman now. Who is to tell me whether I can go with a man to Cornwall or not?"
"I’m jealous, is all. Look at my eyes – greener than ever!" She flashed them wickedly at Louisa and laughed.
"It’s not as if he knows me. Not really," said Louisa sadly.
"Well, that’s not enough," said Louisa in a tone she hoped would make Nancy change the subject.
"The thing is, I don’t think I do want to go," said Louisa sadly.
"It’s hard to know whether or not to go on with this case at all," wrote Guy.
"I don’t know," Louisa lied, "she just popped into my mind."
"Oh, how useful," and put them back. Nanny had never worn false teeth.
"He’s a poet, isn’t he?" said Nancy, dramatically pinning the note to her breast.
"Why must you sound so suspicious? I can’t see that he’s done anything wrong except be completely charming."
"This must be how drowning feels," thought Louisa as she watched Nancy hand the letter to Lady Redesdale.
"Dear girl," said Nanny. "I don’t really know what to say. Oh dear, oh dear."
"No one’s looking at you, dear," said Nanny as she placed her hands on her lower back.
"Please don’t let them sack me. I can’t go back home," said Louisa, her voice trembling.
"I don’t really know what I’ll do without you," said Nanny, her face collapsing like a punctured beach ball.
"Didn’t have permission …" Nanny repeated, stupefied.
"I’m so sorry, Nanny Blor, but I think I’m going to be asked to leave," said Louisa, clenching her jaw to fight back tears.
"I’ve been thinking of writing a novel. A grown-up one. It means, not about imaginary things but real people. About the things that real people do to each other."
"It seems you seek only the worst in me and I am finding it hard to remember the best of you, of which I was always so very fond."
"You are engaging in an act of duplicity that is nothing less than a twisted perversion of the kindness you and I so long strived to demonstrate in our work."
"I cannot, in all conscience, risk you being recognised by my family as someone close to me."
"Let us find a cottage by the sea, where we may plant yellow roses around the door and put rocking chairs by the window, so we may look out at the calm and peaceful sea."
"I am coming home to you at last, my darling."
"I thought perhaps he must owe a lot of money to someone and hiding in the army was the safest place for him."
"It was quite something, I don’t mind telling you. I saw him smile for the first time."
"I’m so sorry but I have to go back downstairs as soon as I can."
"You’d better leave and do whatever it is you need to do."
"It seems that after the war, Mabel overheard Roland Lucknor introduce himself to someone quite by chance."
"You and I will be together in Carnforth Lodge, but not for long."
"You must act as if all is well but don’t leave yourself alone with him at any point."
"I can’t say that it’s all clear to me quite how or why it happened, but I have seen the sincerity of your intentions."
"The war did ghastly things to people. If you weren’t there, you can’t imagine what it was like."
"I know, my first thought was that he must owe a lot of money to someone and hiding in the army was the safest place for him."
"It was the last arrest that Guy hadn’t managed, and it had niggled at him, but no more."
"Everything is about to change – for me, at any rate."