1
For a tiny instant Faith wondered whether it would benefit the doctor's investigation if he experienced a cliff fall first-hand.Frances Hardinge
2
This is a battlefield, Faith! Women find themselves on battlefields, just as men do. We are given no weapons, and cannot be seen to fight. But fight we must, or perish.Frances Hardinge
3
Faith had always told herself that she was not like other ladies. But neither, it seemed, were other ladies.Frances Hardinge
4
She felt utterly crushed and betrayed. Science had betrayed her. She had always believed deep down that science would not judge her, even if people did. Her father's books had opened to her touch easily enough. His journals had not flinched from her all too female gaze. But it seemed that science had weighed her, labelled her and found her wanting. Science had decreed that she could not be clever… and that if by some miracle she was clever, it meant that there was something terribly wrong with her. .Frances Hardinge
5
Myrtle shook her head. "I told myself that I was lucky, " she said. "Your father never struck me, never drank and if he had mistresses he had the good grace to be discreet. He provided for me and my children, and yet I tried, year after year, to make myself his companion. The doors never opened, Faith. In the end I lost hope. Ah, but I cannot complain! " Myrtle swatted away the past with one delicate little hand. "It has made me what I am. When every door is closed, one learns to climb through windows. Human nature, I suppose. .Frances Hardinge
6
It could be kindness. Faith felt hollow at the thought. She had needed kindness before, and has received none. Now it was too late, and she did not know what to do with it.Frances Hardinge
7
She had needed kindness before, and had received none. Now it was too late, and she did not know what to do with it.Frances Hardinge
8
People were animals, and animals were nothing but teeth. You bit first, and you bit often, That was the only way to survive.Frances Hardinge
9
There were kind lies. You still look beautiful. I love you. I forgive you. There were frightened lies. Someone else must have taken it. Of course I am Anglican. I never saw that baby before. There were predatory lies. Buy this tonic if you want your child to recover. I will look after you. Your secret is safe with me. Half-lies, and the tense little silences where a truth should have been. Lies like knives, lies like poultices. The tiger's stripe, and the fawn's dusky dapple. And everywhere, everywhere, the lies that people told themselves. Dreams like cut flowers, with no nourishing root. Will-o'-the-wisp lights to make them feel less alone in the dark. Hollow resolutions and empty excuses. .Frances Hardinge
10
Silence itself could be used as deftly and cruelly as a kireFrances Hardinge
11
So what do you want?" asked Myrtle."I want to help evolution." Evolution did not fill Faith with the same horror her father had felt. Why should she weep to hear that nothing was set in stone? Everything could change. Everything could get better. Everything was getting better, inch by inch, so slowly that she could not see it, but knowing it gave her strength.Frances Hardinge
12
Somehow the sting of guilt was always more acute when there was a risk that she might get caught.Frances Hardinge