30 Quotes by Sarah Dunant

As the last chimes die away, a series of contorted male shrieks rise up from somewhere nearby; a late coupling between the sheets or a few early knife thrusts into a belly? He smiles. Such are the sounds of his beloved city, the sounds indeed of the whole of Italy.

Any man in love with Cesare is already half in love with his sister.

Missing rubs the soul raw.

But anyone who has been that young knows that the great grief of love is that your body feels the most when it knows the least.

Cesare Borgia – oh, Cesare Borgia has proved himself a great warrior.

He spends the night in prayer. God’s voice, through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin, tells him what the politician in him already knows: that whatever he might stand to gain from playing one against the other, the prospect of a foreign army marching through Italy can bring only instability and devastation in its wake for all. He is, it seems, the Church’s shepherd after all.

She has never liked sleeping alone. Even as a small child, she would steel herself to brave the black soup of the room as far as her brother’s bed, creeping in beside him. And he, who when awake would rather fight than talk, would put his arms around her and stroke her hair until their warmness mingled and she fell asleep.

When there is fear about the future, it is comforting to take it out on outsiders who can be blamed for the past.

If you love a man for his honesty, you cannot become angry when he shows it.