It wasn't that she thought highly of herself. It was that she thought highly of the promise of more.

Temptation turns you. It makes you into something you never dreamed, it presses you to give up everything you ever loved, it calls you to sell your soul for one, fleeting moment.[..] It makes you ache...you'll make any promise,swear any oath. For one...perfect...unsoiled taste

I love your laugh. I want to hear it every day. I want to be through all this darkness and devastation. I want happiness now. I want our due. I want what we’ve deserved from the beginning.” He paused and stared deep into her eyes, willing her to understand how much he loved her. “I want you.

why couldn't someone , somewhere , want her for her ?

Yes, she was a scandal.Her brother simply didn’t know it.“I fell in the Serpentine today.”“Yes, well, that doesn’t usually happen to women in London. But it’s not so much of a scandal as it is a challenge.

You are a queen," he whispered. "Tonight, I am your throne.

..he wanted her.And at another time, as another man, he would have her. Without hesitation. As lover. . . as more.

But she had dreamed of being his for too long. He had quite ruined her for a marriage of convenience. She wanted everything from him: his mind, his body, his name and, most of all, his heart.

Hurt flared, and she could no longer hide it. When she spoke, her voice was small. “I don’t deny it. It’s always been you.”She watched him react to the words, watched him register the truth in them. And then she said, “I just wish it were anyone else.” And with that, she turned and—pride be damned—she fled.