Top 120 Elizabeth Hoyt Quotes (2025 Update)
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51. “He pulled back, his chest heaving, and looked at her angrily. “Don’t start something you mean to stop.” She met his gaze squarely. “I don’t mean to stop.” His eyes narrowed. “I cannot give you marriage.” She’d known. She’d never thought he could – she would’ve sworn so had she been asked a minute earlier – but his blunt words were an arrow of pain piercing her heart nonetheless. She bared her teeth in a smile. “Have I asked you to?” “No.” “And I never shall,” she vowed.”

— Elizabeth Hoyt

52. “He smiled down at her. “Truly. I think a man may find happiness-or discontent- no matter if he has a full belly or not.”

— Elizabeth Hoyt

53. “He looked down the table again and felt an irrational urge to push poor Mr. Watts out of his chair when Miss Greaves tilted her head toward him to hear something he’d said. He caught her eye briefly and she stared back in defiance, her mouth twisting tragically before looking away again. Something was wrong. She was leaking emotion.”

— Elizabeth Hoyt

54. “But like the legless man, I’m unaccountably fascinated by those who can dance.”

— Elizabeth Hoyt

55. “What,” she barked, “is that?” “We have a guest for supper tonight,” Miss Stump replied, and as she glanced back at him he thought he saw a mischievous glint in her eye. “Indio’s monster, in fact – though Indio now calls him Caliban.” “Caliban?” Maude narrowed her eyes, cocking her head as she examined him critically. “Aye, I can see that, but is he safe in the theater with us is what I’m wanting to know?” Apollo felt a tug on his hand. He looked down at Indio, who whispered, “She’s nice. Truly.”

— Elizabeth Hoyt

56. “Miss Greaves drifted behind them, silent as a wraith. He had the most persistent urge to turn and confront her – make her say something to him.”

— Elizabeth Hoyt

57. “Would it make a difference if I were bothered? I have some other skills not usually seen in ladies: swimming, as I told you, and how to shoot a gun. I can bargain down a butcher to within an inch of his life. I know how to make soap and how to put a bill collector off. I can do mending but not embroidery, can drive a cart but not ride a horse, know how to grow cabbages and carrots and even make them into a nice soup, but I haven’t the least idea how to trellis roses.”

— Elizabeth Hoyt

58. “Shh,” he whispered. “You asked me if I loved you. I do. I love you more than life itself. Nothing matters in this world but that you live. Can you do that for me? Can you live?”

— Elizabeth Hoyt

59. “I’ve never violated any woman.” “Have you killed?” He paused at that, before reaching into the wardrobe to move aside her spare day gown. “Once or twice. The men deserved it, I assure you.”

— Elizabeth Hoyt

60. “We all know that we’ll die someday, but believing it is another thing entirely.”

— Elizabeth Hoyt

61. “She glanced at the man quickly. “Thank you.” She meant to say more, but something was caught in her throat. Her eyes stung. “Weep not, proud Diana,” Maximus murmured. “The moon will not allow it.” “No.” She agreed, swiping fiercely at her cheeks. “There’s no need for tears yet.”

— Elizabeth Hoyt

62. “You’re burning,” she gasped. “Then you ought not to touch me,” he said seriously. “You’ll be consumed.” “Too late,” she muttered, and pivoted, trying to drag him, he presumed, toward the bed. “You’re awfully heavy – ” “My soul is made of lead.” “ – and you’re delirious,” she ended decisively. “I need to get help.”

— Elizabeth Hoyt

63. “Oh, yes. I suppose not many remember now, but Maximus was so shattered by the deaths of his parents that he went mute for a full fortnight. Why, some of the quacks that came to look at him said his brain was addled by the tragedy. That he’d never speak again. Rubbish, of course. It simply took him time to come to rights again. He was quite sane. Just a sensitive boy.” A boy who, when he came to himself again, was no longer a boy but the Duke of Wakefield, Artemis thought.”

— Elizabeth Hoyt

64. “Edward shot a glare at Davis that held the promise of dismemberment, mayhem, and the apocalypse.”

— Elizabeth Hoyt

65. “He was a being of action and vitality, and when he moved, when he smiled, he became almost impossible to resist.”

— Elizabeth Hoyt

66. “And yet he was holding the hand of a little boy and trailing the boy’s exasperating mother. Perhaps he was lonely. Or perhaps it was the look in her eyes when he’d emerged from the pond and found her watching him that urged his footsteps on. It had been a long time – a very, very long time – since a woman had last looked at him like that. As if she saw something she liked.”

— Elizabeth Hoyt

67. “When at last they rose by some unspoken male accord, she noticed with a pang that Indio came only to Caliban’s waist. The man towered over the boy, so much taller and broader that his gentleness was all the more moving as a result. They walked to the pond’s bank and Indio launched his boat. Caliban restrained Daffodil from jumping in after. This man was not at all like Kitty’s husband. Not at.”

— Elizabeth Hoyt

68. “I think I do pretty well with child characters. It’s hard to write kids that are realistic, not annoying, and bring something to the story.”

— Elizabeth Hoyt

69. “Fear had a tendency to drive away the courtesy of civilization.”

— Elizabeth Hoyt

70. “Tell me, Miss St. John, are you on the hunt for a husband?”

— Elizabeth Hoyt

71. “This is my social face,” he said lightly. “Don’t confuse it with the animal beneath.”

— Elizabeth Hoyt

72. “What do you want?” There was silence, broken only by a faint rustling. When he opened his eyes she was buttoning his banyan over her chemise. “Nothing, I think,” she said to her hands. Then, “My freedom, perhaps.” Freedom. He stared. What did freedom mean to such a wild creature? Did she want to be entirely quit of him? “I’ll not let you go,” he snapped. She glanced up at him and her look was sardonic. “Did I ask you to?” “Artemis –.”

— Elizabeth Hoyt

73. “Briefly, he tried to imagine any of his previous, male secretaries daring to comment on his appearance. It was impossible. In fact, he couldn’t think of anyone, save his current female secretary, who made such impertinent comments to him. Oddly, he found her impertinence endearing. Not that he let it show.”

— Elizabeth Hoyt

74. “He was like a star in the night sky above and she but a sparrow. No matter how high she might try to fly, she’d never reach him.”

— Elizabeth Hoyt

75. “Of course I put a chain on him – he’s recovering fast and he’s quite muscular.” He frowned on a thought. “You shouldn’t be visiting him now that he can move about – he might grab you.” She gave him an incredulous look. He grimaced. “I can find a suitable place for him, perhaps a room with a barred door – ” “You mean a cage.” “We’ve already discussed this: I’ll not let a madman near you.”

— Elizabeth Hoyt

76. “You do have to save my brother,” she said, “because if you do not I will tell everyone in England that you are the Ghost of St. Giles.”

— Elizabeth Hoyt

77. “Dear God. She ached, wanting something that she knew was a sin. Wanting a man who was sin itself.”

— Elizabeth Hoyt

78. “Weep for me. Bear my pain. Take my come. For I can give you nothing else.”

— Elizabeth Hoyt

79. “Indio started forward and took the big man’s hand as naturally as he’d taken his mother’s. “Come on! Maude’s making roast chicken and there’ll be gravy and dumplings.”

— Elizabeth Hoyt

80. “He paid scant attention to the conversation. He could smell his own sent on Anna’s body, and it satisfied him in a primal way... She gasped as he buried his nose in her maiden hair and inhaled. His scent was strongest here, in her gilded curls so soft and pretty in the morning light.”

— Elizabeth Hoyt

81. “Lily stopped dead in the doorway to her room and then took a step back. Apollo cocked his head. It’d been a very long day full of trepidation mixed with tediousness and he’d used up all his patience. “If you leave, I’ll follow you out and we’ll have this discussion in the hallway where everyone can hear.” She scowled ferociously at him, but came all the way in the room and shut the door. “What do you want to talk about?” “Us.” “There’s nothing to discuss.” “Yes,” he said patiently, “there is.”

— Elizabeth Hoyt

82. “Lieutenant Cranston, sitting across the tavern table from him, looked startled. “Something amiss, Captain?” “It’s as I feared – we’ve been called back to sea early. We set sail in less than a.”

— Elizabeth Hoyt

83. “Really, sometimes it would be much easier if one were allowed to simply hit gentlemen over the head.”

— Elizabeth Hoyt

84. “Never sleep anywhere but in my bed.” She might have protested, but he turned her roughly so that she lay on her stomach, her cheek pressed into his pillow. He lay on top of her, his upper body braced on his arms but his hips and legs weighing her down. Trapping and holding her. “You’re mine,” he said, laying his cheek against hers. “Mine and no one else’s.”

— Elizabeth Hoyt

85. “She watched his chest rise and fall and remembered and reflected. All her life things had been taken from her: Apollo, Thomas’s affection, Mama and Papa, her home, her future. No one had ever asked her opinion, garnered her thoughts on what she wanted or needed. Things had been done to her, but she’d never had the chance to do things. Like a doll on a shelf, she’d been moved about, manipulated, flung aside.”

— Elizabeth Hoyt

86. “Still, he watched intently as she began her descent, ready to grab her arm should she waver. “You’re hovering,” she said without turning. “Hovering is my job.” “That’s debatable.” “No, actually, it isn’t,” he said, flatly. “Humph.” They’d reached the ground floor now and she turned to walk toward the back of the house. He grimaced as he took the last step overly hard on his bad leg. She didn’t turn, but he noticed that she slowed her pace for him.”

— Elizabeth Hoyt

87. “She glanced again at Caliban as she said, “You and Daffodil were very brave.” “And the best part, Mama,” Indio said, tugging her hand to get her attention, “the best part is Caliban spoke. Did you hear him? He shouted my name!” “What?” Lily stared at Indio’s filthy little face and then back up at Caliban. She absently noted that he had a bleeding scratch on his cheek. That shout right before the accident – had that been him?”

— Elizabeth Hoyt

88. “She stood, a little unsteadily, true, but on her own two feet. “It’s not my blindness that cripples me, it’s everyone else deciding I can’t live because of my blindness. If I stumble, if I run into things and fall and hurt myself it’s because I can and I’m free to do so, Maximus. Because without that freedom I’m just a dull, chained thing and I won’t be that woman anymore. I simply won’t, Maximus.”

— Elizabeth Hoyt

89. “Darling,” she said and caught his face between her hands, making him meet her eyes. He didn’t want to. He didn’t like the look in her eyes – a grim determination. “I love you,” she whispered and his soul soared until she uttered her next words. “But I must leave you.” “No.” He clutched at her hips as if he were a child of three refusing to give up his toy sword. “No.” “Yes,” she replied.”

— Elizabeth Hoyt

90. “Well, Scarborough cares, doesn’t he? Maximus doesn’t – not really. No doubt he’s a bit compelled by the chase, but if he doesn’t win” – she shrugged her shoulders – “he’ll simply find another suitable heiress. She – Lady Penelope herself – doesn’t really matter to him. And if it comes right down to it, wouldn’t you chose passion – however old – over dispassion?”

— Elizabeth Hoyt

91. “She knew about young boys – she’d spent the last year taking care of them. They were tough and reckless and yet at the same time so very sweet and vulnerable. Their cheeks were soft and their eyes apologized even as they fought to assert their independence with too smart mouths.”

— Elizabeth Hoyt

92. “Yet she could imagine him so – intent, focused on his goal, his woman. He’d guard his chosen mate, make her both fear and long for his attention. She shivered. He would be relentless in his pursuit, unmerciful in his victory.”

— Elizabeth Hoyt

93. “Nothing leveled a man quite like being unable to protect his woman.”

— Elizabeth Hoyt

94. “The sight of her was like a swift, cool wind through his frame, quickening his body, alerting all his senses, making him completely aware he was a male and she a female.”

— Elizabeth Hoyt

95. “If I’m good enough to bed, surely I’m good enough to wed.”

— Elizabeth Hoyt

96. “Then why in God’s name did you grab for George’s pistol when you knew help was coming?” Apollo asked. “They weren’t here yet and he was going to shoot you,” she said, placing her palms on his chest. “I couldn’t let him.” His throat closed and he couldn’t reply. All he could do was pull her into his arms and hold her close.”

— Elizabeth Hoyt

97. “In that moment Apollo resolved that no matter how ridiculous their mating might be, he wasn’t going to let her change her mind. She was his now – and if he had any say in the matter, she’d be his always.”

— Elizabeth Hoyt

98. “Do you love me Hero?” His pale green eyes were full of torment. “Do you love me like I love you?”

— Elizabeth Hoyt

99. “Your Grace seems out of breath. I do hope you’re not being chased by an overly enthusiastic heiress?” “Pack a light bag, Craven,” Maximus snapped. “We’re going to London to help a murderous lunatic escape from Bedlam.”

— Elizabeth Hoyt

100. “I must have an heir. Do you understand?” He grit his teeth and said, as if he were pulling the words, bloody and torn, from his very heart, “I must marry a woman who can bear children.”

— Elizabeth Hoyt