Ravenel Twins Quotes

“Grinning at her sister's haste, Pandora cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted after them in her best imitation of Lady Berwick, "Ladies do not gallop like chaise horses!"
Cassandra's reply floated back from a distance, "Ladies do not screech like vultures!”
― Lisa Kleypas, Devil in Spring

“But don't you remember what happened at Eversby Priory, when a goose built her nest in the swan's territory? She thought she was enough like them that they wouldn't mind her. Only her neck was too short, and her legs were too long, and she didn't have the right sort of feathers, so the swans kept attacking and chasing the poor thing until finally she was driven off."
"You're not a goose."
Pandora's mouth twisted. "I'm an awfully deficient swan, then.”
― Lisa Kleypas, Devil in Spring

“I can think of a hundred things better than kissing. Decorating for Christmas, petting the dogs, extra butter on the crumpets, having someone scratch the itch on your back that you can't quite reach-"
"You haven't tried kissing," Cassandra told her. "You might like it. Helen does."
"Helen likes Brussels sprouts. How can anyone trust her opinion?”
― Lisa Kleypas, Marrying Winterborne

“Glancing around the entrance hall, she realized the crate was no longer in the corner. The twins must have raced downstairs the moment it had been mentioned. Clutching it on either side, they lugged it furtively toward the receiving room.
"Girls," Kathleen said sharply, "bring that back here at once!"
But it was too late. The receiving room's double doors closed, accompanied by the click of a key turning in the lock. Kathleen stopped short, her jaw slackening.
West and Helen staggered together, overcome with hilarity.
"I'll have you know," Mrs. Church said in amazement, "it took our two stoutest footmen to bring that crate into the house. How did two young ladies manage to carry it away so quickly?"
"Sh-sheer determination," Helen wheezed.
"All I want in this life," West told Kathleen, "is to see you try to pry that crate away from those two."
"I wouldn't dare," she replied, giving up. "They would do me bodily harm.”
― Lisa Kleypas, Cold-Hearted Rake

“Do you feel any attraction to Lord Lambert? Butterflies swirling inside?"
"No, but... I do like his looks..."
"It doesn't matter if he's handsome," her sister had said with authority.
Cassandra had smiled wryly. "Pandora, it's not as if you married a bridge troll.”
― Lisa Kleypas, Chasing Cassandra

“You're not behaving the way I expected. I've done all the crying and screaming, and you've been so quiet."
"I'm sure I'll cry eventually. Right now, though, I only feel rather ill and gray."
"Should I be quiet too?" Pandora had asked.
Cassandra had shaken her head. "No, not at all. It feels as if you're crying and screaming for me when I can't."
Pandora had pressed her cheek against Cassandra's arm. "That's what sisters do.”
― Lisa Kleypas, Chasing Cassandra

“It's three turns in the stocks for you," Cassandra told him.
"Clapped in the stocks, merely for breaking the Sabbath?" West asked indignantly.
"It's a severe game," Cassandra said. "It was invented at the turn of the century, and back then you could be put in the stocks or hanged even for stealing a piece of bacon."
"How do you know that?" Rhys asked.
"We have a book about it in the library," Pandora said. "'Crimes Of Fallen Humanity.' It's all about terrible criminals and horrid gruesome punishments."
"We've read it at least three times," Cassandra added.”
― Lisa Kleypas, Marrying Winterborne

“But Kathleen," Cassandra pleaded, "we've had no amusement for so long."
"Of course you haven't," Kathleen said, steeling herself against a stab of guilt. "People aren't supposed to have amusements when they're in mourning."
The twins fell silent, glowering at her.
Devon broke the tension by asking Cassandra lightly, "Permission to go ashore, Captain?"
"Aye," came the sullen reply, "you and the wench can leave by way of the plank."
Kathleen frowned. "Kindly do not refer to me as a wench, Cassandra."
"It's better than 'bilge rat,'" Pandora said in a surly tone. "Which is the term I would have used."
After giving her a chiding glance, Kathleen returned to the graveled walk, with Devon by her side. "Well?" she asked after a moment. "Aren't you going to criticize as well?"
"I can't think of anything to add to 'bilge rat.”
― Lisa Kleypas, Cold-Hearted Rake

“The twins, who were clearly having a splendid time, had adorned themselves outlandishly. Cassandra was dressed in a green opera cloak with a jeweled feather ornament affixed to her hair. Pandora had tucked a light blue lace parasol beneath one arm, and a pair of lawn tennis rackets in the other, and was wearing a flowery diadem headdress that had slipped partially over one eye.”
― Lisa Kleypas, Cold-Hearted Rake

“What is this?" Kathleen asked, picking up the bottle and viewing it suspiciously.
"It's a beautifier," Pandora said.
"Bloom of Rose," Cassandra chimed in.
Kathleen gasped as she realized what it was. "It's rouge. She had never even held a container of rouge before. Setting it on the counter, she said firmly, "No."
"But Kathleen-"
"No to rouge," she said, "now and for all time."
"We need to enhance our complexions," Pandora protested.
"It won't do any harm," Cassandra chimed in. "The bottle says that Bloom of Rose is 'delicate and inoffensive'... It's written right there, you see?"
"The comments you would receive if you wore rouge in public would assuredly not be delicate or inoffensive. People would assume you were a fallen woman. Or worse, an actress."
Pandora turned to Devon. "Lord Trenear, what do you think?"
"This is one of those times when it's best for a man to avoid thinking altogether," he said hastily.
"Bother," Cassandra said. Reaching for a white glass pot with a gilded top, she gave it to Kathleen. "We found this for you. It's lily pomatum, for your wrinkles."
"I don't have wrinkles," Kathleen said with dawning indignation.
"Not yet," Pandora allowed. "But someday you will.”
― Lisa Kleypas, Cold-Hearted Rake

“Lady Helen, who had been accompanied by her husband, Mr. Rhys Winterborne, was far more reserved than the twins. Instead of Pandora's raw and radiant energy, or Cassandra's effervescent charm, she possessed a quality of sweet, patient gravity. With her silver-blonde hair and willowy slenderness, Helen seemed as ethereal as a figure form from a painting by Bougereau.”
― Lisa Kleypas, Devil in Spring

“Cassandra grinned up at him, well aware that she was perspiring and bedraggled, with soot marks on her yellow dress. "You probably thought Pandora was the cause of all our misadventures. But as you see, I'm capable of getting into trouble all on my own."
"Pandora would be proud," Devon said dryly, amusement flickering in his eyes.”
― Lisa Kleypas, Chasing Cassandra

“I've overheard the way men gossip at dances or parties. They point out all a girl's physical flaws and debate whether she's too tall or short, or if her complexion is smooth enough, or whether her bosom is adequate."
Pandora scowled. "Why don't they have to be perfect?"
"Because they're men."
Pandora looked disgusted. "That's the London Season for you: Casting girls before swine." Turning to her husband, she asked, "Do men really talk about women that way?"
"Men, no," Gabriel said. "Arsewits, yes.”
― Lisa Kleypas, Chasing Cassandra

“The twins were nineteen, soon to be twenty, but one could be excused for thinking they were younger than their actual age. Raised in an atmosphere largely devoid of authority, they had run free on a country estate with few diversions other than those they created for themselves. Their parents had spent much of their time in London society, leaving their daughters in the care of servants, governesses, and tutors. None of them had been able or willing to take a firm hand with them.
To be certain, Pandora and Cassandra were high-spirited but also affectionate, intelligent, and endearing. And they were as beautiful as a pair of pagan goddesses, both of them long-limbed and glowing with health. Pandora was perpetually disheveled and full of energy, her dark hair falling from its pins as if she'd just been running through the woods. Cassandra, the golden-haired twin, was more compliant and romantic in nature, more willing to abide by rules.”
― Lisa Kleypas, Marrying Winterborne

“Helen's gaze remained on her sister, as she noticed that Cassandra had recently lost the gangly, coltish look of childhood. She bore an astonishing resemblance to Jane, with the immaculate prettiness of her bone structure and bow-shaped lips, the sunlight-colored curls, and heavily lashed blue eyes.
Fortunately Cassandra was a softer, infinitely kinder version of their mother. And Pandora, for all her prankish high spirits, was the most sweet-natured girl imaginable.”
― Lisa Kleypas, Marrying Winterborne

“Devon studied the twins, who resembled a pair of unkempt woodland fairies. Cassandra was possibly the more beautiful of the two, with golden hair, large blue eyes, and a Cupid's-bow mouth. Pandora, by contrast, was more slender and spare in form, with dark brown hair and a more angular face.”
― Lisa Kleypas, Cold-Hearted Rake

“The twins were so dazzling in their long-limbed grace, with the sunlight dancing over their disheveled hair, that it seemed entirely reasonable to have named them for Greek goddesses. Their was something lawless and cheerfully feral in their rosy-cheeked disarray.”
― Lisa Kleypas, Cold-Hearted Rake

“I can see why you would like him."
"You can?"
"Yes, he's very good-looking, and his personality has interesting corners and edges. And he's a man, not a boy."
How like Pandora to accurately identify the reasons Cassandra found Tom Severin so compelling, and Lord Lambert so... not.
Lambert had been born to privilege, and his character was still unformed in many ways. He'd never had to make his own way in life, and likely never would. Tom Severin, by contrast, had started with nothing except his wits and will, and had become powerful by anyone's standards. Lord Lambert enjoyed a life of languid ease, while Tom blazed through his days with relentless energy. Even the side of Tom that was cool and calculating was exciting. Stimulating. There was hardly any doubt in Cassandra's mind that Lambert would be easier to live with... but as to the one she would rather share a bed with...”
― Lisa Kleypas, Chasing Cassandra