Just because we’re not firing cannons or riding horses doesn’t mean it won’t be fun.

No, it’s an echo chamber of sycophants and I can’t listen to some bimbo recite her newest purchases while pretending I don’t want to throw myself from the roof.

sit yourself down and stop fussing. You’re reminding me of my Aunt Glynna with all this temperature takin’ and foil tuckin’. This food is fine.

Like the dancing.

Now you’re just bein’ silly,” Linnie said and let out a laugh.

Rebecca is a Northerner. You can tell because there aren’t any cheese straws on the snack table.

How weird? We’re all dressed like people in a Jane Austen book. I think weird comes with the territory.

I think you should ignore Sara Teasdale (she’s a bit of a moper, to be honest.). Take Christina Rossetti’s advice and be fire.

It’s not. It wasn’t.”He reached out and cupped her cheek in his hand. He didn’t know what else to say and all he wanted was to touch her skin, let her know that he wasn’t...

Jane Austen would be so proud. Another girl trussed up for a fancy party.””On the contrary, she’d be horrified. All that skin. You’d need about another five yards of material.

She closed her eyes, not really hearing the rest of what he murmured against her ear. All she knew was that it echoed everything that was in her heart. He was a surprise. Love was...

Did you know say the true cause of the Civil War was some Northerner adding nutmeg to a mint julep?” Lucy asked.

I’m fixin’ to invite her for dinner.

Okay, I may cry just a bit but it’s only because it’s an Austen-era reproduction and anybody would feel the pain of destroying something so lovely.

You look like someone ran over your dog.” Blanche nudged him with her elbow.

Well, maybe awake but somebody home with really, really bad judgment.

But hey, at least you can say you’ve got mail,” Andy said, chuckling.

You liked the hats. Oh, girl.

I always liked ‘nothing is so good as it seems beforehand.’ I think that’s the perfect Eliot quote for the moment we head off to a garden party.

Actually, your mama has some sense, and would say, ‘She lives twenty feet away,’ but suit yourself,” Mrs. Olivier said.

We refused to eat him.

But I don’t think I can have even that, anymore.

mudbugs” out of their burlap sacks. Other than an onion or maybe an ear of corn, if it wasn’t alive when you threw it in, then it shouldn’t be in the pot, she’d say. Did...

Let’s get this movie started. There’s nothing like a little Austen to soothe the wounded soul,” Theresa said.

Her beauty was classic, timeless. Just the line of her neck, the curve of her cheek, the way the dress draped her hips, was enough to stop the room. When she’d turned away to look...

Lucy gripped her chilled glass of orange and raspberry juice. When Rebecca talked about Austen, she’d mostly mentioned Mr. Darcy or Mr. Knightley. She hadn’t really thought of the doe-eyed, pale-skinned heroines. On the screen,...

Just thinking how you’re just like Captain Wentworth and I’m just like Tina Turner.

I know you’re wrong but you won’t take my word for it, so God will have to explain it to you.

Don’t break character.

I used to be one, until my wife died. And then I was just pathetic.

I know we sort of said goodbye, but I don’t have anyone else to tell this to and I’m going to burst with it. You know EBB’s verse:God answers sharp and sudden on some prayers,And...

There’s no way on God’s green earth that I’m dressing up like Mr. Darcy.” Brooks stretched out on Caroline’s bed, hanging his suede wing tips off the edge and crossing his ankles. He laced his...

I need to take that love and spread it around. What a waste to just keep it tucked inside.

big wobbly thing. The ragout of veal will be a hit, I’m sure. And the Roman punch will have to be changed a little bit. It’s usually lemon water and hot syrup with a lot...