Phroso: A Romance

“Great men may become indifferent as to what the papers say about them; I had never attained to this exalted state of mind.””

— Anthony Hope

“Phroso made no comment on this; and the moment I had said it I heard a voice below, a voice I knew very well.‘What’s the ladder here for, my friend?’ it asked.‘It enables one to ascend or descend, my lord,’ answered Kortes’s grave voice, without the least touch of irony.””

— Anthony Hope

“There is a matter on my conscience which I cannot excuse but may as well confess. To deceive a maiden is a very sore thing, so sore that it had made us all hot against Constantine; but it may be doubted by a cool mind whether it is worse, nay, whether it is not more venial than to contrive the murder of a lawful wife. Poets have paid more attention to the first offence – maybe they know more about it – the law finds greater employment, on the whole, in respect to the second.””

— Anthony Hope

“Euphrosyne leant forward, clasping her hands, and said to me: ‘Have you killed him?’ The question vexed me. It would have been civil to accompany it, at all events, with an inquiry as to my own health.””

— Anthony Hope

“Well, what’s the meaning of that?’ I exclaimed, looking down on the street, empty again save for groups of white-clothed women, who talked eagerly to one another, gesticulating and pointing now towards our inn, now towards where the men had gone.‘Perhaps it’s their Parliament,’ suggested Denny; ‘or perhaps they’ve repented of their rudeness and are going to erect a triumphal arch.’ These conjectures, being obviously ironical, did not assist the matter, although they amused their author.””

— Anthony Hope