How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
Her muscles locked. For almost a minute, she stood frozen. Once the stone was destroyed, she would be powerless. She was old, and soon she would die. She knew she would die alone. But not by fire. And she would die without asking for help from Grisini. That one humiliation she would be spared. (P.24)
The phoenix-stone is killing Cassandra, but she's still reluctant to relinquish it because she knows that once it's gone, she'll probably die of old age. It's just that she doesn't want to die in the way the other women have—in a painful, fiery blaze. Yeah, us neither.
Quote #2
"There was cholera." Clara spoke hurriedly, as if eager to get the explanation over with. "Quentin was just a baby. That's Selina by the column—she was the eldest. She was seven, and Adelaide was six, and Charles Augustus and I were five. He was my twin." She hesitated a moment and plunged on. "Papa thinks the contagion was in the watercress. I was naughty that day. I've never liked eating green things, and I wouldn't eat the watercress at tea. So I wasn't ill, but the others died." (3.34)
Even though she was only five at the time, Clara remembers clearly what happened to her siblings and how they all died. What a traumatic thing for a little girl to carry around for more than half of her life.
Quote #3
"They take plaster," Clara said very calmly, "and press it over the—the dear one's face. And then later take more plaster and make a mask. That way—" She stopped and covered her mouth with her hand. She did not seem grief stricken so much as embarrassed.
Parsefall's eyes went back to the four white casts. "That's nasty," he said. "Stickin' plaster on somebody's face wot's dead. It's 'orrible." (3.39-40)
It's clear that the Wintermutes aren't going to let their deceased children be forgotten anytime soon. They have reminders of them everywhere, which is disturbing to Parsefall when he enters their grand home.