How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
[It was] a modest house and yet sure of itself, and then looking across at the country beyond. I had no sense of having been here before, but an absolute conviction that I would come here again (1.10)
Arthur makes serious real estate decisions based off of how much he likes the way the outside of a cottage looks. Good thing that one worked out.
Quote #2
The business was beginning to sound like something from a Victorian novel, with a reclusive old woman having hidden a lot of ancient documents somewhere in the depths of her cluttered home. (2.62)
LOL, right? This little quip is a joke on Arthur, because (1) it's supposed to show us how Arthur thinks of himself as oh-so-modern even though the Victorian era is probably only a few years behind him, and (2) it turns out that he is in a Victorian-esque novel.