Encountering royalty

      You never know what to expect on encountering royalty. I’ve seen ’em stark naked except for wings of peacock feathers (Empress of China), giggling drunk in the embrace of a wrestler (Maharani of the Punjab), voluptuously wrapped in wet silk (Queen of Madagascar), wafting to and fro on a swing (Rani of Jhansi), and tramping along looking like an out-of-work charwoman (our own gracious monarch).


Flashman on the March, pp. 148-9, Harper Collins, paperback edition 2005.


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Implacable zeal

…always the same concentration, the same implacable zeal for perfection. No wonder she became mistress of all China — or that the Emperor died of her mattress gymnastics. Ten years? It’s a marvel he lasted ten days.


Flashman and the Dragon, pp.238-39, Fontana Paperback edition, 1986.



Tags: Flashman, Flashman quotes, zeal.