- Lauren Compton: How dare you contradict me in front of a servant?
- Harry Compton: The Sphinx has spoken.
- Ralph Compton - 11 years old: Why is Daddy's medal stupid?
- Lauren Compton: Because all those idiots, dressed up like bloody vanilla ice creams, think that it's a suitable reward for enduring a lifetime of boredom out here in this... middle of bloody nowhere, that's why!
- Ralph Compton - 11 years old: Doesn't she love me any more?
- Harry Compton: Of course she does.
- Ralph Compton - 11 years old: Then how could she leave?
- Harry Compton: I suppose you think this is all so bloody easy. Well, wake up. Just you wait until you lose everything. And I mean everything. Wife, position, future. The whole damn kit and caboodle. Come independence, we're all on the scrapheap. So wake up.
- Lauren Compton: I'm not invisible, you know.
- Lady Riva Hardwick: No, you're a divorcée, which is far worse.