Emily Wildes Encyclopedia Quotes

Come down to the tavern," he said after dark had fallen. "No, thank you," I said, glancing up from the dryadology journal I was jotting notes from - I was working on the bibliography for my encyclopedia. "I'd like an early night." "You don't have to stay long. You'd rather sit here with your nose in a book?" "Vastly," I said, and he shook his head at me, not in disgust but utter bemusement.

I managed a single glance over my shoulder, and what did my gaze fall upon but my encyclopaedia, pages stacked tidily beneath my paperweight, little bookmarks sticking out the sides indicating sections requiring revision. That pinnacle of faerie scholarship, which I had only weeks ago likened to a museum exhibit of the Folk, neatly pinned down and labelled by the foremost expert on the subject---that is, me---brimming with meticulously documented accounts of foolish mortals who bumbled into faerie plots and games.

This is about my encyclopaedia, isn't it?" His face hardened. "I don't like what you're implying, Emily." I gave a disbelieving laugh. "I don't like being accused of professional misconduct." His reaction had bolstered my suspicions. I'd heard rumors that Rose was working on his own encyclopaedia of the Folk--- a project that had reportedly occupied much of his career. He'd said nothing to me about it before or after my book came out, but there had been a distinct cooling of our already cool relations. "I don't wish to imply anything untoward," I said. "So I will simply say it: you resent me. You spent years on your own encyclopaedia, obsessing over minor details as you always do, and you were too blinded by your own arrogance to think that someone else might beat you to the punch. Ruining my reputation will be to your benefit, won't it? I've often noticed, sir, that for all we scholars shake our heads at the amorality of the Folk, on many occasions we demonstrate that we lack the high ground.