- Peggy Scott: When were you last in the South?
- T. Thomas Fortune: Not for many years. And when I lived there, I was a slave.
- Peggy Scott: Oh. I see.
- T. Thomas Fortune: No, you don't. Because you can't.
- George Russell: I humor him to get him to reveal his price.
- Richard Clay: Suppose he hasn't got one?
- George Russell: Oh, he has. He may tease us a little so we raise our offer, but every man living has a price.
- Ward McAllister: Mr. Russell, how kind of you to open your house.
- George Russell: It's for a good cause.
- Ward McAllister: A cause that is disrupting New York society. I don't know if that's good or not.
- George Russell: Any cause of my wife's is good.
- Ada Brook: I'd like to invite the new rector for luncheon.
- Agnes Van Rhijn: We have to listen to him drone on all Sunday morning. Can the Lord really want more from us than that?
- Turner: Or are you threatening me with exposure?
- Bertha Russell: I have no wish to make trouble.
- Turner: Good. Because if you make trouble for me, I will respond in kind.
- Bertha Russell: I don't understand.
- Turner: If I were you, I would discuss it with George before you decide to stir things up.
- Bertha Russell: George? You mean Mr. Russell.
- Turner: So he never told you about us? Funny, I thought that was why I was sacked. Because you were jealous.
- Bertha Russell: Jealous of what?
- Turner: You should ask your husband.
- Peggy Scott: I'll tell you what I do like... when colored people open doors, when they help others to earn a living. I like independence and self-reliance. And even if it's not perfect, this Tuskegee school seems like a step in the right direction.
- Agnes Van Rhijn: What are they up to today?
- Ada Brook: I'm not sure, but there is quite a bustle of arrivals.
- Agnes Van Rhijn: You mean of people?
- Ada Brook: Yes, people.
- Agnes Van Rhijn: Well, with the Russells, one cannot be certain. I wouldn't be surprised if they hired Barnum & Bailey's Circus to perform in the hall.
- Ada Brook: It looks like it's mostly women, so probably not the circus.
- Agnes Van Rhijn: Hmm, I'd like to see the guest list before I reach any conclusions.
- Baudin (aka Borden): So, Miss Turner is now a great lady in New York.
- Adelheid Weber: It makes you think. If she can do it, anyone can.
- Larry Russell: I should get back to work.
- Susan Blane: Why? Do you have a cruel mistress who never allows you time off?
- Larry Russell: She's an absolute tyrant, take it from me.
- Susan Blane: Well, then kiss me again. I command it.
- Larry Russell: As you wish, but this will only delay the completion of the work.
- Susan Blane: Good. Then you'll be around longer. And when it is done, I'll find something else.
- Watson: No, it's not exactly unreasonable. Could even be called generous. But it is heartless... all the same.
- George Russell: Oh, I see how it is. You are Saint Michael with a flaming sword, and I am just a greedy robber baron.
- Aurora Fane: We're proud of our opera, Mr. Wilde.
- Oscar Wilde: It has been my experience that you are proud of many things that would not translate to the old world.
- Mrs. Bruce: Did the mistress turn up in the end?
- Church: Oh, yes. Cool as a cucumber. Butter wouldn't melt in her mouth.
- Bertha Russell: What happened between you and Turner?
- George Russell: What did she tell you?
- Bertha Russell: Just answer the question.
- George Russell: Nothing happened. Except...
- Bertha Russell: Except what?
- George Russell: She came into my room one night. At first, I thought it was you, but the lamp revealed that I was wrong.
- Bertha Russell: Was it just your room, or your bed?
- George Russell: My bed.
- Bertha Russell: Was she clothed? Answer me!
- George Russell: No. But I would never betray you.
- Bertha Russell: You already have.
- George Russell: Is something wrong?
- Bertha Russell: You tell me.
- George Russell: I'm not in the mood for riddles.
- Marian Brook: Well, you can't go all the way to Alabama alone with a man.
- Peggy Scott: I've told you. It is a professional trip, and Mr. Fortune is my employer.
- Marian Brook: He's also a man, and a married one. Be careful. That's all.
- Baudin (aka Borden): What if they started a servants' union? Would you join it?
- Church: I'd rather be struck dead by lightning.
- Mrs. Bruce: I take it that's a no.
- Henderson: All we're asking is for you to do the right thing, Mr. Russell. I pay you the compliment of being sure that you know what the right thing would be.
- Oscar Van Rhijn: Were you pleased with how the play went?
- Oscar Wilde: An audience is seldom pleasing. It's a bonus if they don't disappoint.
- Oscar Wilde: I hope you enjoyed the play, Miss Russell.
- Gladys Russell: Is 'enjoy' the right word when a tsar is murdered, and the evening ends with the heroine stabbing herself?
- Oscar Wilde: Oh! So young, and already a critic.
- Dorothy Scott: But you don't seem to understand that once you cross that line, you are no longer human. Now, you must promise me to always stay with your group. Never go out alone.
- Peggy Scott: I can promise that.
- Dorothy Scott: Do not make eye contact with any white folks. And don't speak to them. Even the slightest gesture or... or look can be misconstrued.
- Peggy Scott: You're telling me to be subservient?
- Dorothy Scott: I'm telling you how to stay alive. And if it were up to me, you would not be going at all.
- Ada Brook: Oh, I'm happy if you enjoyed it.
- Reverend Matthew Forte: I think everyone did, except possibly Mrs. Van Rhijn.
- Ada Brook: Oh, my sister. Pleasing her can be little short of a miracle.
- Reverend Matthew Forte: Well, I'm in the miracle business.
- Aurora Fane: He has his eye on Miss Beaton now.
- Oscar Wilde: And the young man with him?
- Aurora Fane: John Adams. He's an old friend of Oscar's.
- Oscar Wilde: Is he, indeed? Yes, I can see that getting rather complicated.
- Aurora Fane: I don't know what you mean.
- Oscar Wilde: Nor should you. You're far too well brought up.
- Oscar Wilde: But what's your verdict?
- Oscar Van Rhijn: It was interesting.
- Oscar Wilde: Interesting... is a weasel word, and generally used to avoid giving a real opinion.
- Maud Beaton: But is the old world better?
- Oscar Wilde: Not better, exactly. Just more tested by time.
- Bertha Russell: But you never told me.
- George Russell: Because there was nothing to tell.
- Bertha Russell: It seems to me there was a great deal to tell.
- George Russell: She didn't matter to me in the least, and there was no chance anything was going to happen. But I knew you depended on her. It didn't make sense to blow up the house because of her stupid mistake.
- Bertha Russell: So you allowed me to be waited on, to have my hair arranged, my clothes chosen, my bath run by a woman who'd been naked with my husband? It's disgusting!
- George Russell: I'm sorry if it was a bad decision.
- Bertha Russell: Decision? I call that betrayal!
- George Russell: [asking Bertha how long she will be mad at him] How long will it be like this?
- Bertha Russell: I don't know, George. Betrayal is not like a case of influenza.
- George Russell: No, it feels more like a death sentence.
- Agnes Van Rhijn: Soup? At luncheon?
- Oscar Van Rhijn: Wasn't it George IV who decreed that no gentleman drinks soup in the middle of the day?
- Robert McNeil: I am a banker, my wife is a hostess, and her father is a valet. It seems to me that we are in a pretty kettle of fish.
- George Russell: You're being jejune. You know nothing happened. Am I really to be held responsible for Turner's actions?
- Bertha Russell: You're responsible for your own inaction.
- Oscar Van Rhijn: How do you find America?
- Oscar Wilde: Well, I can manage almost everything but the food and the wallpaper.
- Oscar Wilde: [referring to an opera house] If it were actually a brewery, someone might hope to get some pleasure from it.
- Oscar Van Rhijn: Are you happy with him?
- John Adams: Oscar, I'm happy with me. That's as much as I need or hope for.
- Dorothy Scott: We came to New York for a different kind of life... a life that colored people can't have down there.