We create the illusions we need to go on.

We sit and listen and are enthralled anew, for good stories, it seems, never lose their magic.

But the past cannot be changed, and we carry our choices with us, forward, into the unknown. We can only move on.

Truth casts a spell of its own.

The ladies pass the timee with gossip and hearsay. This is what they have in place of freedom- gime and gossip. Their lives are small and careful. I do not wish to live this way. I should like to make my mark. To venture opinions that may not be polite or even correct but are mine nonetheless. If I am to be hanged for anything, I should like to feel that I go to the gallows on my own strength.

He frowns. "A dance with the carnivorous Felicity? Why? Has she eaten all the other available gentlemen?

The line between faith and fanaticism is a constantly shifting one,” Dr. Poblocki said. “When does belief become justification? When does right become rationale and crusade become crime?