May I wish for you the knowledge...that marriages do not take place, they are made by hand; that there is always an element of discipline involved; that however perfect the honeymoon, the time will come, however brief it is, when you wish she would fall downstairs and break a leg. This goes for her too. But the mood will pass, if you give it time.

She bent over me again. Blood began to move around in me, like a prospective tenant looking over a house.

I'm all done with hating you. It's all washed out of me. I hate people hard, but I don't hate them very long.

The coffee shop smell was strong enough to build a garage on.

She lowered her lashes until they almost cuddled her cheeks and slowly raised them again, like a theatre curtain. I was to get to know that trick. That was supposed to make me roll over on my back with all four paws in the air.

Dames lie about anything - just for practice.

Mostly I just kill time," he said, "and it dies hard.