“I think somebody deliberately wanted to frighten her.”

“I don't know. I don't know at all. And that's what's frightening the life out of me. To have no idea....”

“Marriage, I have always held, is a serious affair, to be entered into only after long deliberation and forethought, and suitability of tastes and inclinations is the most important consideration.”

“I looked at her. Sheila was my girl--the girl I wanted--and wanted for keeps. But it wasn't any use having illusions about her. Sheila was a liar and probably always would be a liar. It was her way of fighting for survival--the quick easy glib denial. It was a child's weapon--and she'd probably never got out of using it. If I wanted Sheila, I must accept her as she was--be at hand to prop up the weak places. We've all got our weak places. Mine were different from Sheila's, but they were there.”

“IF anybody had been there to observe the gentle-looking elderlylady who stood meditatively on the loggia outside her bungalow,they would have thought she had nothing more on her mind thandeliberation on how to arrange her time that day. An expedition, perhaps, to Castle Cliff; a visit to Jamestown; a nice drive andlunch at Pelican Point_ or just a quiet morning on the beach.But the gentle old lady was deliberating quite other matters. Shewas in a militant mood.”

“You do think you know about everything," said her husband. I do," said Tuppence.”

“Love can be a very frightening thing.’ ‘That is why most great love stories are tragedies.”