“I needed to be alone for whatever would happen. I knew that something would as certainly as if this were a last chapter.”

“And I knew it was true, that my words were made of stones, that they would last and I would climb them.”

“I knew if I waited around long enough something like this would happen.”

“I didn't care who we were. I required no consummation. I knew that whoever we were and whatever we had would never stop.”

“You, uh, caught me there at an unladylike moment. Mrs. Wattlesbrook would probably box my ears.""That's why I spoke. I wanted to let you know you were not alone before you did something--something worse.""Like what?""Whatever women do when they think they're alone.”

“It's because I'm alone.. If I could just feel it, it would be different, because I would not be alone. But if I were not alone, everybody would know it. And he could do so much for me, and then I would not be alone. Then I could be all right alone.”