“The viscountess had raised the forefinger of her right hand and made a pretty gesture toward a stool at her feet. There was such intense tyrannical passion in the gesture that the marquis relinquished the doorknob and came back.”

“And he raised his glass to her. It could have been a compliment. Or the most sarcastic gesture anyone had ever made to her.”

“Elodie made a gesture that was pretty easy to interpret.”

“In fact," Slad was saying, "that was a night of firsts for me. I'm pretty sure I had sex with her too.""Pretty sure?""Like I said, it was a night of firsts. I'm not sure I actually made it to her vagina. It's quite possible I had sex with the air around her vagina." He gestured in wild circles. "But I still count it.”

“He sat by her, watching every gesture she made, as if he would paint her portrait afterward.”

“Grandma Mazur stood two feet back from my mother. "I gotta get me a pair if those," she said, eyeballing my shorts. "I've still got pretty good legs, you know." She raised her skirt and looked down at her knees. "What do you think? You think I'd look good in them biker things?" Grandma Mazur had knees like doorknobs.”