“Like that time I came home and Mum was sick, not letting me upstairs. Later on I heard Dad actually blaming her for being sick. That must have been the first time I felt queer.”

“I felt almost sick with wanting to tell her how I felt, but I couldn't think of words to suit my feelings.”

“He was blaming her for being sick, and she kept repeating, 'I'm forty, do you hear? I'm forty and I've been through enough. I'm forty, it was too much.”

“And then, believe it or not, it came to me for the first time that all the difference was caused by me.”

“Standing there. watching her go, I felt lonelier than I have ever been in my life.”

“I made up my mind to tell Joe about what was going on at home after the funny business about Molly's letter. As I went to sleep I imagined myself telling Joe even about the the funny marble feeling that came over me from time to time. Then I remembered a lot of the whopping lies I had told Joe about my mother and father.”

“What exactly he would say, I couldn't imagine, but I felt sure that as soon as I had actually got everything off my chest, I wouldn't have to worry any more.”