“She's stupid, isn't she, Emily?”

“Carter was so taken aback by her attack he dropped his knife. “You knocked him stupid,” he bellowed.“No,” Emily corrected in what she believed was a reasonable tone of voice. “He was already stupid. I knocked him out.”

“Emily was so excited she forgot. She was so happy she made a mistake and said, “Thank you so much, Mommy!”

“Now now, Emily, it isn't nice to tell the truth.”

“Marcel was from Louisiana, so for four years Emily had been southern by association. She insisted on Lynchburg Lemonades. She scheduled interviews around the Gators. She championed gentility. Anyone at a dinner party who thought they could tell a joke making fun of the region encountered a faceful of Emily, quick and ferocious as a convert, as a woman who loved a man. Emily now had no claim to the South. The region and its interests would proceed without her.”

“You know, Emily was a selfish old woman in her way. She was very generous, but she always wanted a return. She never let people forget what she had done for them - and, that way she missed love.”