“I should never be left alone with my mind for too long.”
“I should not have minded that, if they would only have left me alone. But they wouldn't leave me alone. They seemed to think the opportunity lost, if they failed to point the conversation at me, every now and then, and stick the point into me.”
“James is why I never left. I should have left.”
“I don't mind if you forget me.Having learned my lesson,I never left an impression on anyone.”
“This was our common ground, the secret we shared but never spokealoud. I should have beenwith him; she should have left him alone. Shoulda, coulda, woulda. It's so easyin the past tense.”
“I had, of course, sworn never to let the place cross my mind again; but human beings can't help being curious, I suppose, as long as the knowledge doesn't come at too high a price.”