“She's got feet like boats, whiskers like an American, and her undies are filthy.”

“Pete- What does a woman want out of marriage?Louisa- Undying devotion and a warm place to put her cold feet when she gets into bed at night.”

“Her courage seemed to collapse around her ankles like an old pair of elastic undies”

“He felt like a man in a small boat under which a huge sea creature has passed, causing the boat to pitch gently. Like a man in a boat, he could chase it or run from it, and he picked chase. If he felt it on her lips, he put his mouth on her lips. If he found it on the palm of her hand, he opened her hand and licked it up. Her soul darted here and there, sensitive as any creature, tipping her center of balance back and forth as it oscillated. She liked this, and if she had any fear, she did not take it seriously. He liked it, too, so much that he could barely concentrate on the chase.”

“Betsy liked to talk. Her father always said she got it from her mother, and her mother always said she got it from her father. But whomever she got it from she was certainly a talker.”

“Okay. Let's see what we've got." He lifted up her foot and said, "Well, what we've got here is a freakin' boat."Really?" She slammed her heel against the side of his face, snapping his head to one side. "How big are they now, Mitch?"Rubbing the abused side of his face, "Dainty little elf feet?""Exactly.”