“You do the best you can and you deal with the consequences. It's all there is.”

“I pulled the MG in beside him at the curb and he got in."This thing ain't big enough for either one of us," he said. "When you getting something that fits?""It goes with my preppy look," I said. "You get one of these, they let you drive around the north shore, watch polo, anything you want."I let the clutch in and turned right on Dartmouth."How you get laid in one of these?" Hawk said."You just don't understand preppy," I said. "I know it's not your fault. You're only a couple generations out of the jungle. I realize that. But if you're preppy you don't get laid in a car.""Where do you get laid if you preppy?"I sniffed. "One doesn't," I said."Preppies gonna be outnumbered in a while," Hawk said.”

“Has anyone ever told you," I said, "that you coalesce reality?""No. They only say that I'm good in the sack.""They are accurate but limited," I said. "And if you give me their names I'll kill them.”

“Yeah. Floyd is his batman."His what?"Batman, like in the British army, each officer had a batman, a personal servant."You spend too much time reading, Spenser. You know more stuff that don't make you money than anybody I know.”

“How about the wrong crowd," I said. "You getting in with them?""Not much luck," Paul said. "I'm trying like hell, but the wrong crowd doesn't seem to want me.""Don't quit," I said. "You want something, you go after it. I was nearly thirty-five before I could get in with wrong crowd.”

“Pearl was hurring around my apartment, sniffing everything, including Rich Beaumont and Patty Giacomin, which neither of them like much."Can you get Pearl to settle down?" Paul asked."I could speak to her, but she'd continue to do what she wants, and I'd look ineffectual. My approach is to endorse everything she does."Susan said, "Come here, Pearl." And Pearl went over to her, and Susan gave her a kiss on the mouth, and Pearl wagged her tail; and lapped Susan's face, and turned and went back and sniffed at Patty.”

“We split a bottle of Norman cider. Not everybody sells Norman cider by the bottle. "Has a European feel" Susan said."That sounds terrific" I said. "Can I have one?"Susan grinned at me. "How did you ever get to be so big without growing up?" she said."Iron self-control" I said.”