“Whew,” he said. “You clean up good. You don’t look like the same girl.”She frowned right before she laughed. “Do women usually thank you for saying things like that?”

“The girl was grateful to the young man for every bit of flattery; she wanted to linger for a moment in its warmth and so she said, 'You're very good at lying.''Do I look like a liar?''You look like you enjoy lying to women,' said the girl, and into her words there crept unawares a touch of the old anxiety, because she really did believe that her young man enjoyed lying to women.”

“You look more of less the same."She strode right past him. "And you still look like a jackass," she said sweetly.”

“Oh I'm sure you're right," Auntie said. "Probably she's just as you say. But she looks to me like a very clever girl, and adaptable; you can see that from the shape of her ears.”

“I don't like cleaning or dusting or cooking or doing dishes, or any of those things," I explained to her. "And I don't usually do it. I find it boring, you see.""Everyone has to do those things," she said."Rich people don't," I pointed out.Juniper laughed, as she often did at things I said in those early days, but at once became quite serious."They miss a lot of fun," she said. "But quite apart from that--keeping yourself clean, preparing the food you are going to eat, clearing it away afterward--that's what life's about, Wise Child. When people forget that, or lose touch with it, then they lose touch with other important things as well.""Men don't do those things.""Exactly. Also, as you clean the house up, it gives you time to tidy yourself up inside--you'll see.”

“Are you all right to drive without me talking you home?” He laughed a little. “You know what? I can’t remember doing this before. Talking to a woman for over an hour on the phone.” “You can’t possibly expect me to believe that,” she said. “I know you’ve had a million women!” “Not like you, Jilly. I was always looking for women who would take me to bed. It never occurred to me to look for a woman who would take me to heart.”