Can You Trust Me, He Said. Not

Never Assume. Never Make Plans. Keep Doing The Press-ups And Deep Knee Bends: You'll Need All Your Strength And Flexibility When Your Life Suddenly Implodes. Maybe It Won't — Some People Do Lead Enchanted Lives — But Odds Are That It Will. Some Time.

Your Attitude Is Perhaps A Little Unnecessarily Rigorous," Suggested Jack.

At Least I Was True. My Intellectual Abilities Gave Me A Release, And An Excuse. I Shunned Company Because I Preferred Books; And The Dreams I Confided To My Father Were Of Becoming A Scholar In Good Earnest, And Going To University. It Was Unheard-of Several Shocked Governesses Were Only Too Quick To Tell Me, When I Spoke A Little Too Boldly -- But My Father Nodded And Smiled And Said, 'we'll See.' Since I Believed My Father Could Do Anything -- Except Of Course Make Me Pretty -- I Worked And Studied With Passionate Dedication, Lived In Hope, And Avoided Society And Mirrors.

There Had Been Certain Romantic Interludes In The Past That Had Included Galloping Across The Desert At Night; But He Had Never Abducted Any Woman Whose Enthusiastic Support For Such A Plan Had Not Been Secured Well In Advance.

One Keeps Searching For Ease, She Did Not Say, And Not Finding It, Till The Memories Of No-pain Seem Only Like Daydreams.