"Will you help me to understand her ?" "It is not easy to help you to understand a woman who doesn't understand herself," he answered.

"But I will try.

The key to my poor dear mother's character is, in one word--Eccentricity." If he had picked out the most inappropriate word in the whole dictionary to describe the lady whom I had met on the beach, "Eccentricity" would have been that word.

A child who had seen what I saw, who had heard what I heard would have discovered that he was trifling--grossly, recklessly trifling--with the truth.
"Bear in mind what I have said," he proceeded; "and if you want to understand my mother, do what I asked you to do a minute since--tell me all about it.

How came you to speak to her, to begin with ?" "Your mother told you, Eustace.