"If I am ever converted—in the common sense—it will be the hard way: posthumously and in the Presence. No. The change in me, what little I have so far discovered, probably comes from atrophy. The peace and mellowness that men mistake for wisdom—that is in fact the result of calcium deposits, excess urea in the cells, and so on."
"You're forty!"
"And you're twenty—instead of twenty-six."
"You don't look it."
"You do. And as you well know, it's a damn good age for a woman to look."
She thought awhile. "You meet a lot of woman."
"I meet a few."
"Famous ones, I mean. What's your wife like? Blonde? Brunette?"
"You know a movie actress named Maureen O'Sullivan?"
She nodded.