"Yes. We find it most interesting, that certain types are favored in the various seasons. Newlyweds in the spring, pre-grams in the summer, middle mothers in the fall, new mothers and grandmothers in the winter. Confidentially, Mr. Grover, I've always longed to be a Transient myself. But you have to be a Quickie to hold this job, since you're in one place for such a long period of time. Well, what type of newlywed did you have in mind?"
Simon licked his lips eagerly. In Philadelphia the last time he had come close to learning the parting ritual. But it tripped him up, as usual, and he reached New York one step ahead of the police. "She must be very impressionable," Simon said, "and very talkative. She must be eager to discuss the theories of multiple marriage—"
"Most newlyweds are," the Counselor pointed out.
"Well, particularly so. And, of course, she must not be carrying a torch for her honeymoon husband."
"That's rare these days, Mr. Grover."
"It happened to me once, in St. Louis. Had an awful time."
"Then she probably was a misfit. After all, the institution of multiple marriages is almost eighty years old, and the only form of marriage in the United States today. If we were still in the early pioneering days you might have cause to worry. Ideas of propinquity still seemed important then, and people were concerned with such things as lasting relationships, though for the life of me I can't see why."
"They thought it was more secure," suggested Simon.
"But it isn't. In the old days, statistics proved that if a man or woman was saddled with one mate too long, it often led to trouble. The old Et al report of 1979 shocked the world with its figures: ninety five percent of all married men had illicit relations with other women, and the figure was almost as high for women. Relations with unmarried people. It's rather horrible, isn't it, Mr. Grover?"
"I suppose so," said Simon, half-listening. All he needed now was the parting ritual. A nice, impressionable, talkative newlywed girl....