"That's what Creagon said you'd say," Marne said. "I don't know why, but I had to hear it with my own ears. It would have made things so much easier if you would have been happy to take the big divorce settlement Melissa was planning on laying on you and then move on to better times."

"Easier for whom?"

"Well, Creagon has kind of a plan."

"A plan for what?"

"Matrimonial bliss-maybe," Marne ventured.

"Mine?"

"I said maybe."

"Since when did your husband become God's chief miracle worker? Because, before he could do anything for my and Melissa's declining conjugal bliss, a miracle worker is just what he would have to be."

"He'd like to talk to you about it anyway. Say tonight after dinner? Do you think you might get away from Melissa for an hour or so?"

"That shouldn't be at all difficult," John said. "She's already made arrangements to make the transition at the house from twin beds to separate rooms."

"I'm sorry for all that's worth."

"And I'm sorry, too, for all that's worth."

"You know, she is planning to make the divorce monetarily worth your while? I did mention that, didn't I?"

"Which would make me feel like a well-paid whore, except she hasn't even given me the opportunity to earn my stud fees."

"Still…"

"The money, I suppose, will be some consolation if Creagon's plan doesn't work?"

"Somewhere out there, there are women just waiting for what you can give them with that big cock of yours, brother."

"You think so?"

"You fishing for a bit of flattery?"

"As bruised as my masculine ego has gotten as of late, I'll take anything I can get."

"Okay. If I hadn't been your sister, I would have jumped out of the bushes and raped you on the spot."

"What's all this 'if you weren't my sister' stuff? You weren't going to let our blood relation stop you once upon-a-time, if my memory serves me right, were you?" John asked, smiling sheepishly.