From "The Apostrophe Thief":
When they'd left, Kelly turned to Holland. "So, Holland," she said, "how are you holding up?"
"Tolerably well."
"Tolerably, huh? No nightmares about what would have happened last night if Marian had missed? No shakes, no tremors?"
"None."
"No regrets?"
"Thousands."
Kelly obviously took his recalcitrance as a challenge; the two had known each other only a short while, and Kelly didn't yet realize that his speech patterns were not like other people's. "Holland, I don't know your first name. What is it?"
"Curt."
Marian watched Kelly biting back the obvious retort. "Okay, I"ll call you Curt. And you can call me Your Majesty. I've always wanted somebody to call me Your Majesty."
He smiled at that. "Then I beg Your Majesty for leave to withdraw. Your dinner undoubtedly awaits."
"Permission granted. Although you're perfectly welcome to join us."
"Not this time." His eyes locked on to Marian's for a second, and then he was gone.
"Strange man," Kelly said. "And good-looking."
Marian's eyebrows rose. "Good-looking?"
Kelly's eyebrows did the same. "You don't think so?"
Marian shook her head. "I think he might have been good-looking some years back."
Kelly considered. "No, some years back he'd have been pretty. Now he's good-looking."
"Ah me. And I just told him you and I never gossip about men."
The titles in the Marian Larch series, in order, are:
The Renewable Virgin
He Huffed and He Puffed
Good King Sauerkraut
You Have the Right to Remain Silent
The Apostrophe Thief
Fare Play
Full Frontal Murder
And an explanation, by Paul herself, about the inside joke hidden themes in her books (in the sidebar).
