Elizabeth

"Father was annoyed. “Why is it that beautiful women are always attracted to ugliness?” Mother smiled at him. “Isn’t it fortunate for you that we are?” She was playing her favorite game. The point was to say something cruel in a teasing, smiling way. If Father was offended, it showed he couldn’t take a joke, and he lost the game. He knew that the only way to keep from losing the game was to smile and return the insult. “Oh, I didn’t mean you, dear,” he said. “I was talking about beautiful women.” Father never won the game, because unlike Mother, he seldom meant what he said. It was Mother’s turn. She said, “Your opinions about beauty lack authority, darling—as do all your opinions except those on commerce and alcohol.” "Father laughed, which meant he had been defeated. I hated Mother for starting the game, and I hated Father for losing it."