“Charity groped for the phone, coming up with it at last and croaking "hello" in a voice that sounded exactly like a bullfrog's mating call. Which made a kind of twisted sense -- last night she'd been hunting for a mate as well.”

“Charity knew she had to begin looking for a job soon. Definitely tomorrow, or the next day. Or perhaps the day after that. Charity didn't believe in procrastination. She just needed to plan her strategy. She was sound asleep on the sofa when Lady Margaret got back from London.”

“Laughter is just like champagne -- only without the headache afterwards.”

“When you fall asleep after a big lunch you're really just saving up energy to work off all the calories later on.”

“Sir Humphrey looked like a sleepy old hippo -- and when he yawned in that big, big, hippopotamus way Charity couldn't help doing likewise.”

“Why does getting ahead always have to involve getting up early?”

“The real point of watching television is to forget that you have a brain.”

“Holidays were invented so single women could overeat without feeling guilty.”

“It's not a luxury if you can't do without it!”

“You can't oversleep if you don't make plans to wake up early.”

“Giving the rugged repairman the eye was one thing -- but Charity had no intention of snogging away a whole rainy afternoon when she was supposed to be catching up on her work. Lady Margaret was counting on her! But then again, Lady Margaret didn't have big brown eyes and a cheeky grin.”