the confessions of max tivoli

"i would like to call it fate, but i should call it chance, that put you in my yard at the time my heart was at its most tender. i suppose i'm lucky it was you and not someone crueler. still, if it had been anyone but you, alice, i would have loved again, and plenty, before this ripe age. cursed by your eyes, however, i never have."

- the confessions of max tivoli by andrew sean greer