Quotation

When they were served collops of beef, that first afternoon, Mary's plate held as much as her whole family would have dined on, back on Charing Cross Road. === Ribbon gold, ribbon brown What goes up must fall down Ribbon brown, ribbon rose Count your friends and your foes Ribbon rose, ribbon white Each day ends with a night Ribbon white, ribbon green, Some grow fat, some grow lean. Ribbon green, ribbon red The tale's not told till you're dead == Clothes are the greatest lie ever told. === There was no use worrying over a future that might never happen, because the end could come as quick as a wink. === Mary tried not to think about the locks. She tried to remember why she was here. For medicine for her cough. For food she wouldn't have to earn. For shelter in the worst of what was shaping up to be a brutally cold winter. === It was important to have a story, she realised; something for the clerks to write down, something that sounded well.