Stephen Marlowe

“ Marital infidelity in the old days led to crimes of passion, to divorce, to unsettled families, to children reared in orphanages or by strangers—perfect strangers, mind you—to divorce and re-marriages and so much energy and time and money wasted on second and even third courtships.
"Fortunately, the social institution fits the tempo of the culture today. A Transient—man or woman—gets married and provides for one spouse, one family, but has the pick of the nation to choose from. ”

“ Even a Quickie like myself is stimulated by constant variety and change. No one is ever bored. You don't have to see your original mate ever again, as long as you, as a Transient, provide for her. The Quickies, in their turn, will provide for you in all your subsequent marriages. You have the novelty and satisfaction of a true change in environment every time you travel, but you also have the comfort and security of a home."
"This newlywed girl must also be naive," said Simon. ”

“ After all, the institution of multiple marriages is almost eighty years old, and the only form of marriage in the United States today. If we were still in the early pioneering days you might have cause to worry. Ideas of propinquity still seemed important then, and people were concerned with such things as lasting relationships, though for the life of me I can't see why."
"They thought it was more secure," suggested Simon.
"But it isn't. In the old days, statistics proved that if a man or woman was saddled with one mate too long, it often led to trouble. ”

“ Simon said, trying not to sound the way he felt, which was more than mildly lecherous.
Jane-Marie smiled a secret, small-girl smile and pulled him down on the cushion in front of the hearth, on which a bright fire was now crackling. "It's so good to have you home, darling, all to myself. Will your work keep you away much? ”

“ Grover?"
"I suppose so," said Simon, half-listening. All he needed now was the parting ritual. A nice, impressionable, talkative newlywed girl....
"As usual," the Counselor continued in a dedicated voice, "man had leaped ahead of his outmoded institutions without realizing it. The notion of marriage based largely on propinquity and permanent relationship just didn't fit the modern tempo of civilization, where transient workers dart across the continent constantly, always on the move, hardly staying in one place long enough to hang their hats, as the expression goes. ”

“ What do you do? How are you going to spend your time in New York? Oh, I'm so excited. There's so much to talk about, so much to learn about each other. Do you play bridge? There's a couple down the street, the wife's a Transient and just got here today, but I know the husband, who likes to play bridge. Do you like music? I'll turn some on."
She was talkative, all right. Soon Simon heard the lilting strains of a Strauss waltz. Jane-Marie pirouetted happily about the dining room table in three-quarter time and sat down, motioning Simon to sit near her and not on the other side. ”

“ Grover, I've always longed to be a Transient myself. But you have to be a Quickie to hold this job, since you're in one place for such a long period of time. Well, what type of newlywed did you have in mind?"
Simon licked his lips eagerly. In Philadelphia the last time he had come close to learning the parting ritual. But it tripped him up, as usual, and he reached New York one step ahead of the police. "She must be very impressionable," Simon said, "and very talkative. She must be eager to discuss the theories of multiple marriage—"
"Most newlyweds are," the Counselor pointed out. ”

“ After all, a Transient assumes the name of his temporary spouse, his Quickie. No one, not even the Quickie, knows his real identity. The Marriage records are available to no one, not even the government, not even the police, thus preserving the sense of—well, freshness for the Transients.
"But I digress. Have you any physical preferences, Mr. Grover?"
"I'm not very tall. Keep her down to my size, please. And I want a pretty wife."
The Counselor made his final notations, rolled Simon's registration papers and stuffed them into a pneumotube which he dropped into a wall slot. ”

“ The old Et al report of 1979 shocked the world with its figures: ninety five percent of all married men had illicit relations with other women, and the figure was almost as high for women. Relations with unmarried people. ”