Four Last Things

"Do you know what the last four things are? In the
Christian catechism they are Death, Judgment, Heaven
and Hell. But in our secular age they should perhaps be
changed. I suggest - First Love, Friendship, Betrayal
and Death . . . These also happen to be the staples of
the novelist. Is that the sort of thing you want?"''

Thus Cornelius Marten asks the researcher who turns up one night
at his house....