Across the room in his easy chair, Harry looked up from his book. He drew a long puff from his wooden pipe and slowly blew out a perfect smoke ring. “Here's how I see it, my dear,” he said to his wife. “Websites like this, they're worth it.”

“Uh huh,” said Sharon, hardly paying any attention to her husband as she keyed in her e-mail address. She was excited, but hid it well.

Harry stroked his beard, and considered his next words carefully as he gazed at Sharon from his chair in the corner. It was the admiring gaze of a man who had been married thirty-two years but still loved his wife as much as the day he married her.

After a measured, thoughtful pause, he knew exactly what Sharon needed to hear. “Signing up is a lot like a band-aid, my love. Just rip it off and it'll be over in a second.”

But Sharon didn't even hear him. She was already in, and liking what she saw.