She crawled beneath the covers, pulling them modestly beneath her chin as she slipped out of the rest of her clothes. She thought about the chaste white cotton nightgown bought in a Boro Park lingerie store still packed in her small suitcase. Let it stay there, she thought, a shiver of happy anticipation going through her at the feel of the cool, crisp sheets against her naked body.

She watched him undress. His body surprised her with its beauty, the broad shoulders, the firm jut of his collarbone, the tapering waist. There was not an ounce of fat on him, no paunch at all. Still, the naked male body topped by the pious, rabbinical beard … The contrast was almost too much. But that’s who he is, she understood. That was the package deal, the man, his beliefs, his lifestyle. She opened her arms, ready to embrace all of him.

The gesture, the fullness of her acceptance, made him want to cry as he hurried to join her, slipping inside her arms. He, too, against all the rules, wore nothing.

“Do you want to shut off the light now?” she murmured.

Years of Talmud study made it impossible for him to escape the words whirling around in his head like bats escaping from a cave, slamming against his skull: Shulchan Aruch, 240–11: It is prohibited to have marital relations by day unless the house is dark. But it wasn’t day, it was night! And even if it wasn’t, according to some authorities a Torah scholar who covers himself is also permitted to have marital relations by day! It was also written that since a scholar is modest in his ways, he won’t look (at his wife in the light). But this was only in the case of a great need or if his evil inclination overcame him.

His chest contracted almost angrily. Another old ghost.

“No, let’s leave it on,” he said defiantly. “Besides, the Rambam says a man and woman can do anything they want in their marriage bed.”

“Let’s not bring rabbis into our bedroom tonight, my Yaakov, even the magnificent Maimonides.”

His heart secretly filled with joy, but also misgivings. “But if you’re uncomfortable. If you want to turn it off … Do you?” he asked simply, ready to be disappointed by her reply.

“Uh, well, not really … If you’re sure it’s all right…”

In answer, he laughed, pulling her toward him, crushing her body to his with tenderness and gratitude. “Please, Leah, can we leave the past, everything we’ve experienced, outside this door? Can we leave all the rules about piety and modesty in the kitchen and living room? When we come here, can we just be ourselves?”