He gathered her in to him, surprised at the humility he felt, and the sense of tenderness. She stared at him, her face luminous. Beyond her the moon seemed to be tumbling in through the window, shining its light into the sad corners of her mind, freeing her from all that had ever hurt or damaged her in the past. He led her gently to the bathroom and filled the bath, holding her close to him, stroking her, murmuring in her ear, kissing her face and her hands. When she stepped into the bath he joined her in the steaming water. She lay back, silent and dreamlike, as he sponged her body and dried her, wrapping her in a thick towelling robe and carrying her into the bedroom. Then she turned her face back to his shoulder and slept. When she woke at dawn he was still beside her. She studied his sleeping face, sunburned and already mapped with small lines. It seemed to her that his eyelashes were ridiculously long and she marvelled at the reddish lights in his hair and at his lean, beautiful body. She bent over him and blew softly into his ear, placing her hand on his stomach and stroking him awake so that he would make love to her again.

The morning came, sun-washed and warm. They wandered the city together, rowing a boat on the Serpentine, lying on the grass in Hyde Park, holding one another as the clouds drifted high above them across a powder-blue sky. In the evening they stopped at the corner grocery shop to choose the makings of a simple dinner, and then they ran laughing up the stairs to close the door on the world outside. They ate slowly and sipped their wine. He watched her every movement, saw her face light up with contentment as she reached out to touch him, as they smiled at one another through the candlelight. In the bedroom he undressed her with tenderness and lay down with her on the bed, looking at her body, pale and glimmering in the shadows cast by the moonlight. They made love with heightened senses, finding new places to explore, until they were sated and exhausted. Then he held her tight and safe, and they watched the moon and the milling stars through the rectangle of sky beyond the window frame.