They had another round, and settled into the subject of love and sex. Max said love was multifaceted—part involuntary desire, part empathy, and part something willed, like a code of ethics. Effie laughed at him and said he was very smart, wasn’t he. Clara said love and sex had nothing to do with each other, and that she’d had sex, maybe her best sex, with men she despised. Max said that wasn’t true, she adored him. They were both shocked, and then delighted—Clara was delighted—to learn that Henry had been a virgin until about two and a half weeks ago. No, Henry said, he would not describe it. Effie said there were certain things that were none of their business—but then she smiled, as if to invite them to ask again. She said there was no prohibition in the Bible against enjoying sex, none that she knew of. God had given them these bodies, and they were meant to feel.