“I’ve been a wreck,” he said. “You wouldn’t believe the night I’ve had. Baby—I missed you so much. I’ve been dying. Where have you been?”

She had not changed her clothes. Her eye shadow had faded and there was a haunted look on her face. He wondered if she’d slept at all. “I’ve been sitting here looking at you,” she said. “I’ve been trying to decide if I can stomach you.”

He got unsteadily to his feet, but she told him to sit down. She took a last drag from her cigarette, dropped it into a glass of water, and picked up a pack of Winstons and a silver lighter he didn’t recognize.

“How long has it been going on?” she said, drawing another cigarette out.

“Baby, please…”

“How long, Henry?”

He put his head in his hands. “A few days,” he said. He looked up to see the effect this had on her, but her face betrayed nothing. She lit the cigarette and blew out a thick stream of smoke. “It meant nothing, baby. I swear to Christ. Absolutely nothing.”

“She’s pretty,” she said. “Anyone can see that. She’s a good artist too. Is that what you want? A pretty little artist?”

“Baby, please—please listen to me.”

“Do you want someone like her? Am I not enough for you, Henry?”

He stood up again. “You’re everything to me. The only thing I want is you. I love you, baby—I love you so much.”

She laughed, a hollow laugh, and pressed her palm to her forehead. “Great,” she said. “Thank you. You love me. You sound like a love song.”

“I don’t know how else to say it.”

She took a drag from her cigarette and stared at him for a moment. “I feel so stupid, Henry. That’s the thing: how fucking stupid I feel. It was right under my nose all the time, wasn’t it? All those times I reached for you and you weren’t there. Your fucking insomnia.” All this she delivered in a calm voice, with a smile. It left him speechless. “You’re a monster, Henry. You’re a hypocrite. You made me feel ashamed of myself, but all the time…”

“Effie, baby, I don’t know what I was thinking. I wasn’t in my right mind.”

“I don’t want an explanation. I know what you are now. What I need to know is can I live with it. Are you worth the trouble?” She glared at him, and seemed really to want an answer. “What do I gain with you, Henry?”

He held his hands out to her. “Baby, I’m worth it. I’ll prove it to you. I’ll be devoted to you, only to you, for the rest of my life.”