We were taken through to the living room where M and M’s boss sat down on the perfect French-blue sofa with the babies. They leaned back into the cushions and M’s boss’s wife and I, arranged in high-backed chairs around the occasional table, got down to the business of searching for something to talk about.

The gift we left on the side table in the entryway. It did look good there. The sunlight lay draped about the room like a member of the family, resplendent in a familiar way, at home and cuddled up in all the best places. The curtains hung down from the tall ceilings, light and airy, like the breath of beautiful women.

Of course I couldn’t say any of this to M’s boss’s wife, the script was laid out for us and did not permit whimsical deviations. She would say something nice about E and I would thank her. I would laugh once or twice and compliment the rug. I would try to keep from tugging on my dress. I would ask her where she got something or other and say I was looking for something like it. Something else would be hard to find, some bottle of cleaning spray, or decent coffee or bread, and we would note that and tut. I would take her advice and thank her. Of course I would ooh over the baby. I would say something about them growing up so fast and about how much I loved them, babies, all kinds.

She had an accent when she spoke but not a French one. She offered tea and so I had to ask how I could help. Then this, she had to refuse, No, no, no, she had to say. Please, stay just where you are.

We made out fairly well this way, keeping ourselves on well-oiled tracks. M and M’s boss were talking, patting the backs of the babies while they slept. Soon one of us, M’s boss’s wife or me, would have to look at the husbands and say something. I would need to prepare a compliment, something about how my M liked his boss, or the work. I would have to say my M, affectionately, like that.

She left and came back with a teapot, poured tea into cups that were already set out. M and M’s boss waved away the cups when they were offered and so we returned to the table and had to drink them even though it was too hot outside for tea. E had run off somewhere. I should go look for her I said, and M’s boss’s wife said, Stay, let her play and smiled as if we two knew all about the secret ways of children.

The table was set with a tray of macaroons in pastel colours. She offered me one and I took it and bit into it. I tried to pass the plate to her but she waved them away and said no she couldn’t and the whole thing felt like a trick. I looked for E, I wanted to give the rest to her but I couldn’t find her. I couldn’t get up then though so I swallowed the second half and went back to the tea.