“Your back to me, on our sides.”

“That’s no good. I couldn’t see you or kiss you.”

“You could twist around. More than you know.”

She smiled. “And when you see your wife tomorrow, you’ll act as if you’ve never been away.”

“That isn’t a problem yet. I’m not that old.”

She giggled. “Somehow we’ve turned the tables,” she said.

“No, I liked you right away.”

“Did you lie to me last night about there having been only one other?”

“No.”

“I don’t understand why Wendell dislikes you.”

He wanted to tell her now. “His friend was Karen’s boyfriend. I wouldn’t give her a divorce.”

“Oh.”

“Surprised?”

“Do you want me to be?”

“I want to know what you thought,” he said.

“I thought that it had to do with your adventures and their effect on her. That she was his patient. Something like that. When was this?”

“During the war and after.”

“While you were away?”

“For a time.”

“I don’t like that at all,” she said.

“It was a long war. There were a lot of casualties.”

“Are you sure that that isn’t the way you want to see it?”

“It isn’t the way I see it at all. It’s complicated. I told you that.”

“I saw the way you were with her on Monday. And her, too. I didn’t want to see her, that was the thing.” She smiled. “I still don’t understand Wendell.”

“He was misinformed. He thought I was being hardheaded.”

“About the divorce,” she said.

“It was never a serious issue. She never asked for one, but Wendell and his friend didn’t know that.”

“Oh.” Then she said, “Forgive me if I can’t bring myself to like her.”

“As long as you don’t dislike her. You don’t know her. She’s suffered as desperately as you. She started with less.”

“I’ll take your word for it,” she said unhappily. She rubbed her arms. “There isn’t any escape, is there?”

Her tone had changed. “From what?”

“From everything. I thought that sleeping with you would solve something, temporarily. No. There would be too many people in the bed, not even counting the dead. It’s the same thing I did when I was a kid. I was looking to you for something that I had to find by myself.”

“I want to kiss you, anyway,” he said.

“I don’t think so.”

“I won’t debate it like a damned schoolboy. I want to.”

She laughed and moved closer. He sat up more. He did feel like a schoolboy, but she knew enough to wait a moment. “Don’t think,” she said. He nodded. Her hand touched the back of his neck. She smiled and then lowered her eyes to watch his mouth as long as she could. Her lips were thinner and firmer than Karen’s. She would not let him put his tongue in her mouth, but then she forced open his mouth. She stopped and leaned back. “That’s a little idiosyncrasy.”

“I enjoyed it, but you said not to think.”