“I don’t know.” She rubbed her arms. “I can’t say it. I don’t want to be alone. I’ve been trying to look at Colin objectively, and I’ve done it, but it doesn’t ease this feeling I’m getting. It’s sinking in as I go along. I didn’t know him and I almost imagined a past for him. This is the truth and there’s no variation from it and it’s so ordinary. Pedestrian. I can live with it easier than with nothing and that’s what I wanted, so I shouldn’t complain.”

“You aren’t complaining,” he said.

“I’m thinking that he cheated on me, too, in the mornings. I’m thinking that again.”

“No. When Wendell called I had been about to tell you that I went around to your husband’s office. It was broken into the night after you cleaned it out. Stop and think. His secretary never went near his desk. He didn’t discuss his business with you even though you had worked with him. You have more evidence now that he would not have stayed married to you. Learn it like a catechism. If I had any other idea on the subject, I would tell you. You’re going for a small fortune for my wisdom. Take advantage of it.”

“Smart alec. Wise guy.”

“See?”

She wanted to know more about the break-in. He told her. His eyes were adjusting to the faint light that came from the sky through the trees and the window to the place on the bed where she sat. Her hair was loose and tousled. He decided to force her to talk when he finished. She had come to him to head off trouble and she would not accomplish that if he made the conversation. He came to the end and stayed still. It was uncomfortable but he could think of nothing else. After a moment she turned her head and the poor light showed her profile. The old painters worked for the thing he could see and he realized what courage it took to paint it. Her skin was almost the color of shale, gray and light gray and blue, not truly color but shadow upon shadow in the dark. Her mouth was small and pouting, like a child’s. When Karen slept her mouth looked almost the same. Maybe that vividness that people had in the presence of others was really a low-key tension, a preparation to serve as an armor against the world. This was the way they were supposed to look.