An hour or a day later, she awoke shivering in the dark. She glanced around trying to get her bearings. She reached for the bedside lamp and tried to switch it on. Nothing happened. She stumbled to the wall and flipped that switch, but again the darkness remained untouched. Wearing only a white cotton nightgown, she dove under her bedclothes, desperate for what warmth they could offer her. In bed she noticed a light streaming from underneath the door that separated her room from Daniel’s. How did he still have electricity when she didn’t? Curiosity overcame fear and she eased out from underneath the covers and trod quietly across the floor. She considered knocking but the silence in the house seemed too pervasive to break. With a shaking hand, she turned the door handle and found the door unlocked. She took a deep breath and slipped inside.

“Can’t sleep?” Daniel’s voice came from a chair in front of an imposing fireplace. The orange and roaring fire was the source of the light she’d seen.

“I’m cold,” she said and moved nervously toward the sound of his voice. “What happened to the lights?”

“Just a line down from all the snow.” He sounded world-weary, tired. “They’ll be back on by morning, I’m sure.” Eleanor found him still dressed but with an extra button undone on his dress shirt and a glass of white wine in his hand. “You’re welcome to share my fire. I won’t even charge you rent.”

She gave him a tight smile, knowing exactly what he meant by rent, and sat down on the plush rug in front of the fireplace. She wrapped her arms tight about her and breathed the smoky heat into her lungs.

They sat in silence for what felt like an hour, the only sounds in the room the popping and spitting of the wood being consumed.

“I’m sorry.” Eleanor finally broke the silence.

“For what?” Daniel asked, taking a leisurely sip of his wine.

“For what I said about your wife. That was uncalled for.”

“Uncalled for? Yes, I suppose it was. Still, this can’t be the most comfortable situation for you.”

She shrugged. “No one held a gun to my head. I do what he tells me to do, what he wants me to do. Because I love him. That simple.”

“Simple...is it? We’ve never met before today, Eleanor. He expects you, wants you to give yourself up to me. Not very simple from where I sit.”

“He’s infuriating but I’ve known him and loved him since I was a kid.”

“You’re twenty-three, yes? You’re still a kid.”

“But he’s never taken me anywhere I was too young to go. Never asked me to do anything...” Her voice trailed off as she realized the implications of what she was saying. She took a quick breath. “Anything I wasn’t ready to do.”

Eleanor met Daniel’s eyes for the briefest moment and glanced back at the fire.

“Are you ready?” Daniel asked and sat his glass on the table next to his chair.