Without warning, Dr. Blithe almost bent over with laughter. Tears ran down her face. George sprang forward, wondering what the devil she was up to. Eyes half closed, she reached for her linen handkerchief. “Oh, I’m sorry. I’ve held all this in for so long. You understand? I haven’t told anyone. But—” She looked George straight in the face for a moment before she started laughing again, and in between gasps, she cried, “Proof? Uh. No proof at all. But since John’s been here we have one of the highest rates of cures in the East. Patients spend less time in here and are released to society far quicker than at institutions with far greater facilities and professional staffs. And …” Her laughing stopped at once. “Before too long, somebody’s going to wonder how come.”

George stared at her unbelievingly. “You’re not trying to tell me that this guy … cures mental patients?”

She nodded vigorously. “Not only that, but embarrassingly enough, I get a good deal of the credit. I’m the only full-time psychologist in this wing of the center. We’re dealing with disturbed people here, of course; the really bad cases are in another wing entirely. So we’re not talking about severe psychotics.”

George and Josephine had nearly forgotten Seven, as he’d hoped they would. He just sat quietly, listening, growing more amazed at human reactions with each moment. Just why did George and Josephine consider Window’s miracles so disrupting and unwelcome?

Couldn’t they see that they were manufacturing a problem where none existed? Obviously they couldn’t, so somewhere he himself had failed to understand their reasoning or motivation.

If he weren’t so confused about all this, Seven thought, he’d probably also know why George and Josephine were ignoring so much else that was happening around them. Like the fantastic June afternoon, in which Seven almost kept losing himself. What a delightful corner of the universe! he kept thinking, whenever he took his mind off the conversation for an instant. The air in the room smelled of the roses that climbed up the decorative iron filigrees just outside the window. The shrubs were alive with insects, bees, and birds. The damp yet sweet odor of the river swirled invisibly, and appreciating all of this, Seven almost forgot George’s and Josephine’s predicament.

Not for long, though. When he came to himself again, Seven saw that Josephine was near tears, though controlling herself with obvious difficulty. George stood nearby, looking concerned and embarrassed. So Seven leapt to his feet, all crisp efficiency. “This can all be figured out,” he said to Dr. Blithe. “Certainly science doesn’t have all the answers yet.” Josephine instantly brightened, causing George Brainbridge to think, “That was exactly the thing to say.” He was again astonished at Seven’s sensitivity.