“Is that so?” I said. “Why was that?”

“Why was what?”

“Why did they have to move,” I asked, “so unexpectedly?”

“I’m not sure,” said Sharon, but I noticed she was looking fixedly at a point above my shoulder and could not quite meet my gaze.

She knows, I thought.

“Just between you and me—” Sharon began, and then we were interrupted by a high-pitched shriek that I recognized after a moment as the more pedestrian sound of the doorbell. She frowned.

“Excuse me,” she said. “Would you like to come down…?” She gestured vaguely in the direction of the stairs.

“No, thank you,” I said. “I’ll stay up here.”

She gave me a strange look, but said, “Of course,” and hurried out of the room to the sound of the doorbell ringing again, and I heard her footsteps on the stairs in quick descent. I moved slowly down the hallway, opening doors. Below me I could hear Sharon saying, “Hello,” and then, “Well, hel-lo!” and I realized by her tone that she was addressing a child.

I stepped into a bathroom and shut the door. I stood still for a moment and tried to quiet my thoughts. The cabinets were empty, a disappointment; everything was white and silver and gleaming, and on the sink next to the faucet was a circle of soap in a little paper jacket. I could hear the trill of Sharon’s voice and her footsteps coming up the stairs. Think, I told my reflection: you won’t be able to stay at this open house forever—how to proceed?

As I came back out onto the landing, I caught a glimpse of the obedient little group of men and women who were following Sharon to the top of the stairs. There was no child, I thought distractedly, I must have misheard.

One of the newcomers was a man, older than myself, quite handsome and distinguished-looking in a dark V-neck sweater and with a full head of silver-gray hair. As he passed me on the landing, our eyes met—what eyes! I thought—and I felt a cold current of electricity pass between us.

What was that?

But the moment had passed, and I heard him say something to someone in front of him, not in English—French, I thought, or German.