“Does what I told you disturb you?” she asked.

“Yes, it does.”

“You sleep. I’ll smoke another cigarette and then maybe I’ll sleep too.”

“When is Donald coming back?”

“Not for a few days. Are you afraid that he’ll find you in bed with his wife?”

“No,” I said and turned away from her. I did not want her to tell me anything more.

In the morning she left the bathroom door open when she went into the shower. I woke to the sound of running water. It was seven thirty. She came out of the steam covered in towels. Already, I was looking forward to getting away on my own. I had a shower too and then dressed and helped Susan to unlock all the security grilles and turn off all the alarms. We had breakfast in the kitchen.

“You were really shocked by what I told you last night,” she said.

“I knew someone who was tortured in Chile,” I said.

“I lay awake,” she said, “and wondered if you thought that Donald and I were going to do the same thing here, but things are different. We are determined that there will be free elections here and an easy transfer of power and that there will be no army coup. That is part of our brief. I can guarantee that.” She drew on her cigarette and looked at me with her clear blue eyes. I tried as hard as I could to disguise how much I disliked her at that moment.

I left her after breakfast and traveled in a taxi to the office. I greeted the secretary with the usual formality, and I read the papers, running my finger down the index of share prices. I felt heavy and uncomfortable in my old clothes, as though I had not slept for days. When Federico Arenas telephoned to ask if I had made up my mind about the contract, I told him that I was not interested in what he was suggesting. He hung up.

A MONTH LATER the days were still sweltering. One morning as soon as I arrived at the office Luisa said there was an important message for me: I must phone Susan immediately. I smiled and said that since I had spoken to Susan the previous evening it could hardly be that important. She says it is important, Luisa said, glancing at me sharply. I wondered if Luisa had been placed here to annoy me and put me on edge. It occurred to me that maybe I should start shouting at her, barking out orders, maybe then she would stop looking so icy and composed and above it all.