She wasn’t about to admit she couldn’t name a single song she was absolutely certain had been written by that particular team. Basically, she lumped the whole of the American songbook under the “show tunes” umbrella. “Thomas would know the composer immediately, along with the date it was written and who first recorded it. He’s full of information.” She thought this over for a moment. “And wisdom, too.”

“I had an interesting conversation with him this morning,” Desmond said. “I was telling him I thought I needed a bit more time to solve my problems with the biography and he quoted something from Emily Dickinson. ‘Time is a test of trouble, not a remedy.’ I’m not sure I agree, but it made me realize I’ve been counting on time to fill in the gaps on the book. I have to be more aggressive in sorting it out.”

There was something grandiose about the way Thomas pulled quotations out of thin air, like a magician yanking a quarter from behind someone’s ear, knowing very well that it’s not the quarter or the quotation you’re supposed to applaud, but the magician’s ability to produce it. And yet, you could sometimes get the inside track on what was going through his mind if you listened to what he was reciting. “Time is a test of trouble.” What trouble had he been thinking about, other than Desmond’s? This morning he’d made that vague comment about jogging giving him more patience. Perhaps he was waiting out her season of discontent, hoping it wasn’t strong enough to survive more than a few months. Exactly what she was hoping.

The waiter came around bearing triple-tiered trays with delicate sandwiches and scones dotted with currants and little cakes coated in dense frosting. She wasn’t hungry, and she had no intention of eating, so she chose the three cakes that looked the most caloric. Leaving something that fattening on the plate would make her feel especially virtuous.

“You and Thomas are an interesting couple,” Desmond said. He was selecting sandwiches from the tray, thin, crustless items that cried out to be eaten in an affected way, pinkie in the air. She wondered how he’d manage with those.

“Interesting how?” she asked.

“Well, for one thing, Thomas is a bit academic. He’s very studied and careful.” Dull seemed to be the word he was trying to avoid. “And you’re much more spontaneous.”

“Not always,” she said. Even so, she appreciated hearing it. She wanted to think of herself as spontaneous and free-spirited, despite the fact that she spent vast amounts of time attempting to be organized and disciplined.

“And yet you seem to work together very well as a couple.”