Arrington jumped in to save him. “Vance has the most amazing taste and judgment about furnishings and antiques. When I walked into the house I felt as if I’d arrived home.”

“Vance,” Lou said, “how did a vicar’s son from the south of England come by such a gift for design?”

Vance shrugged. “By watching my elders and betters, I suppose. My mother was always good at making the vicarages we lived in very homey, and that wasn’t always easy. We lived in everything from a run-down thatched cottage to a large, but very seedy Georgian house. I learned a lot by going to the movies, too; the movies were my second home and my university.”

Stone listened gratefully as Vance spun out the story of his childhood in England, happy to have the attention of the group off him.

Finally, the party broke up. Lou and Lola said good night and disappeared upstairs, Dolce went to the powder room, and Vance went to dismiss the cook and butler for the night. Stone found himself alone with Arrington on the front porch.

“It was a lovely evening,” he said.

“I’m so glad you could come”, she replied. “Stone…”

“Yes?”

She seemed to he struggling to speak.

“Are you happy, Arrington?”

She nodded. “In my way. I want you to know that I would have been happier if…”

“Shall we go?” Dolce said, coming out the front door. “This country air is making me sleepy.”

Vance joined them, and they made their good-byes. Arrington held Stone for a moment longer than she should have, but her husband didn’t seem to notice. Dolce, however, did.

On the way home, she said, “Well, that was nice, wasn’t it? You got to see your inamorata again. Was it fun?”

“Dolce,” Stone said, “you and I have known each other for only a few days, and it may surprise you to learn that I had a life before we met. I still have a life, and your place in it is tentative. You embarrassed me tonight, and you frightened my friends. There was absolutely no need to go into my current problems.”

“I’m sorry, Stone,” Dolce said sheepishly. “I apologize; it won’t happen again.”

That night they slept without touching each other. Stone’s mind was elsewhere.

47

STONE WAS HAVING AN EROTIC DREAM; then he opened his eyes and found that he was not dreaming. Sunlight was streaming through the bedroom windows, and, lifting his head from the pillow, he found himself looking at the top of Dolce’s head. His head fell back, and he emitted a small noise, taking her attention from her work.

She climbed on top of him, taking him inside her, and bent over to kiss him. The sunlight disappeared behind her falling hair, and he gave himself to the moment, which turned out to be longer than a moment. They had christened the house.