PARTISAN REVIEW
She had no sooner spoken these words than a man's voice came
out of the rocks:
"Simona! What a nice surprise."
They turned around, and when a face followed the voice,
Simona shouted:
"Livio! Hello! Are you here too? What are you doing?"
The young man who emerged from the rocks was short and
powerfully built with broad shoulders. His head contrasted with this
athletic body, for it was bald, with only a fringe of hair around the
neck, and
his
flat face had a scholarly expression. The face of
a
ferret, Giacomo thought, taking an instant dislike to it, not exactly
intelligent, but keen and treacherous. He knew the fellow by sight
and was aware that he worked in Simona's office. Now Livio came
into full view, pulling up his tight, faded red trunks.
"I'm doing the same thing you are,
I
suppose," he said by way
of an answer.
Then Simona said something which gave Giacomo considerable
satisfaction.
"That's not very likely ... Unless you've just got yourself mar–
ried ... I'm here on my honeymoon ... Do you know my husband?"
"Yes, we know each other," Livio said easily, jumping down
onto a big, square stone and shaking Giacomo's hand so hard that
the latter winced with pain as he echoed:
"Yes, we've met in Rome."
Livio turned to Simona and added:
"I'd heard something to the effect that you were about to marry.
But you should have told the comrades. They want to share your
joys."
He said all this in a colorless, businesslike voice, but one which
was not necessarily devoid of feeling. Giacomo noticed that Simona
was smiling and seemed to be waiting for Livio to go on, while
Livio stood like a bronze statue on a stone pedestal, with his trunks
pulled tightly over his voluminous pubis and all the muscles of his
body standing out, and talked down to them. Giacomo felt as if
he were somehow left out of their conversation, and drew away, all
the while listening intently. They conversed for several minutes with–
out moving, asking one another about various Party workers and
where they had spent their vacations.
But Giacomo was struck less by what they said than by the tone
