PARTISAN REVIEW
227
most white, at the temples - no one would guess that he was so quick,
so careful a man, still fairly young about the
eyes.
She put her hand
on his head, lightly, as if to prove to herself that he was real. He slept,
exhausted.
One evening they went to a concert and she looked up to see her
lover there, in the crowded aisle, in this city, watching her. He was
standing there, with his overcoat on, watching her. She went cold. That
morning the telephone had rung while her husband was still home, and
she had heaxd him answer it, heard him hang up - it must have been
a wrong number - and when the telephone rang again, at nine-thirty,
she had been afraid to answer
it
for some reason. She had left home
to be out of the range of that ringing but now,
in
this public place, in
this busy auditorium, she found herself staring at that man, unable to
make any sign to him, any gesture of recognition. . . .
He would have come to her but she shook her head. No. Stay away.
Her husband helped her out of the row of seats, saying, "Excuse
us, please. Excuse us," so that strangers got to their feet, quickly,
alarmed, to let them
pass.
Was that woman about to faint? What was
wrong?
At home she felt the blood drain slowly back into her head. Her
husband embraced her hips, pressing his face against her, in that silence
that belonged to the earliest days of their marriage. She thought,
He
will drive
it
out of me.
He made love to her and she was back in the
auditorium again, sitting alone now that the concert was over. The
stage was empty; the heavy velvet curtains had not been drawn; the
musicians' chairs were empty, everything was silent and expectant; in
the aisle her lover stood and smiled at her -. Her husband was
im–
patient. He was apart from her, working on her, operating on her; and
then, stricken, he whispered, "Did I hurt you?"
The telephone rang the next morning. Dully, sluggishly, she an–
swered it. She recognized his voice at once - that "Anna?" with its lift–
ing of the second syllable, questioning and apologetic and making its
claim-.
"Yes, what do you want?" she said.
"Just to see you. Please - ."
"I
can't."
"Anna, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you - ."
"I can't see you."
"Just for a few minutes - I have to talk to you - ."
"But why, why now? Why now?" she said.
She heard her voice rising, but she could not stop it. He began
to
talk
again, drowning her out. She remembered
his
rapid conversation.
