PARTISAN REVIEW
397
"You have been with a soldier."
This is more of a statement than a question and it takes her
unawares. The face that confronts her expresses nothing; it is ruled,
pragmatic, has watched a decade of unceasing infection in the demise
of the contemporary urinary tract.
"No."
"Come come now. We're not here to play games. I'm trying to
help you, Miss Luxemburg."
"I haven't."
"You must have been."
"Why?"
"Because you have been passed a strain of gonococcus which
derives from Southeast Asia and is generally transmitted by soldiers
returning from the front.
If
you haven't been with a soldier, then
this is a chain reaction begun by one, and you'll be helping to spread
an epidemic unless you cooperate."
"I'm sure it isn't true."
"The rotten thing is that it only acts as mild gonorrhea in the
male, and most of the men treat it lightly. But I'm afraid its effect
on the vaginal tract can be severe. The pain you are now experienc–
ing may well
be
the beginning of pelvic inflammatory disease, an
erosive process in the cervix, uterus, Fallopian tubes and ovaries."
Through the pain, the calculated measure of his voice has pene–
trated some deep fear and she finds herself listening, not through her
normal haze, but rather through a newly-opened window. She won–
ders if there is a plot to divert her from her mission, but she knows
she has come of her own free will.
"I must warn you of the extreme gravity of this bacteria if it
spreads. You would be wise to avoid intercourse until you are cleared
(if that's not asking too much), no alcohol or spices and drink lots
of liquids. After your stay, you must report to us every forty-eight
hours."
"My 'stay'?"
"You'll have to stay with us till tomorrow morning. There is a
government regulation on this."
Perfidia has gone white and cold. She regrets her weakness.
Instead of this, she might have stolen her mother's tranquillizers and
