They weren't travelling this August. They used to rent a house in Rhinebeck, and like everyone, she missed the ordinary pleasures of Porta Yardia and Deck Island. He laughed at the latinized names that suggested staying home and staring at one's yard and deck.

‘It's a tired old joke, but it holds up the first time you hear it,' she said, already smiling while using the very words he'd used the day before. He liked how she borrowed them and gave them back to him with a hint of a spin. He liked her unabashed candour and her quick flashes of humour.

'You have beautiful eyes,' he told her while they were still eating.

‘People used to say that, she said, but when she tried to see for herself in the mirror, she couldn't tell what they were talking about. 'It's like trying to catch your eyes rolling when you stare in the mirror. Impossible! Maybe knowing who we are is an equally impossible task, don't you think? We're constantly looking away.'

`Take the compliment.'

She smiled. 'Trust me, I did.'