"Bernard and Marie listen to each other."
Bernard woke Lisa at four o'clock. He wondered just how much she knew of Elizabeth's plans. Probably more than he did. He left her to prepare dinner for the women. Elizabeth had told him to serve it just after five...
"Bernard shaves and shops for lingerie"
Knowing he was to undress before Lisa caused Bernard an angst he had not felt since Elizabeth had told him she intended to continue during their marriage her long-standing friendship with the lover who had molded her adult sexuality. His...
"It's about sex. Somehow with men it always is, isn't it?"
"You'll have to bear with me, Lisa. At any one moment my thoughts are as clear to me, and sometimes as chilling, as the water in the lake. And I can drift away without the slightest warning. I don't have...
"New characters introduced"
Elizabeth awoke to the sound of quiet conversation. Her oldest friend, Lisa, was sitting by her bed talking to Bernard. Seeing her stir, Bernard went to the kitchen and returned with lunch for the three of them. Lentil and sausage...
"Elizabeth acts on Marie's advice"
Elizabeth and Bernard swam as usual the next morning. Nearing the end of their swim, doing a gentle side stroke, they faced each other and talked. As they approached the cottage, Elizabeth swam closer to Bernard and brushed her foot...
"Beginning at the end"
PreludeShe lay beneath two quilts listening to the gentle lapping of the lake against its shore. Soon the chirping of the birds anticipating the rising sun would infiltrate and then obliterate the peaceful sounds of the depths of night by...