It was completely dark when they got back to the hotel. The night was warm and the windows wide open.

“I’ve decided to give you up,” she said.

“Husband?”

There was a short silence.

“No. He’s out of town.”

“Well, look. What’s there to think about? You’d be better off not respecting yourself, but doing something. A woman should never keep a man dangling,” he added, finely.

The room was hot, quiet, smoky. She came closer to the window.

“You know what you want,” she said, “you all. Let me look at you.”

By his manner he seemed to endorse the idea of not doing anything about this. She leaned down and held his face in her hands.

“I like your company better than his.”

He laughed and said, “Now, mind I don’t tell him you say that.” “No,” she said smiling, “no.”

“What?”

“Oh, nothing,” she said, “except that he wants to leave me.”

At this moment he was capable of regarding the discharge of the familial relationship in the same way he regarded a discharge from the body.

“I am not one of those women who can stand things.”

She spoke slowly, and, though the pose was sarcastic, her eyes were wet.

After undressing her, he placed her on the bed, covered her, and wrapped her up completely, head and all, in the blanket.

“That’s right; now let’s have a look at you,” he said. She was delicate and white, and naked except for her beautiful hair.

“It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.”

They were merely sound.

“Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah.”

“Christ please please please Christ.”

“Eat me.”

“Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“Oh, God, and all the rest of it.”

And no one said anything for a while. She unconsciously snuggled her fingers under his silky ears and he blinked at the unexpected pleasure. Her lips began to move, forming soundless words, and they continued to move. At least half an hour passed in silence. Then he picked it up again and rattled it once more for a long time, heaving as he did so, sighs both deep and long. She felt that everything was being doubled in her soul, just as objects appear doubled to weary eyes. It was all a lie both ways.

He was asleep in minutes, his breathing too loud, his hands between his thighs, palms together as in prayer.

“So,” she said. “You could call. Call me tomorrow. Well, I guess you should sleep on it.”

He slept for a long time.

God Loves the Plagiarist (Foer, Jonathan Safran, Everything is Illuminated, 206)

It was completely dark when they got back to the hotel (Bowles, Paul, The Sheltering Sky, 121). The night was warm and the windows wide open (Maugham, W. Somerset, The Razor’s Edge, 237).

“I’ve decided to give you up,” she said (Fitzgerald, F. Scott, Tender is the Night, 63).

“Husband?” (Shakespeare, William, Twelfth Night, V.I.139)

There was a short silence (Ishiguro, Kazuo, Remains of the Day, 172).

“No. (Hemingway, Ernest, “Indian Camp,” In Our Time, 16). He’s out of town” (Johnson, Denis, “Two Men,” Jesus’ Son, 30).

“Well, look (Steinbeck, John, In Dubious Battle, 57). What’s there to think about (Chekhov, Anton, “The Man in a Case,” Norton Critical Edition, 180)? You’d be better off not respecting yourself, but doing something (Turgenev, Ivan, Fathers and Sons, Norton Critical Edition, 38). A woman should never keep a man dangling,” he added, finely (James, Henry, Washington Square, 178).

The room was hot, quiet, smoky (Ellison, Ralph, Invisible Man, 470). She came closer to the window (Johnson, Denis, “The Other Man,” Jesus’ Son, 107). “You know what you want,” she said, “you all. (Warren, Robert Penn, All the King’s Men, 621). Let me look at you” (Chekhov, Anton, The Seagull, Norton Critical Edition, 180) By his manner he seemed to endorse the idea of not doing anything about this (Johnson, Denis, “Car Crash While Hitchhiking,” Jesus’ Son, 9). She leaned down and held his face in her hands (Eggers, “The Only Meaning of the Oil-Wet Water,” How We Are Hungry, 44).

“I like your company better than his (Flaubert, Gustave, Madame Bovary, Translated by Francis Steegmuller, 162).

He laughed and said, “Now, mind I don’t tell him you say that” (Kincaid, Jamaica, Annie John, 121).

“No,” she said smiling, “no” (Nabokov, Vladimir, Lolita, 280)

“What?” (Vonnegut, Kurt, Slaughter-House-Five, 47)

“Oh, nothing,” she said, “except that he wants to leave me” (Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises, 53)

At this moment he was capable of regarding the discharge of the familial relationship in the same way he regarded a discharge from the body (Bely, Andrei, Petersburg, Translated by Robert A. Maguire and John E. Malmstad, 72)..

“I am not one of those women who can stand things” (Faulkner, William, The Sound and the Fury, 8).

She spoke slowly, and, though the pose was sarcastic, her eyes were wet (Smith, Zadie, On Beauty, 15). After undressing her, he placed her on the bed, covered her, and wrapped her up completely, head and all, in the blanket (Dostoevsky, Fyodor, Crime and Punishment, Translated by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonksy, 509).

“That’s right; now let’s have a look at you,” he said (Juster, Norton, The Phantom Tollbooth, 135).

She was delicate and white, and naked except for her beautiful hair (Johnson, Denis, “Jesus’ Son,” Jesus’ Son, 60). “It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this” (Lincoln, Abraham, “The Gettysburg Address,” 19 November, 1863).

They were merely sound (Eugenides, Jeffrey, The Virgin Suicides, 58).

“Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah.” (Johnson, Denis, “Dirty Wedding,” Jesus’ Son, 94).

“Christ please please please Christ.” (Hemingway, Vignette #7, In Our Time, 67)

“Eat me” (Hudson, Gabe, “Notes From a Bunker Along Highway 8,”Dear Mr. President, 153)

“Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes” (Faulkner, William, As I Lay Dying, 254)

“Yeah, yeah” (Albee, Edward, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, 85).

“Oh, God, and all the rest of it” (Dostoevsky, Fyodor, The Brothers Karamazov, Norton Critical Edition, 522).

And no one said anything for a while (Haddon, Mark, the curious incident of the dog in the night-time, 197). She unconsciously snuggled her fingers under his silky ears and he blinked at the unexpected pleasure (White, Edmund, “From Hotel de Dream,” The Ontario Review, No. 67, 5). Her lips began to move, forming soundless words, and they continued to move (Salinger, J.D., “Franny,” Franny and Zooey, 43). At least half an hour passed in silence (Chekhov, Anton, “Lady With a Dog,” Norton Critical Edition, 225). Then he picked it up again and rattled it once more for a long time, heaving as he did so, sighs both deep and long (Chekhov, Anton, “Rothschild’s Fiddle,” Norton Critical Edition, 99).

She felt that everything was being doubled in her soul, just as objects appear doubled to weary eyes (Tolstoy, Leo, Anna Karenina, 263). It was all a lie both ways (Hemingway, Ernest, “Soldier’s Home,” In Our Time, 72).

He was asleep in minutes, his breathing too loud, his hands between his thighs, palms together as in prayer (Eggers, Dave, You Shall Know Our Velocity, 76).

“So,” she said (Atwood, Margaret, The Handmaid’s Tale, 14). “You could call (Patchett, Ann, Bel Canto, 140). Call me tomorrow (Salinger, J.D., The Catcher in the Rye, 151). Well, I guess you should sleep on it” (Nabokov, Vladimir, Pnin, 170)

He slept for a long time (Slobodkina, Esphyr, Caps For Sale: A Tale of a Peddler, Some Monkeys, and Their Monkey Business, 11).