tiny and so like a toy that there's not a thing in it,
not even an old knife left behind through oversight. In spite of the
floor with tiles missing like teeth from a mouth, the sink with dried-up
pores, the stove downy with rust, it is the one room that doesn't seem
to be crying for help. It needs only a glimmer in the stove and savory
smells to give it life.

* * * * *

This is the moment to look life in the face--the real life, not the one
people talk about. Until now our love has rested merely upon a
foundation of clay. It has been facile, scarcely tangible. I perceive it
is a love to be.

Now our love must be confronted with its kingdom, must have its
boundaries and landmarks fixed, must be asked to shine in truth and be
forced to the test. Let our love speak and inspire us. Later, when we
shall have furniture around us, like words already spoken, we shall be
less at ease.

"If you like, this shall be your room. It suits you. The neutral paper
makes it restful for thinking, and the recess is all ready for a couch.
Look, it's waiting for you. I will take the other room because of the
clothes-closet, and I'll enjoy leaning out across the white window-sill
for the fresh air.

"We shall visit each other. We shall be free and easy. You will come
and go and receive your friends, do as you please, without ever having
to account to me.

"But we are going to suffer, perhaps, in order to remain content and
preserve the multitude of joys that one experiences when alone?

"This dividing wall is nothing more, after all, than a thin membrane
through which the presence in the next room will ooze. When you are
surrounded by your friends in the lively hum and buzz of comradely
conversation, they will suddenly notice the shadow of an intruder moving
as a woman moves. In the bottom of their hearts they will have us much
married, you and me--the marriage of a friend is a little like a
theft--and without your suspecting it, at that very moment, in the very
midst of their talk, they will leave you.

"Do you really believe we shall be happy? I, for my part, would not like
your friends to desert you. It seems unfair that you should be loved the
less because of love. Are you quite sure that one has the right to
impose one's unalloyed hope upon a person for a lifetime? Are you sure
that in the name of love the person one has chosen can remain the best
of all persons?... Tell me, are you sure you will