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right.”
    “And to run away . . .”
    Touched by my comment, he pulled the afghan closer around him, as if to protect himself from my disturbing perspicacity.
    “Who are you?” he asked.
    “In your opinion?”
    “My savior,” he murmured with a smile.
    “But what else? Let’s see if you, too, have imagination.”
    “Oh, I fear all I possess is the alphabet, not imagination.”
    “What does it matter, who we are? You are just a magnificent living statue that I found on the beach, that I am thawing out, and that very soon I shall clothe, in order to restore it to its wife.”
    He frowned.
    “Why are you talking about a wife? I’m not married.”
    “Excuse me, earlier on you mentioned . . .”
    “My family. I’m staying here with my family. Parents, uncles, cousins.”
    What an idiot! I had only tossed out my comments about how magnificent he was because I assumed he was married, and I was steaming with confusion, as if I were the immodest one now, standing naked before him. He looked at me closely, tilting his head to one side.
    “And you . . . your husband isn’t here?”
    “No. Not at present.”
    He was hoping for a more detailed explanation. To give myself time to think, I hurried over to see to the fire . . . I was troubled to find how attracted I was to this man. I was in no hurry for him to leave; at the same time, I could not bring myself to tell him that I lived alone in this house. What if he were to take advantage . . . to take advantage to do what? I was not against the idea of him seducing me. Rob me? Judging by his outfit, he was more the type to be robbed than to rob. Molest me? He was not violent, no, that was unlikely.
    Turning around, I questioned him abruptly: “Are you dangerous?”
    “That depends . . . to fish, hare, pheasants: yes, because I go fishing and hunting. Other than that . . .”
    “I despise hunters.”
    “Then you must despise me.”
    He was challenging me with a smile. I sat back down across from him.
    “I’ll make you change your mind . . .”
    “We’ve only known each other for a few minutes, and already you want to change me?”
    “We don’t know each other at all.”
    He readjusted the afghan over his shoulders and continued in a low voice, “To answer your question, you have nothing to fear from me. I’m very grateful to you for having gotten me out of a tight spot, and for not hesitating to open your door to me. But I am taking up your time . . . Would it be possible for me to make a phone call for them to come and get me?”
    “Of course. Would you like to take a bath first? Just so you can get warm . . .”
    “I didn’t dare ask.”
    We stood up.
    “And if you have some clothes . . .”
    “Clothes?”
    “Yes, a shirt, a pair of pants, I’ll send them back washed and ironed to you, naturally, I promise.”
    “It’s just that . . . I don’t have any men’s clothes, here.”
    “And your husband’s?”
    “It’s that . . . I don’t have a husband.”
    Silence fell between us. He smiled. So did I. I collapsed into my armchair like a disarticulated puppet.
    “I’m sorry I don’t have a husband to help you out, but until now I had never realized that a husband might come in useful.”
    He laughed and sat back down on the sofa.
    “And yet a husband can come in very useful.”
    “Oh, I can tell I’m not going to like what you’re about to say! Anyway, go ahead . . . of what possible use could a husband be to me? Go on, tell me . . .”
    “To keep you company.”
    “I have my books.”
    “To take you to the beach.”
    “I go with Bobby, my spaniel.”
    “To hold the door for you, stepping politely aside when you go in.”
    “I have no trouble with doors and I would not care for a husband who steps aside. No that’s not enough, what else might he be good for?”
    “To hold you in his arms, and caress your neck, and kiss you.”
    “Yes, that’s already better. And then?”
    “And then, he would take you into a bed and make you