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Page 17.
 “Ice skate,” she said, signaling with her eyes. “I am so cold. Make me warm, Léopold Montblé. Heat me up, Marc Fontbleu.”
He took her hands in his, and rubbed them for warmth. “Love is free.”
She laughed. “That’s a student thing.”
“We’re not undergraduates.”
She gave him a sincere, grateful look. “I’d go anywhere with you.”
In a play world, we could orbit the earth or be in a yellow submarine blowing bubbles at smiley fish.
She shuddered. “You make me feel warm and loved.”
“You don’t have any kids either.”
“We tried. Half dozen years ago, when we were first married. One of us can’t. Jérôme has a really low sperm count. Zut! Why am I telling you this? Because you asked, I suppose. Don’t get a headache over it.”
He felt lost. “Have you thought about a divorce?”
My freedom means everything to me. Why not you? Are you some sort of harem slave? Poor pampered concubine.
“We’ve mentioned it. Then Jérôme runs off quickly on another dig.”
“So he doesn’t like to confront things.”
“What man does.”
“Try me.”
“I’m sitting here, am I not?”
“Are you satisfied with being alone all the time?” He held her precious hands in his, savoring the feel and the color and the scent of her soft skin. My sweet, lovely odalisque.
“Yes, in a way. I can do what I want. Not going out, I mean. This is the closest, so far, that I have ever come to infidelity. If we can call it that. I keep busy. There is always something to do. I’m not answerable to anyone. I see Jérôme off on the plane with a feeling of relief. When I drove him to the airport last month, I could sense he feels the same way. So the feeling is mutual. And what’s marriage except mutuality? Maybe we have a good marriage.”
“By that logic, I suppose.” But he shook his head, thinking: I will never understand. I never imagined someone like you could exist, but I am smitten with you. I have tasted the apple in Eden for the first time, and now I know how Adam must have felt when he would do anything for Eve. He prodded: “Do you ever feel like a prisoner?”
She arched her eyebrows ironically. “I’ve never known anything else. That’s why I cherish your wild freedom.”
“I thought I was just poor, and horny.”
“You are.” She tickled his ribs. “And creative.” She gazed admiringly at him. “I feel so at home with you.” Her eyes twinkled. “Maybe we will run away together, eh?”
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