There was a silence, a silence in which she felt that she could hear her own heart beating.
“I had not intended to talk about it tonight,” the Marques replied after a long silence.
“Talk about – what?”
“But I suppose,” he went on, as if she had not spoken, “because we have been so close to each other for so long, it would be impossible for either of us to pretend.”
Inès had drawn in her breath.
“I – I don’t – know what you are – saying.”
The Marques had smiled, but she felt that it was a forced smile as he said in a different tone of voice,
“Let’s talk about you. What have you been doing while I have been away?”
“I have been – thinking of you all the time and now I – want you to tell me what has – happened to make you – different.”
“What do you mean by ‘different’?”
“You know exa
