8: Conversation Of Love
TANGIER finished writing a letter. She put the pen into its tray; sat looking at it vaguely for a few seconds. Then she got up. She went to the telephone on the far side of the room; took the transmitter off the hook; stood hesitating for a moment; put it back again. She went to the sideboard, took a cigarette from the silver box, lit it. She began to walk up and down the room. She was telling herself that she was a fool; that there are times when all rules must be broken; that there were certain natural laws that must be carried out; that the most important natural law was that of love. It was ordained in the beginning, she thought, that men and women should love one another; that nothing should stop that process.
She went back to the telephone, but this time she
