Page 2 of Edge of Eternity (The Century 3)

"A lot of little things--"

Rebecca interrupted him. "The phone rings, you pick it up, there's a silence for a few seconds, then the person at the other end hangs up."

He nodded.

She went on: "Your spouse tears a note up small and flushes the shreds down the toilet. At the weekend he's called to an unexpected meeting. In the evening he spends two hours writing something he won't show you."

"Oh, dear," said Bernd sadly. "You're talking about Hans."

"He's got a lover, hasn't he?" She put down her sandwich: she had no appetite. "Tell me honestly what you think."

"I'm so sorry."

Bernd had kissed her once, four months ago, on the last day of the autumn term. They had been saying good-bye, and wishing one another a happy Christmas, and he had lightly grasped her arm, and bent his head, and kissed her lips. She had asked him not to do it again, ever, and said she would still like to be his friend; and when they had returned to school in January both had pretended it had never happened. He had even told her, a few weeks later, that he had a date with a widow his own age.

Rebecca did not want to encourage hopeless aspirations, but Bernd was the only person she could talk to, except for her family, and she did not want to worry them, not yet. "I was so sure that Hans loved me," she said, and tears came to her eyes. "And I love him."

"Perhaps he does love you. Some men just can't resist temptation."

Rebecca did not know whether Hans found their sex life satisfactory. He never complained, but they made love only about once a week, which she believed to be infrequent for newlyweds. "All I want is a family of my own, just like my mother's, in which everyone is loved and supported and protected," she said. "I thought I could have that with Hans."

"Perhaps you still can," said Bernd. "An affair isn't necessarily the end of the marriage."

"In the first year?"

"It's bad, I agree."

"What should I do?"

"You must ask him about it. He may admit it, he may deny it; but he'll know that you know."

"And then what?"

"What do you want? Would you divorce him?"

She shook her head. "I would never leave. Marriage is a promise. You can't keep a promise only when it suits you. You have to keep it against your inclination. That's what it means."

"I did the opposite. You must disapprove of me."

"I don't judge you or anyone else. I'm just talking about myself. I love my husband and I want him to be faithful."

Bernd's smile was admiring but regretful. "I hope you get your wish."

"You're a good friend."

The bell rang for the first lesson of the afternoon. Rebecca stood up and put her sandwich back in its paper wrapping. She was not going to eat it, now or later, but she had a horror of throwing food away, like most people who had lived through the war. She touched her damp eyes with a handkerchief. "Thank you for listening," she said.

"I wasn't much comfort."

"Yes, you were." She went out.

As she approached the classroom for the English lesson, she realized she had not worked out the lyrics to "The Twist." However, she had been a teacher long enough to improvise. "Who's heard a record called 'The Twist'?" she asked loudly as she walked through the door.

They all had.

She went to the blackboard and picked up a stub of chalk. "What are the words?"

They all began to shout at once.

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