“Well, that’s what you came for—Ivan.”

“I know. But . . . Well, it’s a bigger house than I thought. You know. A shade roomy for one. The thought of five empty bathrooms’d make my blood run cold.”

“Isn’t there someone you can ask?”

Pomeroy shook his head.

“Not a soul.”

“But this is absurd,” said Belinda, crossing her legs. “One day you won’t come because I’m here, and the next you won’t stay because I’m not.”

“ ‘Won’t come’?” cried Ivan. “How could I?”

“Well, you did eventually, didn’t you?”

“I know, but——”

“If you’d liked,” said Belinda, “you could have come on the fifth.”