"Oh no, oh no."
His brain followed her lead, originating nothing.
"See here," she said, "if I come in—"
"Yes, yes," he said vaguely.
He was bending forward now, with his hands clasped on the table. She stretched out her beautiful white arms and covered his hands with hers, and held them. Her eyes were full-orbed, luminous, and tender. They held him, too.
"I come in on my own terms, this time, not yours."
"Oh, of course."
"I mean I can't come in on the same terms as before. All that was over nine years ago, when you married. You and I are older. We have had experience. We've suffered horribly. We know."
"What do we know?"
She let go his hands.