"There you are. I don't know when it did begin. What were we talking about?"
"I wasn't talking about anything. You were talking about the moon."
"It was the moon that did it."
"I suppose it was the moon."
"I see. I bored you. How awful."
"I didn't say you bored me. You never have bored me. You couldn't bore me."
"No—I just irritate you and drive you mad."
"You just irritate me and drive me mad."
The words were brutal but the voice caressed her. He took her by the arm and steered her amicably round a hidden boulder.
"Do you know many women?" she asked.