"Take your coat off," Beth said when I came in. "You ought to know there's no formality here."
"I'm really quite comfortable," I told her. "Am I late?"
"No. Just on time. Dad will be down in a moment."
He came down the stairs from his study while we were talking. He greeted me warmly, and yet I felt that this time he was scrutinizing me. All during the dinner his eyes were on me, weighing me. I felt what was coming, and as we rose from the table it came.
"I hope you won't be offended, Marko," Copperd said. "But there are some strange things about you. Do you ever shave?"
"No," I said. I looked out the window and saw it was growing darker.
"That's odd. And about your hair ... have you ever realized that every strand of it grows in a different direction? You could never comb it. Your skin is of an unusually fine texture. And when you reached for something at the table I observed strange folds of skin between your fingers. You are somehow not like the rest of us."
"Naturally," I said. It didn't matter now. It was dark enough.
"Why naturally?"
"Because," I told him, "I am a Venusian."