"You don't do that."
"Do you wish me to?"
"I don't know what I wish. But I am dissatisfied."
He frowned, moving his chair, lit a cigarette, pushed away his coffee cup.
"What is it like at Algiers?"
"Very beautiful, Charmian says. Adelaide and the others have gone off to a desert place called Bou-Saada—"
"Bou-Saada!" he said slowly.
"And Charmian and Susan Fleet are up on the hill at Mustapha Supérieur. They've left the yacht for a few days. They are visiting Arab villas and exploring tropical gardens."
She watched him and sipped her coffee. All the student feeling had gone from her. And now she was deeply aware of the difference between her age and Heath's.
"I suppose they won't be back for a good while," he said.