“You? John Baltazar? Alive?”
“Never been less dead. But you! You of all people. My God! although I lost you, I could never lose your face. It has been with me all the time. And there it is, the same as ever. But what are you doing here?”
She made a vague gesture over her costume.
“I’m a professional nurse. Sister-in-charge. I’ve been nursing all my life.”
“Not when I knew you,” said Baltazar.
“My life began after that.”
“Married?”
The colour came back into her white cheeks. “No,” she said.
“Neither am I.”
He put both hands on her shrinking shoulders and bent on her eyes which she could not meet.