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the upper leaves and structures of Fenwich Village and the long, sloping, hazed land that led to the sea, the Sound, Long Island, and the Atlantic beyond. Ben mused absently over Lodi Li's slight reaction to Valerie's going.
The Chinese girl had watched, of course, then turned to Faith and said, with the utmost quietude, "Does she often--?"
Faith had replied softly, "Always."
Lodi Li had finished the conversation insofar as that topic went: "Oh, dear! How pitiful."
The terrace was shielded from the near-horizontal sun, a red ball, about to set behind the lesser ridges west of Sachem's Watch, which dominated them. A hazy sky began to accumulate tints: salmon-pink, orange, meringue-tan.
Far to the south a darker darkness emitted occasional flares or pink light. A thunderstorm, there, moved toward Connecticut and then retreated, leaving them in sultry calm.
"Which do you like better?" Faith asked. "Sunsets or sunrises?"
Ben waited but Miss Li didn't respond. So he said, "Why, I don’t know. Both, equally, I guess. Some of my scientist-colleagues probably take the same view, on different grounds. The grounds that both phenomena are merely the result of light rays being reflected by dust, and absorbed, too--and by water vapor, of course. This, with the rotation of the planet, causes sunrises and sunsets--misnomers, they'd also doubtless point out--optical effects readily explained and of no special novelty or import."
Miss Li laughed. "Perfect! For a scientist."
Faith said, "And you?"
Ben chuckled, sipped coffee and let the cool air that eddied from some silent but potent source flow over him, gratefully. Finally he said, "As for me, I am a good scientist only when at work. As of now--digesting filet and a lot of other delicious things--I feel more inclined to the poetic view than the physical. Sunrises and sunsets, even though explicable, always have a mystical effect on me. And I never inquire why I feel any mystical sensation, unless I'm in a lab. They're too rare and valuable to analyze."
"Me, too!" Faith nodded. "Sometimes when I watch the sunset, I'm almost angry with education. I wish I didn't know about the diffraction of light and the rotation of the earth and so on! It must have been far more fun to be alive when everybody didn't know everything!"
"Everything?" Miss Li murmured.
"Too damned much, anyhow."
"Oh, yes!" The Chinese girl agreed with that. She was looking at something that had caught her interest.
Another girl--as different and, in her way, as lovely as Lodi Li--appeared, briefly.
A Negress. Tall, tawny-skinned, lithe, and striding, almost--yet with feral smoothness. In white shorts and sneakers, with a white halter, carrying a tennis racket which made Ben realize he'd been dimly aware of the thonk of tennis balls ever since they'd come out on the terrace for coffee. The girl's black hair was wavy and long and worn now in a pony tail. She looked toward the house and raised her tennis racket. "Hello, Faith! Evening, people!" She laughed in saying that--calling it, really, over green lawn and the hedges silently busy pushing out their shadows.
"Hi, Connie!" Faith's response was warm and clear and, otherwise, unexplained.
Lodi Li had murmured something when the dark girl had appeared, but Ben hadn't caught it.
Now, Faith said, "There's the first star."
Ben looked up in the darkling azure where overhead, and only overhead, the smoggy mist of the heat wave had not faded the sky's blueness. He was on the point of correcting the word "star" to "planet" and decided it would be too damned exact. Too Brookhaven. He nodded. They sat in silence and peace.
By and by Lodi Li stood up. "If you two will forgive me, I'm going to my--" she smiled at Faith--" very elegant rooms. They gave me a farewell party up in Maine last night. And I packed afterward. And then I started driving. So--"
"You mean, you didn't sleep at all?" Faith exclaimed.
Lodi Li nodded. "Not any. So--"
"Lord! You
The Chinese girl had watched, of course, then turned to Faith and said, with the utmost quietude, "Does she often--?"
Faith had replied softly, "Always."
Lodi Li had finished the conversation insofar as that topic went: "Oh, dear! How pitiful."
The terrace was shielded from the near-horizontal sun, a red ball, about to set behind the lesser ridges west of Sachem's Watch, which dominated them. A hazy sky began to accumulate tints: salmon-pink, orange, meringue-tan.
Far to the south a darker darkness emitted occasional flares or pink light. A thunderstorm, there, moved toward Connecticut and then retreated, leaving them in sultry calm.
"Which do you like better?" Faith asked. "Sunsets or sunrises?"
Ben waited but Miss Li didn't respond. So he said, "Why, I don’t know. Both, equally, I guess. Some of my scientist-colleagues probably take the same view, on different grounds. The grounds that both phenomena are merely the result of light rays being reflected by dust, and absorbed, too--and by water vapor, of course. This, with the rotation of the planet, causes sunrises and sunsets--misnomers, they'd also doubtless point out--optical effects readily explained and of no special novelty or import."
Miss Li laughed. "Perfect! For a scientist."
Faith said, "And you?"
Ben chuckled, sipped coffee and let the cool air that eddied from some silent but potent source flow over him, gratefully. Finally he said, "As for me, I am a good scientist only when at work. As of now--digesting filet and a lot of other delicious things--I feel more inclined to the poetic view than the physical. Sunrises and sunsets, even though explicable, always have a mystical effect on me. And I never inquire why I feel any mystical sensation, unless I'm in a lab. They're too rare and valuable to analyze."
"Me, too!" Faith nodded. "Sometimes when I watch the sunset, I'm almost angry with education. I wish I didn't know about the diffraction of light and the rotation of the earth and so on! It must have been far more fun to be alive when everybody didn't know everything!"
"Everything?" Miss Li murmured.
"Too damned much, anyhow."
"Oh, yes!" The Chinese girl agreed with that. She was looking at something that had caught her interest.
Another girl--as different and, in her way, as lovely as Lodi Li--appeared, briefly.
A Negress. Tall, tawny-skinned, lithe, and striding, almost--yet with feral smoothness. In white shorts and sneakers, with a white halter, carrying a tennis racket which made Ben realize he'd been dimly aware of the thonk of tennis balls ever since they'd come out on the terrace for coffee. The girl's black hair was wavy and long and worn now in a pony tail. She looked toward the house and raised her tennis racket. "Hello, Faith! Evening, people!" She laughed in saying that--calling it, really, over green lawn and the hedges silently busy pushing out their shadows.
"Hi, Connie!" Faith's response was warm and clear and, otherwise, unexplained.
Lodi Li had murmured something when the dark girl had appeared, but Ben hadn't caught it.
Now, Faith said, "There's the first star."
Ben looked up in the darkling azure where overhead, and only overhead, the smoggy mist of the heat wave had not faded the sky's blueness. He was on the point of correcting the word "star" to "planet" and decided it would be too damned exact. Too Brookhaven. He nodded. They sat in silence and peace.
By and by Lodi Li stood up. "If you two will forgive me, I'm going to my--" she smiled at Faith--" very elegant rooms. They gave me a farewell party up in Maine last night. And I packed afterward. And then I started driving. So--"
"You mean, you didn't sleep at all?" Faith exclaimed.
Lodi Li nodded. "Not any. So--"
"Lord! You
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