presence.
Ella glanced again at David, trying to smile naturally at him, but
guiltily aware of the sneaking sensation of repulsion she still felt
repulsion and aching pity when she looked at that monstrous head. She
knew that if she saw it every day for twenty years, it would still
disturb her.
Debra laughed again at something David had said and turned her face to
him, offering her mouth with a touching innocence.
What a terrible thing to say, she laughed. I think a gesture of
contrition is called for, and responded eagerly as the great ravaged
head bent to her and the thin slit of a mouth touched hers.
it was disquieting to see the lovely dark face against that mask of
ruined flesh, and yet it was also strangely moving.
it was the right thing. For once I did the right thing, Ella decided,
watching them, and feeling a vague envy.
These two were bound together completely, made strong by their separate
afflictions. Before it had been a mutual itching of the flesh, a chance
spark struck from two minds meeting, but now it was something that
transcended that.
Ella recalled regretfully a long line of lovers stretching back to the
shadowy edges of her memory, receding images which seemed unreal now. if
only there had been something to bind her to one of those, if only she
had been left with something more valuable than half remembered words
and faded memories of brief mountings and furtive couplings. She
sighed, and they looked at her questioning A sad sound, Ella, darling,
Debra said. We are selfish, please forgive us. Not sad, my children,
Ella denied hotly, scattering the old phantoms of her memory. I am
happy for you.
You have something very wonderful, strong and bright and wonderful.
Protect it as you would your life. She took up her wine glass. I give
you a toast. I give you David and Debra, and a love made invincible by
suffering. And they were serious for a moment while they drank the
toast together in golden yellow wine, sitting in golden yellow sunlight,
then the mood resumed and they were gay once more.
Once the first desperate demands of their bodies had been met, once they
had drawn as close together as physical limits would allow, then they
began a coupling of the spirit. They had never really spoken before,
even when they had shared the house on Malik Street, they had used only
the superficial word symbols.
Now they began learning really to talk. Some nights they did not sleep
but spent the fleeting hours of darkness in exploring each other's minds
and bodies, and they delighted to realize that this exploration would
never be completed, for the areas of their minds were boundless.
During the day the blind girl taught David to see. He found that he had
never truly used his eyes before, and now that he must see for both of
them he had to learn to make the fullest use of his sight. He must
learn to describe colour and shape and movement accurately and
incisively, for Debra's demands were insatiable.
In turn, David, whose own confidence had been shattered by his
