Susan tensed her body and waited for the touch of his hands on her back but there was none. Instead, he stood for a long moment looking down at her in...the dim light from the candle he had lit before removing his clothes. She didn't have to turn her head to know he was studying her as she could almost feel the hot trails of desire and admiration his eyes left behind them as they roved over her reclining form."You're pretty," she suddenly heard through the screams coming from the other room and. Why now, Agnes asked herself, why meet the woman of his affection who she would never supplant in his heart. ‘Frankly, yes. It just…’ She was at a loss for words that wouldn’t ruin her career. ‘Isn’t done?’ Bethany said. She took another sip of her cola. ‘Well…’ the woman squirmed a little on the picnic bench. ‘Well, yes, you know… ‘I’m sorry, I must sound so stupid.’ ‘He never said anything? …about me being colored?’ ‘No, he just said you were one of the two most beautiful and kindest women. He had no experience of books, publishing, or management. So far his only contribution was a fallback plan to minimize the effects of failure. This was to tell Quick that worrying about the book was making me ill; a week or so later he would say that I had had a nervous breakdown and gone into therapy. Having nervous breakdowns and going into therapy is common in the rock and roll business, and the story would, he said, not be questioned.Disappointed by his low expectations, I told him that. "Ann darling. It's lovely to see you lookingso well after your... ordeal. You seem your old self again." I do feel better."The Countess touched Ann's arm gently. "Have you been able to put thatghastly experience behind you? Your father and I were worried it mightleave scars of a sort."Ann thought about the desperate yearning the abduction had prompted in herto become a man again. "It was... a very difficult experience. I'm not sureI have managed to leave it behind me yet completely." Oh Ann.".