Eric smiled at this. He was proud of her and was happy people admired her, not just for her beauty but for the person she was.They all sat down now fo... a delicious meal. They toasted the prospective bride and groom. The air was filled with love and happiness. They clinked their glasses together and Eric and Franchesca softly kissed.There was so much to do. The little maid, Corinne helped Soames clear everything away after they ate. Then they went into the kitchen together and she helped him. "Oh darling, and we can get married, in a church and everything. Where shall we live? Near the beach, that only makes sense. Do you suppose we can be monogamous? I don't suppose, but still, we'll really have each other. And a little house, and a dog, would you like a dog? I've always wanted a dog. I wonder if they have a way to assure us we have a boy and a girl. And then we can come back here, and watch them join the island. I'm sure your Mom will make it, it won't be that long." She was. I'm glad she didn't notice my libidinous look. The way her top's material clung around her tits, she must be sans bra. "Sans" was an old French word that at this very moment was defined as "Look at my tits!"She looked up from the board. I hastily looked away. I gave a weak smile."Is it ready?" she asked."Yes," I nodded. My body felt like one big giant bead of sweat.Sophia lay front side down. She faced the board with her head and upper body held up by her forearms."So where do we start?" she. Is that my fatal mistake—that what I took for a mask of cold, hard, cruelty is not a mask at all?That behind it all is emptiness, like the cosmos behind the mask of ?god.?{Who is it that is talking?} Am I a ghost revisiting the past or am I dreaming of a future yet to be fulfilled?In other words, is this a scene I'm haunting or is it one I'm hoping for? Is there any difference? Perhaps the two possibilities in this case meet somewhere in the middle, where dreams become reality, where by.