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"Here's what I want to know," I say to her. I am so nervous my voice comes out throaty.

"It's pretty obvious you wanted to sleep with Jamie to make Yves jealous," I say. "Right? I mean, even I can get that much."

Her look is so cold I almost stop.

"But then Yves goes after me—that's the part I don't get," I say. I can feel everyone not wanting me to speak. It is like fuel. "I mean, why would you want to watch that?"

Jamie is shaking his head.

Yves looks irritated.

Bella blinks, and I realize, She didn't know. And I suddenly imagine myself as her, hearing these questions put to me by a stranger.

—•—

Back in our room, I sit on the chair by the window while Jamie undresses and brushes his teeth.

He comes up behind me and bends down and kisses my neck.

I don't know what to do, so I talk. I say, "Do you wish I hadn't said anything?" He says, "I think Bella's in a lot of pain." A moment later, he adds, "I don't think everything always has to be spelled out." There is an instructional quality to his voice that I haven't noticed before.

He kisses the top of my head. "Come to bed," he says.

I stay where I am.

The air is cooler now, with morning close. The sky is getting light. At this hour, you can believe that just staring at the stars will put them out.

I think about Jamie pretending that he was just being a good friend to Bella, who wasn't trying to seduce him, which was my delusion.

I get into bed, underpants on.

Jamie is still awake and trying hard to sleep, his head under the pillow, blocking out noise and light.

—•—

In the afternoon when I wake up, the Belladrama appears to be over. The three of them are on the veranda having breakfast. The sun is out and sparkling away on the water, and there's fruit salad and juice.

"Hi, babe," Jamie says.

"Hi," I say to the table at large.

I help myself to a bowl of fruit and walk around the table to the empty chair, past Jamie, who reaches for me as though we are a happy couple on a nice vacation.

"How did you sleep?" Yves asks, placing a cup of coffee in front of me.

"Okay," I say.

Yves says, "For your last day, we are thinking of renting a sailboat."

Bella says, "Do you like to sail?"

I don't answer right away.

"Henry's a big sailor," Jamie says, caulking over the silence. He adds, "Jane's brother. I can't remember if you ever met him," he says to Bella. "Henry Rosenal. Tall guy, glasses. He looks like Jane, only not pretty."

Everyone's looking at me; I have a new role here at the round table—She Who Must Be Appeased.

"At Columbia," she says. "We played tennis with him and Ramona at the court with all the rats."

"Right," Jamie says.

"He had a funny serve," she says, smiling at me.

Here we are on Day Six of our visit, having a Day One conversation. There's no evidence that anyone except me remembers Night Five. They're all wearing pokerless faces.

"I didn't meet Jane until last summer," Jamie says. "When I told Henry that I really liked her, he looked at me like, 'Keep your hands off my sister.' "

Yves laughs. Bella smiles. I eat their strawberries, raspberries, grapes, and bananas.

Jamie turns to me and suggests that just the two of us rent a sailboat. He says, "We haven't spent much time alone."

"That's true," I say.

Yves goes inside to call about a boat.

Jamie stacks the dishes on a tray and takes them inside. I hear him rinsing them for the dishwasher.

Which leaves Bella and me alone.

Looking out at the water, she says, "I have behaved badly. I am sorry for this."

I lift my head, neither accepting nor rejecting her apology.

"But it is not James's fault," she continues. "You should not punish him for the way I acted."

"At the moment," I say, "I'm trying not to punish you for the way he acted."

She raises her eyebrows, as though to say, You are more interesting than I thought. "But he did nothing. And he is the one you need to forgive," she says. "He is the one who matters—not me."

"Everyone matters," I say.

"You are making it harder than it has to be," she says.

I say, "And I should forgive him because it would be easier?"

"You don't