I stood in place, suspended by a thought or a desire, I couldn't tell, when I heard rustling and noises I was sure weren't mine, and again, I looked around, everywhere, maybe Moira had followed me, since she'd popped up before, unexpectedly, and now hovered in mind, but I didn't see her. I heard louder noises, closer, and hoped it wasn't a bear, but if it was I wouldn't move, and if it approached and was about to attack, I might bravely strike it hard on the middle of its chest, because bears have poor balance and fall backward if struck hard at the center of their chest, and, when that happened, I'd run fast, I'm a fast runner. A small bird screamed excitedly and three nearby flapped into the air, agitated by noisy company, when, to my surprise, through a gnarly thicket, the Count and Contesa emerged, shaking leaves and snow off them. So, Contesa knew all along where the Count was-or maybe he was staying with herwhich was the reason she hadn't been noticeably upset after his disap pearance, instead she appeared supremely introspective and somewhat removed. I had questions for the two, especially the Count-was it his fire? was it a seizure? were they looking for me? — but I decided not to ask, just to listen closely, they might have something to tell me.
— I hope we didn't give you a bad start, the Count said.
— Happy to see us, right, Helen?
I was, especially now that it was growing colder and darker, it's always darker in the middle of the woods, not yet dusk, and it was harder to see, but anyway we walked farther into the woods or farther from the main house, miles by now I figured, sometimes the Count veering one way, Contesa another, he to the east or, in my vernacular, left, she west or right, where the sun was setting. After they compromised on a direction, I followed contentedly, having no idea where we were headed, though the Count assured me they knew, and also I didn't mind, like a passenger along for a joyride. I even hoped the hike would never end and that I'd remain in the dark, because I like surprises, and, if I knew the destination, I might be disappointed, also I liked to imagine there was no destination, nothing teleological or driven, but all things come to an end, like breakfast or dinner or an evening's entertainment, when I can return to my room, take off my clothes, placate my skin with rich emollients, and read into the night, then when the house is still, reading is like listening, and I like to listen. If I listen well, I might gather why the Count and Contesa scrupled to find me, trace my steps in the woods, since they must have been looking for me for a reason, although they might not and just came upon me, but I didn't want to know, when usually I do.
Out of nowhere, at least to me, as we march along, while I'm walking behind Contesa, she calls to the Count, "One thing ends, another begins."
— The Roman Empire, the Count retorts.
— The British Empire.
— Or, World War I.
— You're a cynic, Gardner.
— A skeptic. When you die, you die. You're never yourself again, Violet.
— I'll be something else, she said.
I dug inside my pocket for the apple I'd saved, then inquired of them if they were hungry, but they'd eaten not long ago. The red and green Macoun was crisp and tart, the way I like, not mealy and slimy, its skin crunchy, and my appetite abated, as the sky darkened, though the sun, while it dropped, left behind radiant streaks of pink, orange, and blue, two number threes, because of their pale hue, one four, and soon the Count decided he'd make a fire and we'd rest for a while. I had begun to worry about hiking when the sun had set, but the Count was not only a good fire builder, he could survive in the woods, which soothed my doubt, though I also wished it would never end. Contesa's capacious, mohair shawl served as a blanket, and she and I sat upon it, while the Count expertly built his fire, and I, filled with questions but wanting to listen, checked my tongue. Contesa offered up a remark about the beguiling sky, while the Count hunted for tinder and logs and I reminded myself that Contesa and I both disliked small talk. She was intense, a Kafka of the spirits, who might now be communing with Felice or other numina, though if it were so, I'd be uncomfortable. I'd never been alone with just the Count and Contesa, the pair had a history, wholly outside my experience, and with it an apparent rightness or ease in being. When I looked toward the fire, even it seemed new, and I was surfeited with nameless expectation, I guess that's what it was, about what might occur among us or between them, since being with them provoked me, and though our temporary arrangement was a comely shape or configuration, which I liked, something out of order might develop and instigate a calamitous denouement. We three might suddenly be enmeshed in intrigue or poised upon an invisible but unfathomable foundation, sink into menace, a daunting sub-layer that could undo our symmetry, since people are flawed and arbitrary, and, unlike a worthy design whose decisions aren't arbitrary, when a subtle mistake might even augment an object, peoples' flaws rarely enhance them, though people learn to love, usually temporarily, their friends' and lovers' mistakes. I determined to stare into the fire, not think into a future I might never know, and kindle reverie, but stick figures emanated from the wisps of flames, the way they usually do, my skin dried and itched, my face burned, and, restless, I shifted about on Contesa's shawl.
— So, we're around a campfire. We could tell stories, Contesa said, drolly.
— Which kind? the Count asked.
— Any kind.
I had no stories of any kind to tell, I felt as empty and flat as my stomach.
— May I ask for one?
I was hedging.
— That depends, Contesa said.
— I'd like to know, if you don't mind, Gardner, when you began to change night into day.
— It's not a proper story, he said.
He poked the fire, bothered, laid on another hunch of thick sticks, turned from it, and sat upon the ground in front of us, tucking his calflength, leather, fur-lined coat under him, and, as dusk neared, his horse face was almost frighteningly enigmatic or unreadable, with its high cheekbones pulling his skin taut, crafting craters or vaults beneath them.
— In Paris, I found a timepiece along the Seine. I fell in love, you know. Rather, I decided to live. I returned to America. I had already inherited a great deal of money, with my father's death. And when my mother died, I had even more. Too much, no doubt.
I wondered how he felt about his parents' deaths, but he didn't say, and it was his story.
— But I wasn't idle. I studied. Languages, especially, and ancient history, the classics. I collected many museum-worthy pieces. Word got 'round. I was plagued by, let's say, enthusiastic acquaintances. It's not easy for me to send people away. One day a man showed up on my doorstep. He said he'd known Violet in Paris.
Contesa's face turned gloomy, impassive, or stricken.
— He importuned me. I gave him money for a scheme. It went badly. He was a con man. He had come to my house at midday. I'm a rational man. And I knew two things. One, time is of human origin, and, two, since it is, I could use time as I wanted.