“You brilliant man,” she said. “You saved the scene. We couldn’t have gone on and it would have been calamitous.” Summoning all the nonchalance I could fake, I said, “Well, there was nothing else to be done.” “Nonsense,” she said. “What you did was beautiful. Thank you.” Our hands were now joined. I bowed forward over them, let go, and left the room, glowing with pride.
