off the highway in the marshland north of the Keys and stopped the engine
'It is a fact that I am married,' she said resolutely, 'and taking the ring off is not going to change anything. I am in love with you, without doubt, but you have understood my situation from the beginning. If you cannot deal with it anymore, then perhaps we should just call it quits.'
Nick was shocked by her response. The thought of being without her terrified him. He apologized and professed his love. He began kissing her passionately and then jumped in the back seat. He told her that he needed her right then, that moment. She somewhat reluctantly joined him and they had intercourse on the back seat of her Cadillac. Monique was quiet and pensive most of the rest of the day.
On Friday, exactly a week after they had met, Monique took Nick to a tuxedo shop to have him fitted for a black tie dinner with some friends that she was having on Saturday night in her home. So finally he was going to be seen with her. 'And,' Nick thought, 'now she will talk about our future.' Nick was supposed to be in Boston on Monday morning and his parents were expecting him Saturday night in Falls Church, but he assured himself that he could drive all day (and all night if necessary, so pumped up was he in his love for Monique) to get to classes on Monday morning.
Nick was full of hope and dreams when he showed up at the Silver mansion on Saturday night. He looked elegant in his summer tux, and the smile with which he greeted Monique at the door could have won a prize. Even with the doorman standing by, he handed her a dozen red roses, gave her a kiss, and told her that he loved her. 'Of course you do,' she said lightly, 'doesn't everybody?' She took him inside and introduced him to the four other people who had also come early as the 'young man who saved our Teresa one day in Lauderdale.' Then Monique excused herself. It was her fashion, Nick later learned, to ask a few select friends to come early to a party, to greet them in casual attire, and then to return an hour or so later, when everyone had arrived, with a grand entrance. As Monique gracefully walked up the stairs of the mansion, Nick's eyes followed her with an unmistakable look of adoration.
'Isn't she magnificent?' Nick was asked by a relaxed, tanned man of about fifty who offered him a martini. His name was Clayton. 'Once I was with her all weekend on their yacht, while Aaron was in Montreal. I thought she had invited me for a little diversion.' He laughed. 'But I was wrong. She just wanted some company and I could talk about France and Europe. Come with me (he slipped his arm through Nick's) and I'll introduce you to the select group that was invited early today.'
Nick was treated with extreme courtesy by the other favored guests, but he was wary of their questions about Monique. He was, after all, a Southern boy, and if there was something to say about their relationship, it was her place to say it. So he answered politely but modestly and didn't elaborate at all.
One of the two women at the bar, who introduced herself as Jane Somebody, said that she was Monica's oldest friend in Palm Beach. (They all called her Monica. It was impossible for Nick to call her anything but Monique. Nick wondered if they could guess what was going on or if Monique had told them.) Jane was in her late thirties, plump and raucous, a heavy drinker and a chain smoker. She had once been fairly attractive but had lived too hard too soon. She was one of those people who touch everybody during a conversation. She made Nick nervous.
The other guests began to arrive. Jane and Clayton (as in Clayton Poindexter III of Newport and Palm Beach. Clayton, when asked by Nick what he did, answered, 'NVMS.' Nick of course had absolutely no idea what that meant. Clayton laughed. 'NVMS — No visible means of support — a term used to cover all bums.') seemed to be acting as hostess and host in Monique's absence. They introduced him to everybody. Nick had three or four martinis and told the Teresa story at least seven times during the first hour that he was