It was stronger towardthe center of her face but it didn’t come from her face. It was asthough her face were on the center of a screen and the light came from behind thescreen.

My God, it was really her, after all these years.

Are you on a boat? she said.

He said he was.

Are you with RichardRigel?

You know him? he asked.

I know a lot of people,she said.

The bartender brought theales he ordered, and he paid for them.

Are you crewing forRichard?

No. My boat’s raftedagainst his. Everything’s crowded with all these boats coming down at the sametime.

Where have you been allthis time?he wanted to say, but she wouldn’t know what he was talking about. Why did yougo away in the crowd that time? Were you laughing at me then too? Somethingabout boats. He was supposed to say something about boats.

We came down the canalstogether from Oswego, he said.

Then why didn’t I seeyou there? Lila said.

You did see me therebefore, hethought, but now the illumination had disappeared and her voice wasn’t the wayhe had always thought it would be and so now this was just another strangerlike all the others.

She said, I saw Richardin Rome and Amsterdam but I didn’t see you.

I didn’t go into townwith him. I stayed on my boat.

Are you all alone?

Yes.

She looked at him with akind of question in her eye and then said, Invite me to your table.

Then she said loudlyenough so that the others could hear, I can’t stand the trash at this bar!But the two she intended it for just looked at each other knowingly and didn’tlook over at her at all.