While he was doing so, he heard Mary call his name.

Hal hesitated for a moment before answering, though hedid not know why or even think of it. Then, he said, 'In here, Mary.'

Mary said, 'Oh! of course, I knew you'd be there, if you were home. Where else could you be?'

Unsmiling, he walked into the living room. 'Must you be so sarcastic, even after I've been gone so long?'

Mary was a tall woman, only half a head shorter than Hal. Her hair was pale blond and drawn tightly back from her forehead to a heavy coil at the nape of her neck. Her eyes were light blue. Her features were regular and petite but were marred by very thin lips. The baggy high-necked shirt and loose floor-length skirt she wore prevented any observer from knowing what kind of figure she had. Hal himself did not know.

Mary said, 'I wasn't being sarcastic, Hal. Just realistic. Where else could you be? All you had to do was say, "Yes." And you would have to be in there – she pointed at the door to the unmentionable – 'when I come home.. You seem to spend all your time in there or at your studies. Almost as if you were trying to hide from me.'

'A fine homecoming,' he said.

'You haven't kissed me,' she said.

'Ah, yes,' he replied. 'That's my duty. I forgot.'

'It shouldn't be a duty,' she said. 'It should be a joy.'

'It's hard to enjoy kissing lips that snarl,' he said.

To his surprise, Mary, instead of replying angrily, began to weep. At once, he felt ashamed.

'I'm sorry,' he said. 'But you'll have to admit you weren't in a very good mood when you came in.'

He went to her and tried to put his arms around her, but she turned away from him. Nevertheless, he kissed her on the side of her mouth as she turned her head.