She'd never seen one of these so-called "art" films before, but avoided them by telling Tim that she was not interested in the more lewd and prurient side to love-making. But the curvaceous blonde wife, only twenty years old and married just one month over two years, had been continually urged by her handsome, twenty-two year-old husband to at least try one before she dismissed the whole idea. And her girl friends, those other young wives and mothers who lived in the apartment-house complex with her and Tim, always seemed to be talking in hushed giggles about the candid versions of wild erotica which their husbands were taking them to. In spite of her deeply religious upbringing and her own ingrained sense of what was decent and what was not, she couldn't help admitting that she had been secretly curious about what such films were like, titillated by their come-on newspaper ads.

Now, tonight, there had been no way of avoiding seeing one such movie, even if she had desperately been against the idea. For one thing, she hadn't been able to find the proper words to argue after all the drinking they'd done during dinner. Tim had taken her to a fancy restaurant before coming here, and they had lingered over their tasty food with different wines with every course, not to mention the before and after cocktails. Tim had more to drink than usual, and Melanie could see he was not very sober, but she, too, was feeling the alcohol's effects to a marked degree.

For a second reason, he had insisted that he wanted to go here, and she didn't have the heart to turn him down, as this would be Tim's last night with her for the next four months. Her husband would be away from home and bed for almost the coming third of a year, and of course Melanie had wanted to make this the best possible going-away night she possibly could. The reason her husband was leaving was one of those minor tragedies that can strike young married men "on their way up" who must sacrifice personal pleasure momentarily for a more secure and richer future. There had been many tears and even a few arguments ever since Tim had told his wife of the necessary parting, but they both knew that it would be best in the long run, a temporary parting that would only make their marriage happier later.