"Where are we?" "For example, in a hotel." "What time is it?" "I don't know." "It's not important." "What weather?" "It was cool." "Destroy, She Said" " We were there." " Yes." "I tremble all the time. in a sort of trembling uncertainty." "My name's Stein." "I'm a Jew." "Did you hear my name?" "Yes." "It's Stein." "It's very mild." "Today the balls thudded through your head, your heart, didn't they?" "Yes." "My wife's coming for me in a few days." "We're taking a vacation." "I never imagined that." " What else?" " Nothing." "You understand?" "I didn't think anything." "My wife is very young." "She's a child." " Her name?" " Alissa." "I thought you were a free man, no attachments outside the hotel." "And now all of a sudden Alissa makes an appearance." "In three days." "We've been married two years." "Alissa's with her family, she goes there... every year." "She's been there about ten days." "I hardly remember her face." "I've lived with various women." "I too have had the time." "And you?" "Are you a writer?" "I'm in the process of becoming one, you see?" "Yes." " Always been like that?" " Yes." "How did you guess?" "By the way you keep asking questions." "Which get you nowhere." "Outside the grounds, six miles or so from the hotel, there's a very well-known view." "That's where they are when the hotel's empty?" "They always return by dusk, have you noticed?" "Anything besides the view?" "I've never heard of anything else." "Nothing, no." "Besides that, no." "Only the forest." "It's there all round us." "I only know the grounds." "I've stayed here." "At the end of the path, there's a gate." " You've noticed it?" " Yes." "They don't go in the forest." "You knew that too?" "No." "I didn't know." "I'm alone too in this hotel, you see?" "I sleep badly." "I dread going to my room." "I toss and turn, my thoughts wear me out." "Everyone here is tired, had you noticed?" "No children, or dogs or papers or television." "Is that why you're here?" "No, it's the same to me as anywhere else." "I'm like you, I'm not sick, no." "This place has memories for me." "I met a woman here." "She hasn't returned?" "She must have died." "Among the explanations, that's what I think." "But you return hoping to find her?" "No, I don't think so." "You mustn't think it was a... no, no." "But she kept my attention a whole summer." "That was all." "Why?" "I couldn't say." "It was a question of me... me and her together." "Telephone for Madame Alione." "Did you know the name?" "Telephone for Madame Alione." "I must have known and forgot." "It didn't surprise me." "Alione, Elisabeth." "Maiden name:" "Villeneuve." "Born in Grenoble, 1931." "No occupation." "French." "Living in Grenoble." "Arrived July 2." "Here you are." "Next to her." "Thor, Max Thor." "Born in Paris, 1929." "Professor." "French." "Living in Paris." "Arrived July 4." "So we know something." "We're gradually getting somewhere." "We know about Grenoble." "And the words:" "Villeneuve, Elisabeth..." "Villeneuve at eighteen." "She's read the same novel for a week." "She must start, forget what she's read, and start again... with that book." "You think?" "Would you like me to see?" "I can allow myself to do things you wouldn't do." "As you like." "It's nothing, right?" "A bookrack novel." " Nothing." " That's what I thought." "Nothing." "Last night." "Last night when I was outside," "I saw you at your desk writing something." "Slowly, with difficulty." "Your hand hovered over the page a long time." "Then started writing again." "And then suddenly it gave up." "You stood up and came out on the balcony." "I sleep badly." "Like you." " We sleep badly." " Yes." "I listen." "To the dogs, the walls creaking." "Till my head spins." "Then I write something." "That's it." " A letter?" " Perhaps." "In the dead of night, in this empty hotel, who to write to, that's it." "The exciting things that happen to us at night, you and me." "I walk the grounds." "Sometimes I hear my voice." "I've seen you sometimes." "Heard you too, just before daybreak." "That's right." "That's me." "The dogs in the distance, and my voice." "Do you have it with you?" "Yes." ""Madame," "I've been watching you for ten days." "There's something about you that fascinates me, puts me in a turmoil, and I can't make out what it is." "Madame, I'd like to get to know you, expecting nothing out of it for myself."" "How quiet it is." "Who'd believe our nights are such an ordeal?" " You don't know anything?" " Nothing." "Only the face." "And the way she sleeps." "She doesn't get letters." "But someone telephones, usually after her siesta." "She wears a wedding ring." "No one has come to see her yet." "Alissa." "I'm impatient for her to get here." "Are we leaving it here?" "No one ever comes by here." "There's no name on it." "Are you leaving it for Alissa?" "Perhaps." "For Alissa, yes." "What sort of people are there here?" "Invalids." "I suddenly noticed it last Sunday." "Families come and then leave in the evening." "There are no children." "That's true." "But you don't want to leave right away?" "Did I say that?" "Yes, in the room, when I arrived." "Oh, a few days." "But we could also go right away." "Maybe you don't feel like going away." " You've traveled a lot already." " It's not that." "I feel comfortable here." "Almost happy." "Almost happy?" "Yes." "That's a fellow called Stein." "We talk sometimes." "Yes, he's a Jew, too." "True, it is pleasant here." "Especially with the grounds." "Where are the tennis courts?" "Just outside, right next to the hotel." "Then there's the forest." "Yes." "Is it dangerous?" "How did you know?" "I'm looking at it." "I can see it." "Why is it dangerous?" "I don't know." "Why?" "Because they're afraid of it." "Alissa." "I haven't got to know anyone." "Except Stein." "Stein." "Did you say something about being "happy"?" "Yes." "Happy in this hotel." "Happy." "How strange." "I'm rather surprised myself." " Why's that woman crying?" " How did you know?" "That often happens when there are visitors." "You're tired." "I don't sleep." "Sometimes the silence stops one sleeping." " The forest, the silence?" " Perhaps." " The hotel room?" " That too." "What do you do all day?" "Nothing." "Sometimes I talk with this Stein." "You don't read?" "I pretend to." "You seem happy." "It might be an idea to stay on a few days." "You didn't tell me Alissa was insane." "I didn't know." "The woman I've sought here for so long is Alissa Thor." "There's something here that troubles me, and intrigues me." "I can't make out what it is." "I don't try to understand, you see, I don't try." "Maybe it has to do with old desires, the dreams of childhood." "Write it down, perhaps." "I start to read every night." "I don't write." "Alissa." "He was waiting for you." "He was counting the days." "He couldn't picture your face." "What had become of Alissa?" "Where was she?" "She was still in the room." "That's what I know." "And on the grounds already." "You were already on the grounds." "There's no point in suffering, Alissa." "Never again." "No one." "No point." "Stein sleeps on the grounds." "All over the place." "I want you so much." "He wants you so much." "He loves you so much." " Who's the book about?" " Max Thor." " What does he do?" " Nothing." "Someone's watching." " What?" " Tennis." " A woman?" " Yes." "Preoccupied." " By what?" " The void." " Who's watching her?" " Stein." "Max Thor writes what Stein watches." "For example, that woman?" "For example, yes." "Alissa?" "It's Stein." "Stein." "Yes, I'm here." "I don't know you, Alissa." "He realized here he couldn't imagine life anymore without you." "You're part of me, Alissa." "Your fragile body is part of mine." "And I don't know you." "You can't talk to me, can you?" "No." "So... this is the first time between him and me, that it's been impossible to talk," "that he's hidden something from me." "Yes." "He doesn't really know what it is, does he?" "He only knows everything would go if you went." "Stein, read for me." ""Alissa knows." "But what?"" "I wrote it for you, before I knew you'd guessed." "Look, Stein." "Look for me." "He isn't with her?" "Yes." "Is he talking to someone?" "No, no one." "He never talks to anyone." "You can't get a word out of him." "He only speaks when spoken to." "A whole part of him is mute." "He's sitting waiting." "We make love." "Every night we make love." "I know." "You leave the window open and I see you." "He leaves it open for you." " To see us." " Yes." " Do you see us?" " Yes." "You don't say anything." "Every night I wait." "Silence clamps you to the bed." "The light stays on and on." "One morning they'll find you both melted into a shapeless lump like tar." "No one will understand, except me." "Where did you meet Alissa?" "Asleep, in one of my lectures." " Fine." " Fine." "That's what most of my students do." "I've forgotten everything I know." "Ah, fine." "Did you want Alissa as soon as you saw her?" "No." "I didn't want anyone." " And you?" " Me?" "As soon as she walked through the door." "Total destruction will come first through Alissa." "Through youth." "Yes." "Inevitably." "You were right in the sun." "I can sleep right in the sun." "I can't." "It's a habit." "It's cold where I come from." "A cold place?" "Yes." "I can never get enough sun." "You've just arrived." "No." "I've been here three days." "You've never seen me?" "In fact I can't see a thing." "I usually wear glasses." " But not here?" " No." "I'm here convalescing." "She came to my place one night." "Convalescing?" "Alissa was eighteen." "A confinement that went wrong." "In the bedroom Alissa isn't any age." "No." "I take sedatives." "I sleep all the time." "It must have been a shock." "I couldn't sleep anymore." "It had been a difficult pregnancy." "Very." "You think about it a lot?" "I don't know." "I'm not supposed to, you see." "Was someone there?" "It could only be Stein, if it's anyone." "Stein?" "Yes." "You didn't know him." "Soon they'll be coming back from their walk." "Yes." "She looks at the void." "Yes, but well." "She looks at the void well." "I wish I could wake up." "You were told to walk for a bit every day?" "A half hour, yes." "There's no reason why not." "We could go for a walk together if you like." "It's early yet." "The young doctor I saw first wanted me to go somewhere cheerful with lots of people." "But my husband thought he was wrong." "And you?" "I did as they wanted." "All the same to me." "Over there." "You play?" "No." "The confinement was..." "I mustn't exert myself." "Do you go in the forest?" "No." "Not on my own." "Have you seen it?" "Not yet." "I've just arrived." "Of course." "Perhaps you're ill too?" "No." "We're here by mistake." "We thought it was just an ordinary hotel." " What is the time?" " I don't know." "I like it here." "Look." "Did you want the child very much?" "Well... it was my husband really." "I was very afraid he'd be disappointed." "Afraid he'd detach from me because the child was dead." "But the doctor told me not to talk about it." " You listen to him?" " Yes." "Why?" "You needn't listen to anyone." "Do as you like." "I don't want to." "You can't hear the tennis anymore." "Would you like to come in the forest?" "I'd rather stay on the grounds." "I'm here." "Don't be afraid." "I couldn't go." "You're afraid of me." " No, it's not that." " What?" "It terrifies me." "You can't see it." "No." "You were afraid of me." "Just a little." "But you were afraid nonetheless." "You're very strange." "Who are you?" "There was someone there." " Where?" " There." "People don't talk to one another here." "What about you?" "I'm rather shy." "Anyway I'm not bored." "The time goes fast." "Not much longer now." "How long?" "A week..." "And then my husband visits sometimes, with my daughter." " She was here yesterday." " Yes." "I saw her." "Quite grown-up." "Fourteen years old." "She still looks like you." "What do you mean?" "She walks like you." "She watched tennis the way you did when you were crying." "That was nothing." "It was because of her." "Anita." "I miss her." "Come on." "Just come for a stroll." "Will we let her go into the forest with Alissa?" "No... no." "I don't have children yet, I haven't been married long." "You've got plenty of time." "Is your husband here?" "Yes." "He's alone, his table is last on the terrace." "With glasses?" "That's right." "But he's been here a long time, right?" "He arrived a couple days after you." "Does he look rather sad?" "When he's not talking, yes." "He's a Jew." "Can you recognize Jews?" "Not very well." "My husband can tell at once, even when..." "Yes?" "There's another man with him, Stein." "He's a Jew too." "I came to pick him up." "We're going on vacation." " Where are you going?" " We don't know in advance." "Stein." "Elisabeth Alione." "Let me introduce my husband, Max Thor." "Elisabeth Alione." "We were looking for you to take a walk in the forest." "Elisabeth Alione is afraid of the forest." "We can stay on the grounds in that case." "Choose." "I'd like to go into the forest." "No." "Let's stay on the grounds." "To go back to what we were saying, total destruction." "Middle class background." "The husband must have a business." "She married very young and had the daughter at once." "She became frightened." "She's terrified." "She says nothing?" "Nothing." "She recites." "She recites that she's terrified of being abandoned." "Even the baby who died." "There must have been something else." "When she says, "I sleep,"" "I see her sleeping, and you watching her." "You?" "Yes, as well." "We're meeting her tomorrow, after her nap." "She accepted?" "Yes." "What did you talk about?" "A walk by the view, Stein talked about it." "Your hair." "Your childlike hair." "Has he noticed?" "I believe." "He hasn't said anything yet." "I cut it myself." "It was lying all over the bathroom." "He must have stepped on it." "I exclaimed." "I did exclaim." "I heard him exclaim." "But he said nothing." "I thought you cried out for some other reason." " For what reason?" " Impatience." "I love you." "What will become of us?" "I don't know." "We don't know." "No, we don't know." "She's getting used to us." "She said," ""Stein is a man who inspires confidence."" "And about him?" "Nothing." "I kept crying." "I cried all the time." "I'm talking about it again." "I guess I can't help myself." "If you weren't a strong sort of person, it might have been dangerous, no?" "I'm not a strong person." "You're wrong." "Who says?" "They say." "And I agree." "The doctors?" "Yes." "Things could happen here that normally wouldn't." "I don't understand." "You think?" "Because of your suffering, other women than you might get into some scrape or other." "Oh no, not me!" "No one has appeared yet, except us sometimes." "They're late." "We said five o'clock." "I've kept you from your walk." "I'm sorry." "Especially as my husband didn't phone." "Is it always your husband who phones?" "Someone else did call when I first came, but I hung up." "Good heavens." "We're... very different." "Yes." "I'm happy with my husband too, but probably in a different way." "How?" "Max Thor's a writer?" "Well... he's in the process of becoming one." "Why?" "I don't know, it's what I thought." "He's a professor." "I was one of his students." "Who is Stein?" "I can't talk about Stein." "I understand." "No." "You're very blunt." "It's the thought of Stein." "It was just the thought of Stein's existence." "There they are." " We're late." " Not very." "How was the view?" "We couldn't find it." "Well..." " Shall we play?" " Yes." " Is hearts all right?" " Yes." " What are we playing?" " We said..." " Right." " Did you get your phone call?" " No." "I'm so sorry." " Your turn, Mr. Thor." " Sorry." "You're feeling well?" "I'm feeling better." "I sleep less, I could almost go home." "Don't you like it here?" "Oh, it's all right, but..." "Why don't you phone and ask your husband to come get you?" "The three weeks will be up in four days." "And does that seem so long?" "No." "But you're leaving soon too, aren't you?" "In a few days." "I don't know Grenoble." "What do you do in summer?" "When my daughter was little we used to go to Brittany." "Now we go to the South." " I'd like to know Anita." " So would I." "She's difficult." "She's going through an awkward phase." "It'll pass." " She's rude." " Rude?" "Yes, especially to me." "She wouldn't work." "But her father put his foot down." "What did her father do?" "Yes, what did her father do?" "Oh..." "He wouldn't let her go out for a while." "That's all." "That made her work?" "No." "You're good at cards." "We play sometimes at Grenoble, among friends." " On Sunday afternoon?" " That's right." "That's what you do in the provinces." "Talk about Anita." "A very affectionate child, really." "I expect she'll suffer." "She'll suffer?" "I'm a bad judge." "All your family lives in Grenoble?" "Yes, mostly." "We don't live in Grenoble itself, but on the outskirts." " Stein wins." " It's nothing." " Pardon." " Pardon." "That's a funny way to play." "I haven't played like that." "Never?" "We don't know how to play cards." "But..." "You're not playing?" "Our house is on the Isère." "The Isère river." " Isolated?" " Yes, how did you know?" "Alissa's traveled a lot." " You go to Paris every year?" " Yes, in October." "In October in Paris there's the automobile show." "Yes." "We go to the theater too." "Oh, I know..." "I don't like Paris." "Not at all." "Not at all." "All our plans are changed this year." "We still don't know where to go." "That's true?" " Yes." "You usually go to the sea?" "No." "We pass by the beaches every summer." "But we don't stop." " That's true?" " Yes." "So..." "You've known each other a long time?" "Yes." "For four days." "The beach day and night, it's boring, don't you think?" "Yes." "I agree." "I suppose you go abroad?" "Usually, eh?" "Yes, usually." "Last year, we went to Italy with friends." "A doctor?" "Yes." "You seem to know a lot of doctors." " Yes." " They're interesting." "They talk about yourself." "And about painting." "You laugh?" "Did you like Italy?" "Yes." "But in July... it's terribly hot." "I can't stand the heat." "And the food?" "Yes." "I'm so sorry." "We went to..." " To?" " To?" "Where?" " To Venice." " To Venice?" " Or Naples?" " Or Rome?" " Or Florence?" " Or Venice?" "Or Rome?" "No, yes..." "I don't know anymore." "We went to Venice." "Rome... we came back through Rome." "That's it, back through Rome." "It's not possible." "Am I wrong?" "Completely." "Elisabeth Villeneuve." "At eighteen years." "For days and days" "I've watched you." "I think it was in the hotel grounds." "He stood before her... and watched her." "What could come of it?" "Desire." "Stein... he still doesn't understand." "It's the same..." "love, desire." "That's true." "It's become the same." "Good." "Yes." "Your turn again." "You see." "Try again." "I can't, what about Alissa?" "They're thinking of something else." "Look at them." "I can't." "You see?" "I told you so." "You did it purposely?" "No." "Again." "No." "Cheat." " I want you to." " No." "There." "My husband's coming tomorrow." "We've lost the game." "Were we really playing?" "I was wrong." "My husband is coming for me right away." "Actually I haven't been so bored here since I met you." "I was almost disappointed when he said he'd come." "You've been very kind to me." "If you like, we could take a walk now." "In the forest." "You seemed very anxious to." "Why did you telephone?" "To see if he'd agree." "I don't really know." " You told him about us?" " No." "You hide things from him." "Oh, but it's not hiding things not to tell him that." "That?" "People one meets in hotels." "Where else does one meet them?" "He'll probably never meet you." "So there was no reason why I should tell him." "Who knows?" "There'd be no point." "You're too different." "What did you say on the phone... for him to come so quickly?" "I don't really know myself." "I said I'd stopped taking sleeping tablets." "I mentioned you." "Just vaguely." "I said I played cards with some of the others." "That's all." "I didn't actually ask him to come right away." "Perhaps he suddenly missed me." "He gets bored when you're not there?" "Perhaps." "No." "I must go in." "I have to pack." "Where are they going?" "Into the forest." "Together?" " Always." " Yes." "We're Alissa's lovers." "We love Alissa desperately." "Supposing I tried to understand..." "I'd like to love you." "You have to pack." "Don't count on Alissa to help you." "I know." "What was that book you never read?" "I came to get it." "I dislike reading." "Why pretend to then?" "No one else reads." "When you're alone... to keep up appearances." "I didn't know." "Where are they?" "They're leaving soon." "They can't be far." "In the forest?" "Yes." "The book, I'll give it to you if you like." "No." "You must throw it away." "You must throw away the book." " Really?" " Yes." " I'll leave it?" " Yes." " I'm afraid of Alissa." " I know." "I'm afraid of Alissa... afraid." "Maybe she's in the hotel." "Perhaps, yes." "Do you think she's listening to us?" "It's possible." "Your husband arrives tomorrow." "At noon, he said." "What will become of you?" "Nothing." "Like before." "You're sure?" "We're leaving tomorrow too." "We may meet again someday." "Who knows?" "We live in an out-of-the-way place." "You have to make a special trip." "We could make a special trip." "You've made a great impression on us." "Why?" "I probably wouldn't understand if you told me." "The young doctor, did he talk to you like this?" "He wrote." "Out of the blue, he wrote me a letter." "Was there trouble?" "He tried to..." "Now he's left." "They said it was because of me." "They said horrible things." "It was the middle of my pregnancy." "I'd been ill, and he came." "My husband was away." "He got into the habit of coming." "Did they say he'd killed the baby?" "Yes." "My little girl." "It isn't true." "The baby died before it was born." "I showed my husband the letter." "When?" "After the confinement." "It was when he found out I'd done it that... that he realized nothing would come of it." "Nothing." "How did he find out you showed him the letter?" "My husband went to see him." "Or maybe he phoned." "I don't know." "You do believe me?" "Yes." "What have you got against me?" "Nothing." "I'm thinking about this story." "You became ill because you showed your husband the letter." "You're ill because of what you did." "What's the matter?" "Disgust." "Disgust." "You want to make me desperate?" "Yes." "Don't say any more." "No, let's not talk any more." "It's too late." " For what?" " To kill you." "It's too late." "You've liked being with us, haven't you?" "That's why you phoned for your husband to come." "I love my husband, I think." "It's fascinating to see how you live." "And terrible." "I realized you were interested in me only because of that." "And that perhaps you were right." "Who made you think of this young doctor?" "Stein, perhaps." "We'd love Stein if it were possible to love." "I didn't say..." "You meant to say Max Thor." "You made a mistake." "True." "How young you are." "We look alike." "Don't you think?" "We're the same height." "So we are." "The eyes." "We have the same eyes." "Perhaps." "They watch us." "Your hair..." "why did you cut it?" "I don't know why." "Such lovely hair." "I knew you'd cut it because of me." "We look very much alike." "How strange." "You're more intelligent than me." "Not just now." "I love you." "And I desire you." "Your husband's just arrived." "He's looking for you outside." "Your daughter isn't there." "And where are the others?" "Watching him." "They recognize him." "What are you afraid of?" "I'm not afraid." "They're moving away from him." "Disgust, I suppose." "We knew each other as children." "Our families were friends." "We knew each other as children." "Our families were friends." "Yes." "If you'd loved him..." "If you'd loved someone once, just once in your life, you'd have loved the others." "Stein, Max Thor, all the others." "It'll happen later, other times." "And it won't be you, or them, or me." "Stein says you're insane." "Stein will say anything." "True." "We're having lunch together." "Didn't you know?" "Whose idea was that?" "Stein's." "But... but why?" "He didn't say." "Your husband's waiting by the tennis courts." "We're all to meet in ten minutes." "Your husband's agreed." "Love..." "My love." "Stein." "Last night I spoke your name, Alissa." " In your sleep." " Yes." "Alissa." "Your name woke me up." "I was outside." "You were both asleep." "The room was in a mess." "You were asleep on the floor." "He had come and gone to sleep beside you." "I was looking for you." "We don't know where to go with him there." "True." "We'll be in Grenoble by about five." "I'm very glad to have met you." "Because of you, Elisa wasn't bored here." "All alone, I couldn't believe it." "Elisa is a woman who couldn't bear being alone, not at all." "Every time I had to go away there was a scene." "Wasn't there, Elisa?" "I'm going mad." "What is it?" "And is she often alone?" "You mean, without her husband?" "Yes, quite often." "But one of the family always comes." "Still, it's never too late." "How?" "In the end, it was her idea to come here." "Hers alone." "Just like that." "She realized she ought to make the effort." "That's true." "It's me." "I was... so tired." "Were you bored here?" "A bit, in the evening." "No." "I wasn't bored." "When boredom takes a certain form..." "Yes?" "You were going to say something interesting." "What form were you thinking of?" "When it's part of a timetable, say, you don't notice it." "If it's not noticed, not named, it can take some curious turns." "There's something in what you say." "What turns, for example?" "Impossible to predict." "Completely." "What will become of you?" "Pardon?" "Who are you?" "Jews..." "German Jews." "That's not what I... that's not the point." "I think it must have been." "What's going on?" "We all feel the same." "All four of us." "She's gone to be sick." "I'm the only one eating..." "Go on." "It doesn't matter." "I thought I'd find her in better shape today." "I expect she told you about it... a stupid accident..." "It was more of an emotional shock for her than anything." "A woman feels that sort of thing as a failure." "We men can't really understand..." "Yes, well..." "time we were off." "I'll go find her." "By the time the luggage gets downstairs... and I've paid the bill..." " Where are you vacationing?" " Leucate." "Perhaps you know it?" "I'm interested in the Languedoc development scheme." "I'm not like my wife, I can't spend my vacation idle." " Leucate." " Yes." " Leucate." " Leucate." "Leucate." "Yes." "Tell me..." "You've seen her more recently, what is it that...?" "Fear." "It will be terrible." "It will be frightful." "And she's beginning to realize." "Who are you talking about?" "Her, you, everyone." "About your destruction." "I didn't realize..." "You're all crazy." "Now I see." "That illness, that doctor." "Yes, that doctor who died." "He didn't die." "I don't understand." "Did she tell you about the accident?" " What death did he choose?" " He didn't die." "Put that idea out of your heads." "For Elisa, it was just the death of the little girl." "The rest, no." "The idea!" "Has she told you about us?" "No, not yet." "We haven't left her for four days." " Elisabeth." " It's no use calling." "Don't pay attention to what Stein says." "Sit down." "She's coming." "They're all out for the day." " Has she told you about us?" " No, not yet." "But she will one day." "You must have noticed, she's very reserved, very... for no reason at all... even with me, her husband." "When she asked to come here, didn't she say why?" "Mind your own business." "What did she tell you?" "She must have told him she had to be alone a while, long enough to forget the doctor." " Yes." " Yes, that's it." "Now she has forgotten." "Here she is." "Where did you find her?" "They knew each other as children." "Their families were friends." "Yes." "You're all remarkably interested in her." " Yes." " Yes." " Might one ask why?" " Literary reasons." "So my wife's a..." " a character in a novel?" " A perfect one." "Is it you, Monsieur Thor, who's... who's the writer?" " No." " No." "No." "I don't see what you could find to say about her." "Novels aren't stories anymore, that's why I don't read them." "Were you sick?" " Yes." " What was it like?" "Pleasant." "Fine, fine." "Did you sleep?" "No." "Did you see her eyes?" "Yes." "What is your work?" "Real estate development." "It's starting again." "You know, we could love you too." " Really love you." " We could." "True." "We must go." "But you're sick, if we..." "It's only the beginning." "It's just the beginning, yes." "We must go." " She's said it." " Yes." "They must go." "Don't be cross with her." "Don't be cross with her because we're what we are." "I told him you can't be cross with me, and I didn't lie." "Right?" "What about you?" "What do you teach?" "History of the future." "Is it very different?" "There's nothing left, so I don't say anything." "The students sleep." "Are there still children?" "Only children." "Wonderful." "And Blum, what do you teach?" "Nothing." "Nothing, neither does she." "Sometimes, Blum teaches the Rosenfeld theory." "Never heard of it." "Arthur Rosenfeld." "He's dead." "He was a child." " How old?" " Eight." "Alissa knew him." "Yes, by the sea." "Look at them." "They're children already." "Anything's possible." "Her name's Alissa, the other two are her lovers." "Did you want to see her again?" "Yes." "Again." "The phone call, did she explain about it?" "No." "She began to notice we were interested in her, you see?" "She couldn't stand it." "It seemed incredible she didn't guess." "There was a beginning..." "Like a shudder... no." " A crack..." " Physical." "Yes." "The tennis courts are empty." "So are the grounds." "Not a person around." " Before, there were many." " Many, yes." "Look..." "This calm... this foliage... it's not bad." "We must go." "What's the hurry?" "No hurry." "None at all." "Let's not separate." "Come into the forest." " Let's not separate." " No." "Why in the forest?" "It's classified as a historic monument." "With us." "A few steps." "Enough to see." "Alissa." "You're wrong." "It's difficult." "So difficult." "You're wrong." "Destroy." "What did she say?" "She said destroy." "We must go now." "Yes." "Go." "Yes, but Alissa's crying." "No, she's resting." "I've drunk too much, I didn't realize." "Fine, fine." "Where are you going?" " Back..." "I think." " Where?" "Here?" "Together?" "She could have loved you... you too." " Anything's possible." " Yes." "How can you live with her?" "He doesn't live with her." "There's no one but us?" "Yes." "You'd been watching me for ten days." "Something about me fascinated you, put you in a turmoil." "An interest that you couldn't quite make out." "Nature." "That's true." "Yes." "We could stay, if you like." "For a day." "No." "Last night, when you were sleeping, you spoke her name." "Elisa." "You spoke her name." "Elisa." "Tenderly and lovingly." "She told you, "I wasn't sleeping."" "I was pretending to sleep." "For days and days..." "I've watched you." "I think it was in the grounds, yes." "I stood there, watching her." "She woke up." "Yes, that's it." "I answered you." "But you were sound asleep." "You didn't hear." "Maybe we shouldn't have gone into the whole thing." "Elisabeth Alione?" "It wouldn't have made any difference." "What could have come of it?" "Your desire, or death by Alissa." "What could come of it?" "We don't have any choice now." "Would she have gone into the forest with Alissa?" " What do you think?" " Yes." "She belongs to whoever wants her." "She feels whatever they feel." "In a few days she would have yielded to Alissa's desire." " It was a strong one." " Yes." "But not clear." "No." "Alissa would have found out in the forest." "It will be easy to find them." "She'll be glad to see us." "We'll say we stopped there on our way to Spain, that we like it and have decided to stay." "Yes, that we've decided to stay there." "It's on our way." "Yes, on our endless voyage." "Are you happy, Stein?" "Are we happy?" "Yes, very." "We are happy." "Alissa sleeps well." " Our sleep." " Yes." "She dreams." "Her dreams, she can't choose?" "No." "Nor her power." " Very big?" " Yes." "And free." "Did she say something?" "No." "Her mouth is open but she says nothing." "Look, Stein, the sky." "Look." "How old is Alissa?" "Eighteen." " And when you met her?" " Eighteen." "The earth trembled." "Yes." "Does Alissa hear it?" "Yes, she hears." "Is it coming from the forest?" "Yes, from the forest." "Perhaps." "It's far away." "Still, it's coming from the forest." "What pain." "What immense pain." "How difficult it is." "It has to get through..." "Yes." "Everything." "It will do it, it will get through the forest." "Here it comes." "It has to fell trees, knock down walls." "But here it is." "Nothing more to worry about." "Yes, here it is." "Music to the name of Stein." "Destroy, She Said"