is n&apos;t there something simpler you can do , like taking her dancing . there are one or two restaurants out on the islands . they look very romantic . he took my advice . that same evening he and Elaine dressed in their best and went out to dinner . but oddly it was not the dinner which distracted her from her troubles but what came after . they came back from the pension after I had gone to bed and I did not see them . but a little after six , I woke to hear a tapping on my door and found Steve in his pyjamas , his shoulders wrapped in a blanket . what the hell &amp;hellip; I began , then noticed that his face was grey . Steve , what &apos;s wrong ? I do n&apos;t know . I &apos;ve been in the lavatory since four o&apos;clock and I feel as sick as a dog . it must be something you &apos;ve eaten . his teeth were chattering . do n&apos;t stand here : you &apos;ll catch a cold . get back into bed . he walked back meekly to his room and got into bed . if you &apos;ve been up since four , I said , why the devil did n&apos;t you call me sooner ? I tried to but you were sound asleep . but could n&apos;t you have tried any of the others ? he shrugged . I suppose I &apos;ve known you longest . his teeth were still chattering but his forehead , when I felt it , was hot and clammy . he said , I must have a temperature . I &apos;ve been sitting exams half the night that even Einstein would have flunked . I went to the wardrobe , found another blanket and spread it on the bed . next time you catch the pox , I said , do it in England . it &apos;s so much cheaper on the national health . next time that &apos;s what I &apos;ll do . I tucked in the blanket . I &apos;ll go downstairs now and see if they &apos;ve something you can take . if it &apos;s not any better by breakfast-time , we &apos;ll get a doctor . I felt pretty useless , standing and watching but his face was growing paler . at any moment he would vomit and I did not want to leave him by himself . I went outside , towards the stairs , then tumbled to what I should do . I stopped at Elaine &apos;s door , tapped on it and went on tapping until it was opened and she stood there , her eyes half open , in nightgown and wrap . Peter , what is it ? it &apos;s Steve . he &apos;s not very well . he &apos;s not . her eyes opened . she seemed concerned . I had done right to wake her up . but what is it ? what &apos;s the matter ? I do n&apos;t know . I imagine it &apos;s something he has eaten . she tied the cord of her wrap and stepped into the corridor . it was my idea to wake you . he would n&apos;t have wanted to disturb you himself . I &apos;m glad you did . there &apos;s nothing worse than being ill away from home . she led the way into his room . when she laid her hand on his forehead he opened his eyes . hey ! what are you doing here ? you should have called me , she said . it was n&apos;t friendly . he made a sudden gesture towards the wash-basin and understanding quicker than me , she dashed across , lifted the bidet from its stand and held it against his chest just in time . it must have been the fish , she said , it &apos;s the one thing I did n&apos;t have . from her fear of insects , I would have expected her to be fastidious but not a scrap . she took the bidet away , wiped his face with a towel as if she were doing these things every day , and then to my astonishment , laid her cheek gently against his forehead . and it was n&apos;t done for effect ; she really meant it . for she stayed with him , sitting by the bed until he dropped off to sleep and then went out in his car to bring back a doctor before she would think of having breakfast . he was ill for three days and for the whole time , she stayed near him in the hotel , either in his room or sitting on the terrace , where she could hear him when he called . with dark hair and haggard face , he made an appealing patient . but because I thought of her as hard and egotistical , I could not believe that she stayed with him simply from affection . it is something I can n&apos;t be sure of , but I think perhaps after her disappointment she felt unwanted and to have someone dependent on her must have consoled her a lot . on the morning of the fifth day , I went into his room as I usually did , soon after I had woken , to see how he was , and found Elaine lying next to him in the bed . I do n&apos;t believe they had been making love - that , I imagine , did not happen until a day or so later . but the fact that I stood there , wishing them good morning without the slightest embarrassment showed how closely in those few days they had come together . ( 4 ) . it was the same , too , for Alison and me . we were English and , without discussing it , had taken separate rooms ; and we kept our promise never to snog in front of the others . but that , instead of keeping us apart , made us all the more passionate once we were alone . we spent our time , sometimes with Max and Jill but more often alone , swimming , or on the steamers , or wandering in Steve &apos;s car into the hills . in the heat of the day we would come back for lunch and afterwards I would go upstairs , sleep it off in a quick half-hour , then creep along the corridor and tap at Alison &apos;s door ; and asleep or awake , she would hear the first tap and come to the door to let me in . we made love in those few days many times . the heat , the wine , Stresa itself - the beauty of it - made us both unbelievably amorous . perhaps because we knew each other that much better , or simply because we had privacy and a spring mattress , we enjoyed each other very much more . with regular oats and mounds of spaghetti , I put on weight . I became bronzed , almost handsome . and the same process turned Alison into a raving beauty , so that sometimes when we were making love , I had to close my eyes and keep from looking at her , in case I became too roused and satisfied myself before her . afterwards , while she dozed , I would lie back against the head of the bed , staring into the twilight and feeling wonderfully calm , wonderfully rested . I would sit there , my body cool and naked , the sheet for comfort tucked into my crutch , stroking her cheek or her hair and listening to the sounds , the clatter of a train , the spluttering of a scooter , that drifted in through the closed shutters . and I &apos;d think how right it was , how much more moral , to live like this than like a hermit . I was calm , contented and then for three days making love was not possible and I found out what had happened . I still spent the siesta in Alison &apos;s room but instead of making love , we would lie side by side and talk . we talked a great deal in those days at Stresa , and the more we talked , the more I liked her . she was slow sometimes to sense the comic - her life perhaps had been too easy - but she never pretended , she never talked for effect . I never felt with her as I had felt with others , that I was talking to myself in a padded room . in everything she said , was enthusiasm and a sort of passion . for three days I went without my oats . then , on the last night we spent in Stresa , I went up to bed a little early while Alison went for a shower . because it was the last night I opened the shutters and looked out through the trees . a faint scent came from the flowers on Steve &apos;s balcony . the sky overhead was a mass of stars . I could see the lights of a steamer far away on the lake and right beneath me , in the dark beneath the trees , I could see a firefly winking to and fro in the bushes . then the door behind me was opened , I turned and saw Alison . she came over to me and kissed me on the cheek . Peter , she said , I thought I should tell you , I &apos;m clean again and decent . I took her to bed and we made love . because I had n&apos;t expected it and because she had come to me , I was taken unawares . in the last moment I opened my eyes and saw her face and there it was , right in my throat , the urge to say that I loved her . the words came to me like a pain but I held them back . I knew even then that I &apos;d be stupid to say them . but afterwards when I was lying quiet , with my head on her shoulder , I did not feel as I had felt before . I felt exposed , unprotected , somehow afraid of what might happen . when I woke in the morning , it was none too early and Alison had gone already . I sat up and gave my head a damned good scratch . through the window , from the terrace underneath , I could hear Max and Elaine and then Alison ; so instead of lying back again for another five , I got up and went to the window to open the shutters . I had just begun to open the first when I saw Steve on his balcony . he was standing quite still and well back from the balustrade so as not to be noticed . I could see only his profile and that not very well , yet I knew at once he was looking down at Elaine . I left the shutter as it was and went back silently into the room . I had some idea now of what was happening to me and I suppose because of it , I knew for certain , without even seeing his face , that he too was on the hook . ( 5 ) . I went down to breakfast that morning with a sort of pre-examination shakes . the hot weather , or the wine at dinner had given me palpitations and I felt suspicious . I had seen the world the night before as one gigantic romance . yet , when I joined the others , everything , from the littered table to the look on Alison &apos;s face , seemed horribly normal , horribly mundane . Max was worrying , as he always did because he liked to . Venice will be crowded . this time of year it always is . we ought to &apos;phone Vittorio and ask him to book us rooms . but why bother him ? Steve said . we can manage . we &apos;ll have a lot more fun if we can meet up with some of the Venetians . well , we can easily &apos;phone him when we get there , Steve replied . there &apos;s no need to bother him now . anyway , Jill said , we &apos;re not quite sure when we &apos;ll arrive . it sounds from the guide book as if Verona were worth a visit . and that was how it was left - that we did n&apos;t &apos;phone . but instead of being relieved , I felt a little hurt . I should have liked it much better if Alison had spoken up , if she had said for instance that Vittorio was a bore . we left Stresa shortly after breakfast and were approaching Verona by the afternoon . Verona at first sight seemed dusty and unremarkable . I asked Max to stop the car outside a greengrocer &apos;s and went in to buy peaches , luscious and as big as melons . I took one of the ripest and stood on the pavement , with Alison beside me , holding my head well forward and letting the juice trickle over my chin . I was wishing Bowling had been there to turn up his nose , when I noticed Alison , looking down at a poster on the wall . the opera , she said . I forgot all about it . opera ? what opera ? they have it here in the open air , in the Roman arena . 