Page "romance" Paragraph 822

Halfway up the staircase she stopped and sat down.

Other people were doing it, too, sitting all along the wide banisters and leaning over the parapets above, watching the azaleas mass, or just enjoying the sun.

Theresa sat with her letters in her lap, breathing Mediterranean air.

The sun warmed her, as it seemed to be warming everything, perhaps even the underside of stones or the chill insides of churches.

She loosened her tweed jacket and smoked a cigarette.

Content excited ; ;

how could you be both at once??

Strange, but she was.

Presently, she picked up the first of the letters.