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“What am I supposed to do now — say no? Dorothy told me.”

“Snitcher,” he says to Dorothy. “But did she tell you it’s going to be a girl and we’re calling her Marina Claire?”

“I knew and I’m thankful. Girls are better than boys.”

“I didn’t know any of it,” I say. “It’s wonderful, what could be better?” I kiss them both.

“But is this the fantastic place to hear that kind of news?” Sven shouts.

“Unbeatable,” Peter says, “and appropriate. The heart of the New York harbor and with Brooklyn in the foreground and Manhattan in back and a jet going west overhead and the two rivers splitting up and going their own way. And my mom and pop store speech was pretty prescient, eh?”

“That’s what I whispered to Dorothy on the floor. ‘Does Peter know?’ She didn’t answer. Why didn’t you answer?” he asks her.

“Now I really have to go,” I say.

“Of course,” Peter says. “Goodbye to you all. It’s freezing and gorgeous out here and the news was a knockout — Wait up,” he says to me.

“Marry her,” Sven yells after Peter. “Don’t be a boob not to.”

“Sven, that’s an awful thing to say,” I say. “People have to work things out their own way.”

“But you’re a terrific couple and two of my favorite people and I’m deliriously happy, so what else could I say? I’d love to see you married and in a family way, which is my next big fantasy for you two and no doubt another one I should have omitted saying, but that’s just tough titty on me.”

“All right, I hear, and probably at your wedding reception you should be allowed to say anything you like.” I go back, kiss him, he’s been crying, says “Forgive me, Helene, I get too enthused and emotional,” say “Bye Sophie, many thanks,” blow a kiss to Dorothy and say “Hope I didn’t dampen things,” and she says “Pay no mind, nothing but a nuclear holocaust on us could ruin this day,” go into the room, Peter says “Truthfully, I had nothing to do with that marriage-fetus wish, but you handled him right,” and goes to the men’s room, get my coat and sit on a bench by the elevator to wait for him. The rooms to the other parties are at the other side of the elevator bank and lots of laughing, music and chatter are coming from them. Arthur comes over. “Oh, I’m sorry,” I say, “I forgot to say goodnight.”

“That’s what I thought I forgot. And, I’m not sure how close you are with this curator fellow, but if it isn’t too close — even if it is…”

“We can always have lunch. I’m in the book. Only Helene with a Winiker at the end of it. W-i—”

“I know. I asked Dot about you already and she gave me your number. Six-six-three, two-five, three-six. An easy one, but I’ve a way with numbers. I can still remember my selective service card number and army rifle registration number and all the combination lock numbers from high school and college. Phone numbers? You only have to tell me them once. I’ve got a regular rolloflex — but what do you call those rolling things that have a thousand phone numbers and addresses on index cards and you spin? — well that’s my head. I also want you to know I’ll gladly do your tax returns this year if you want. As a favor, and I bet I get you back seven hundred more than if you do them yourself and four hundred more than with a professional accountant, but maybe not a competent CPA, and all legitimately: I do nothing to jeopardize the reputation of my firm or my own personal name.”

“Sounds good. I do them myself, so I might take you up on it.”

“Great. So, it was words-can’t-say tonight, Helene.”

Peter comes over, has on his coat, says “Nice to meet you, Arthur; see you around,” rings for the elevator. Elevator comes. “Hold onto me if you’re still not feeling well,” and he presses the lobby button.

I hold his arm as the car descends. He kisses the top of my head. He’s about six inches taller than I and has put aftershave or men’s cologne on his face though I don’t know where he’d keep it. Not in his pocket. Maybe for men there’s such a thing as overnight cologne packages I’ll call them. More likely the management provided some for the men’s room, but why wouldn’t there also have been some in ours? Maybe there was and someone stole it. Could be he devised his own traveling package. He was always very inventive and liked to smell good. “You all right?” I nod. “Elevator not going too fast? I can slow it down.” I shake my head. “This might seem dopey, but why—” The car stops at the fourteenth but nobody gets on. “Why did you object so strenuously to Sven when he came on with that marriage talk?”

“Because he knows that that’s what mainly broke it up for us: your not wanting to. Even if he was drunk or stoned, and who knows what those two are into these—” The door opens, a guard in the lobby nods to us and Peter salutes him and we head for the door. “I also don’t go for that shoot-from-the-heart crap in a crowd he’s also been into these days.”

“Hold it. About that particular time we’re talking of, it wasn’t so much marriage I didn’t want but that you wanted to have a baby then and at the time I didn’t think I wanted one.”