She’d had a go at putting herself together;
she had always had the confidence that,
with a face like hers, a few touches
to represent the idea of a put-together look
would do, like some set designer’s genius
minimalism. It had a slightly harridan effect
and he remembered that it wasn’t what was
headlong or slapdash about her, but the way
they gestured, like a quotation, at an understanding
of elegance it would have been boring to spell out,
that had at first dazzled him about her.
He felt himself stirring at this recognition,
and at a certain memory that attended it,
and then laughed at the thought that he had
actually stimulated himself with an analysis
of her style."
