 The room was warm and clean. The curtains drawn. The two table lamps are light. Hers and the one by the empty chair opposite. On the sideboard behind her two tall glasses. Soda water. Whiskey. Fresh ice cubes in the thermos bucket. Mary Maloney was waiting for her husband to come home from work. Now and again she would glance up at the clock, but without anxiety merely to please herself with the thought that each minute gone by made it nearer the time when he would come. There was a slow smiling air about her and about everything she did. The drop of the head as she bent over her sewing was curiously tranquil. Her skin, for this was her sixth month with a child, had acquired a wonderful, translucent quality. The mouth was soft and the eyes, with their new, placid look, seemed larger, darker than before. When the clock said ten minutes to five, she began to listen. And a few moments later, punctually as always, she heard the tyres on the gravel outside and the car door slamming, the footsteps passing the window, the key turning in the lock. She laid aside her sewing, stood up and went forward to kiss him as he came in. Hello, darling! she said. Hello! he answered. She took his coat and hung it in the closet. Then she walked over and made the drinks, a strongish one for him, a weak one for herself, and soon she was back again in her chair with the sewing, and he was in the other, opposite, holding the tall glass with both his hands, rocking it so the ice-cubes tinkled against the side. For her, this was always a blissful time of day. She knew he didn't want to speak much until the first drink was finished, and she, on her side, was content to sit quietly, enjoying his company after the long hours alone in the house. She loved to luxuriate in the presence of this man, and to feel, almost as a sun-bather feels the sun, that warm, male glow that came out of him to her when they were alone together. She loved him for the way he sat loosely in a chair, for the way he came in a door, or moved slowly across the room with long strides. She loved the intent, far look in his eyes when they rested on her, the funny shape of the mouth, and especially the way he remained silent about his tiredness, sitting still with himself until the whiskey had taken some of it away. Tired, darling? Sample complete. Ready to continue?