"Why does it matter how this has happened?" Anita asks. "Why can't you just accept it. Come to bed, Asher. Please."

Suddenly, her lips begin to move, and she speaks in fluent, flawless French, and barely understands a word of it.

"My goldfinch, come to bed. Accept what she offers. Come and be with us -- with me and cease worrying about the tomorrow. It is not pity that moves me to agree with her, but love. It is an opportunity we have been waiting for, a chance to love without hiding it from her, a chance for us--"