Summary

Though John Andros was only 38, he felt old. Sometimes his two-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Ede, could make him feel better. He liked hearing her voice over the phone when he was at work. He did not, however, always feel this way about her. Her birth had interrupted his "rather intense love-affair with his wife" (62). She was also the reason they lived in the country, and he had to commute by train to work. When John did take comfort in Ede's presence, it was for brief intervals. Her smell, and the softness of her skin and hair was pleasing. Yet her boisterousness "irritated him" (62).

On this particular afternoon, Ede was "going to a baby party" (62). She and her mother, Edith, had called his office earlier to request his presence at the Markeys' after he finished work. John thought the party seemed amusing, and felt excited by...