"It鈥檚 just me," my wife said and took away her hand. She watched my face as she spoke. "I saw you go right to her when we came in. I wondered if you were telling her what you saw. It was the only thing I could think of that you could be telling her, but I couldn鈥檛 believe you鈥檇 do it. She said it wasn鈥檛 news to her."

I shook my head.

"She also said we shouldn鈥檛 worry about her," she went on. "She knows who she鈥檚 married to and her husband knows who married to. She looked at me with her smile when she said that, the side of her mouth up, and then she looked at you. You turned around after holding yourself up with the table, and when you saw us together I thought you would fall over backwards. You fled."

But I was not safe. Looking over her shoulder I saw the husband emerge through the doorway, a fresh martini in hand.

"I hear I鈥檓 being investigated," he said, laughing.

He introduced himself. We鈥檇 been introduced several times before, but he either didn鈥檛 remember or assumed we鈥檇 forgotten. He addressed me with a name that was not my name but had the same first letter as my name.

"I appreciate your looking after my wife," he said, "and she has assured me that she understands why you took it upon yourself to tell her what you told her, even though you had never spoken to her for more than a few minutes before tonight, is that correct?"

I nodded.

"But I do not share her understanding of whatever purpose you had in mind. I鈥檓 curious what you were looking for and I鈥檝e asked her, but she says it鈥檚 not up to her to explain. Can you tell me what it is that she understands?"

I didn鈥檛 answer, and if I had wanted to answer I have no idea what I would have said.

"I am sure she told you that we have no secrets in our marriage, maybe a few, but not on this subject," he continued. "But you didn鈥檛 know that when you told her, and you didn鈥檛 know much of anything else about her when you told her, and I can believe that you could never have foreseen that you would reach her the way you did. I鈥檝e seen that look in her eye before, as you can probably imagine, and I know when the pot鈥檚 been stirred. Your wife should be aware that you are on the loose stirring pots, and she should also be aware that your pot鈥檚 been stirred. It鈥檚 only right, don鈥檛 you agree, that she should know what her husband has been up to."

He paused and sipped his drink. My wife looked ahead at neither of us.

"You鈥檙e lucky to come out of this as well as you did," he added. "Other people might not be as understanding as we are, others might feel they owed you some physical damage to get even with you. I suggest you think about what caused you to behave so recklessly and beyond reason. For your own safety you should have some awareness of where your urges might lead you in the future. In the meantime, I want you to know how much my wife appreciates your interest in her. I don鈥檛 know when she鈥檚 had such fun. Good luck with him," he said to my wife and took a step toward her and kissed her on the cheek.