|
As the loud shriek of the whistle, the slight jerk forward and the muffled "chug..., chug..., chug..." told him the train was leaving Milan, next stop Vienna, he saw her, beautiful in her red dress which showed off the long, shapely legs of her tall, slender frame, walking down the aisle and looking for a seat he hoped would be next to his, which it was, and they talked the whole night, he loving the Teutonic inflection of her voice, about symphonies, art, and architecture until the mid morning when the train pulled into the Austrian capital and she told him she would take him to the museum but first she must stop by her apartment to drop her bags and freshen up, though they never left her apartment or saw the paintings and, although he did not tell her he was married, she sent a gift home to his wife in America who, upon discovering she would have a periodic irritating rash for the rest of her life, became angry, but did not divorce him, although she told him he was never going to Europe again but could study art well enough at the library of the university where he still teaches, even today.
|
