the major secret that you must know. Correct me, Gran Maestro, if I fall into error.”
“Proceed to reveal,” the Gran Maestro said.
“I proceed to reveal,” the Colonel said. “Listen carefully daughter. This is the Supreme Secret. Listen. ‘Love is love and fun is fun. But it is always so quiet when the gold fish die.’”
“It has been revealed,” the Gran Maestro said.
“I am very proud and happy to be a member of the Order,” the girl said. “But it is, in a way, a rather rough order.”
“It is indeed,” the Colonel said. “And now, Gran Maestro, what do we actually eat; without mysteries?”
“Some crab enchillada, in the style of this town, but cold, first. Served in the shell. Then sole for you, and for my lady a mixed grill. What vegetables?”
“Whatever you have,” the Colonel said.
The Gran Maestro was gone and the Colonel looked at the girl and then at the Grand Canal outside the window, and he saw the magic spots and changes of light that were even here, in the end of the bar, which had now by skillful handling been made into a dining room, and he said, “Did I tell you, daughter, that I love you?”
“You haven’t told me for quite a long time. But I love you.”
“What happens to people that love each other?”
“I suppose they have whatever they have, and they are more fortunate than others. Then one of them gets the emptiness forever.”
