Lavinia emerged from the cinema wanting to complain, and Hugo attempted to deprive her of the pleasure by being reasonable.
“I can see why you disliked the ending,” he said.
“Can you?”
“It changed the meaning of the earlier scenes.”
“That isn’t why. I disliked the ending because she forgave him while he was still explaining why he hadn’t done anything wrong.”
“I don’t think he was asking to be forgiven.”
“Excellent. An opinion. Keep going.”
He looked at her, then laughed. They stood outside the little afternoon cinema, among people putting on coats and quietly deciding whether they had wasted their money. The film had promised a tender comedy. Lavinia considered the tenderness unproven.
“I thought she forgave him before he knew how to ask,” Hugo said.
“Why does she have to do both jobs?”
“She doesn’t. It wasn’t a duty.”
“The music thought it was.”
That made him…
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