From now on Henry kept on the look-out. He would wait expectantly in the living-room every Thursday afternoon, but the man never returned on that day. Once, returning home fairly late, and when it was dark, he thought he saw the same gray sports-car in the driveway, but could not be sure. He glanced nervously at the woman’s house and it was in darkness except for a bedroom upstairs which stood out in shameless nakedness amidst the other windows of darkness, the curtains undrawn. He rushed upstairs to the corresponding bedroom-window and stared across. Nothing. The window afforded him no view of the room’s interior. No view of the bed. He stood on tip-toe, he strained his neck, he looked from all angles and bedroom-windows, but had to give up. He was so disappointed. But then perhaps it meant nothing. Perhaps that man was not there. It did not have to be that.
He did see the man again though. On a Saturday afternoon. The husband was home because, on looking out of the window in the morning, there was the extra car. When he looked again later in the day, another car stood outside the house. The gray sports-car. He wondered what it could mean. Was this the great confrontation, the moment the husband faced his wife and her lover? He soon found out. The man – again wearing that leather-jacket – came out of the house and, instead of getting into his car, came towards Henry’s house. Henry was not scared this time, for it was Saturday afternoon and there were a lot of people around, cleaning their cars and mowing their lawns. The man rang the bell. Henry answered and once more experienced the man’s strange stare as he looked at Henry rather darkly and threateningly, slightly hooding his eyes. He offered Henry a card, and started talking about double-glazing. Henry told him they had already had it done. The man left and Henry closed the door. Now he remembered. He had seen the man in the street a few times, usually when there was a small black van with the words 'Double Glazing’ painted upon it parked outside a house. So the wife was having it off with one of the workmen: the lady of the manor and the gardener all over again. He might be his own boss, but he was still definitely a cut below her. He was taller than Henry had expected, his face gaunt and unshaven, menacing.
The husband obviously knew nothing. They had just been discussing the double-glazing to be done. But why had the man come to his house? Another warning? The man’s eyes had told him he still remembered. Or perhaps he was just looking for extra work, and did not care whether Henry knew or not.
Henry saw her a couple of times too. One night, returning home late after spending the whole evening trying to drink his troubles away, he saw her from his car walking up another road on the housing estate, a bulky, ungainly fur-coat wrapped around her; it made her look stouter than ever. As she huddled herself up against the cold night-air, he caught a glimpse of the bad-tempered expression in her face and eyes. Where was she going? Just for a walk? But then why would she be so annoyed at being out at such an unpleasant hour? It could be a midnight-assignation somewhere. A hot tremor passed through his body, his legs going weak. He ached for her. He started fiddling with his groin-area again.
Early one morning, going to work, he caught another hurried close glimpse of her. He had turned a corner and there she was, swiveling round to look at his car as she walked down the road. He was past her in a flash, but their eyes had met. He was shocked at first. She was much older than he had thought – or at least looked older. Her face was somewhat lined, the powder making it look patchy and rough, and her lips were held down in a frown, her cheeks drooping also. Her blonde hair seemed shorter and messier. Once again she was dressed in that bulky fur-coat, closing it tightly around her neck with one hand. She looked like an aging vamp. And yet, despite all this, he was stirred and intrigued by her. Her eyes had widened on meeting his, her lips had opened, and she had watched him with a devouring interest. But he could not catch a proper glimpse of her again before having to turn the next corner, although he strained to see her in the rear-mirror.
That was all that happened: the woman and the man were having an affair, but the time and place could be anytime and anywhere. The only thing he really knew was that he would dearly like to make love to her himself.