Eric sits “naked in his rented garden” (119) beside the Mediterranean Sea. He lives in the south of France with his lover, Yves, but is scheduled to return to New York after being cast in a Broadway show. Eric will travel ahead and then Yves will follow once Eric is settled. Though everything is planned, Eric feels a “sour and savage apprehension” (119). He does not want to leave Europe and is worried what the move will do to his relationship with Yves. However, Yves has insisted that Eric accept the role and that they leave what he describes as a “mausoleum of a country” (120). Yves has a complicated relationship with his mother, who he resents for her sexual relationships with German and American soldiers during World War II. Eric and Yves affirm their love for each other, then Eric wonders which of his friends will be waiting for him in New York and how their lives will have changed. He has fallen out of touch with most people, especially in the wake of Rufus’s death. Eric still remembers the rainy day when he received a letter from Cass, telling him that