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dark?”
    The afternoon had turned to dusk, and she looked down at the sweater in her lap and she had not touched it. Where had the day gone? Where had her mind been? After that, Anna had other similar experiences, and she began to wonder whether this sliding away into nothingness was a portent, an omen that she was going to die. She did not think she was afraid of death, but she could not bear the thought of leaving Walther.
    Four weeks before the baby was due, Anna lapsedinto one of her daydreams, missed a step and fell down an entire flight of stairs.
    She awakened in the hospital.
    Walther was seated on the edge of the bed, holding her hand. “You gave me a terrible scare.”
    In a sudden panic she thought, The baby! I can’t feel the baby. She reached down. Her stomach was flat. “Where is my baby?”
    And Walther held her close and hugged her.
    The doctor said, “You had twins, Mrs. Gassner.”
    Anna turned to Walther, and his eyes were filled with tears. “A boy and girl, liebchen.”
    And she could have died right then of happiness. She felt a sudden, irresistible longing to have them in her arms. She had to see them, feel them, hold them.
    “We’ll talk about that when you’re stronger,” the doctor said. “Not until you’re stronger.”
    They assured Anna that she was getting better every day, but she was becoming frightened. Something was happening to her that she did not understand. Walther would arrive and take her hand and say good-bye, and she would look at him in surprise and start to say, “But you just got here…” And then she would see the clock, and three or four hours would have passed.
    She had no idea where they had gone.
    She had a vague recollection that they had brought the children to her in the night and that she had fallen asleep. She could not remember too clearly, and she was afraid to ask. It did not matter. She would have them to herself when Walther took her home.
    The wonderful day finally arrived. Anna left her hospital room in a wheelchair, even though she insisted she was strong enough to walk. She actually felt very weak, but she was so excited that nothing mattered except the fact that she was going to see her babies. Walther carried her into the house, and he started to take her upstairs to their bedroom.
    “No, no!” she said. “Take me to the nursery.”
    “You must rest now, darling. You’re not strong enough to—”
    She did not listen to the rest of what he was saying. She slipped out of his arms and ran into the nursery.
    The blinds were drawn and the room was dark and it took Anna’s eyes a moment to adjust. She was filled with such excitement that it made her dizzy. She was afraid she was going to faint.
    Walther had come in behind her. He was talking to her, trying to explain something, but whatever it was was unimportant.
    For there they were. They were both asleep in their cribs, and Anna moved toward them softly, so as not to disturb them, and stood there, staring down at them. They were the most beautiful children she had ever seen. Even now, she could see that the boy would have Walther’s handsome features and his thick blond hair. The girl was like an exquisite doll, with soft, golden hair and a small, triangular face.
    Anna turned to Walther and said, her voice choked, “They’re beautiful. I—I’m so happy.”
    “Come, Anna,” Walther whispered. He put his arms around Anna, and held her close, and there was a fierce hunger in him, and she began to feel a stirring within her. They had not made love forsuch a long time. Walther was right There would be plenty of time for the children later.
    The boy she named Peter and the girl Birgitta. They were two beautiful miracles that she and Walther had made, and Anna would spend hour after hour in the nursery, playing with them, talking to them. Even though they could not understand her yet, she knew they could feel her love. Sometimes, in the middle of play, she would turn and Walther would be