She knows to lay the napkin over her knees before starting to eat, knows to dab her mouth on it before taking a drink, knows to angle the soup plate away from herself, not to put her elbows on the table and not to cut the potatoes with her knife. With all her fears, her hopes, everything that can’t be foreseen and that she doesn’t want to foresee, it helps that she knows that knife and fork should be laid down on the right of the plate, side by side, to indicate that she has finished with them. Face-to-face with the man sitting opposite — a great happiness, a great unhappiness, and a question mark — she appreciates that this is the beginning of her life, for which everything so far has been mere preparation.