A half-hour later, she rang the bell, and I led her into my bedroom. Her hair was hidden under a dark kerchief, and the powder she had spread over her face failed to camouflage her swollen nose. Her breath had a strong odour of mint and cheap wine. Paula had been so beautiful that it never occurred to me she could one day cease completely to be so - there was something in her face that would resist everything. And suddenly, you could see; like everyone else's, it was made of spongy flesh - more than eighty per cent water. She pulled off her kerchief and sank down on the couch.