"Oh yeah, that's just what the Compsons need. Abandonment. It'd really complete the picture, wouldn't it?" But no, Jason thinks, Swann doesn't understand it. Jason himself doesn't understand it most days, when he gets up out of bed disappointed that the house didn't burn down in his sleep. "There's a lot of things that motivate people besides love. You know that. You reported on it plenty."

He makes a sound that's almost like a laugh, but dryer, and kind of sad. Like the remains of life in a pressed flower. He watches Swann, not lustful, not hungry, but maybe some echo of amused by the way she stripped out all that syrup from her voice.

"Okay. You always call her by her first name?"