"Oh, what a day, what a day."
        "It's scarcely begun." Cleo smiled down upon her fondly the sweetness she felt melting her.
        "That's what I mean," said Rose. "I have no objections."
        Cleo resettled her elbow. She lifted a long blond lock behind her ear for it fell upon Rose's breast.
        Rose drew a deep breath and with her hands behind her head gazed at the ceiling as though it had been a shrine though she did not believe, she said.
        Her dark hair spread across white batiste and there were little ruffles on the breast of the nightdress she did not wear. Her full lips were dark and smooth. Her brown eyes shone with light reflected from the ivory ceiling, for it was morning.
        It was warm.
        "It will be hot today."
        "What shall we do about it?" Cleo with 1 finger traced Rose's arched brows. She bent to place her lips within hair curling under Rose's arm, let it tickle her lips, let Rose's scent tickle her belly, then touched the crisp hair with her tongue. How the linen smelled of lilac and of lavender and the crocheted cover had been folded back to reveal their limbs clothed solely in the fragrant sheet like draperies for goddesses Cleo mused yet how far beyond goddesses they had come. Neither envy nor powers nor borrowed tricks would grant goddesses what they had. A slow smile spread across Cleo's lips.