ATDTDA (9): Married and married, 267

[Paul Nightingale]

She has her back to him, "feeling no need to turn to exchange a look". The
scene fades as, presumably, they are about to have sex: if "that thing" =
penis (?) she is the initiator here.

The first paragraph concludes with: ". communicating by way of her
unexpectedly articulate ass". Why "unexpectedly"? There then follows a brief
dialogue passage marked by the juxtaposition of "married" to "respectably
married". Deuce has in mind the situation they are in, at this moment in
time. Earlier, he "respect[ed] her wish that they not fuck until after the
wedding" (263). What Lake has in mind, possibly, is the opprobrium their
relationship has attracted, raising the possibility that (she thinks) they
will never be accepted. Any discussion that might have taken place here is
cut short, by Lake the "virgin bride". There is no ambiguity surrounding
Deuce's sexual cv; so does "unexpectedly articulate ass" refer to what he
had expected Lake to be like?