The dining room, which had been a sanctuary of silence and stolen touches for the last four days, was now filled with the booming, jovial voice of the intruder.

The overhead tube light was buzzing—a harsh, clinical white light that washed out the romantic shadows they had been living in. The air conditioning was still humming, but now it was competing with the clatter of silverware and the slurping sounds of a man eating with the ravenous hunger of a traveler.