Ed reminisces about the end of his affair with Marthe, a beautiful but headstrong younger woman, who has left him to travel the world with her new lover. Ed is trying to recommit himself to his stagnant marriage with Sue, but Marthe's postcards from abroad lead him to wallow in his memories. Sue's well-meaning efforts to rekindle the flames are mired in the past, and can only remind Ed of why he looked elsewhere in the first place. And yet Ed's attraction to Marthe is based on a desire to hold her to his side and create the same long-term intimacy with her. And this is what drives her away. Circles and cycles.