Arriving back in Rome after a business trip, Gilles contacts Lorraine and they make hasty love in the open among the ruins. Agreeing to meet again that evening at a rooftop restaurant, Gilles is hopelessly distracted by a voice he hears at another table. It is Laura, a married woman he had a passionate affair with, and he tells Lorraine the whole story, from first joyous encounter to her final suicide attempt. While Lorraine has no desire to hear all the details, she reluctantly lets Gilles get his memories out of his system. After the meal, though he is exhausted by the recalled emotion, she joins him in his bedroom.
