“Nothing surprised Anthony anymore, but loss always moved him; however great or small.” 

For Anthony, people are best defined, and their character is shaped, not by what they have but by what they lose. Everyday objects come to matter most when they are dropped, misplaced, or lost, and people matter most when they slip into memories. 

“Intimacy, both physical and emotional, had always been a disappointment to her.” 

Laura’s low self-esteem comes from a limited experience with love. Save for a scattering of dates, that disappointment is entirely centered on her failed marriage. She comes to see that her decision to reject the possibilities of intimacy may have been premature. 

“But gradually, imperceptibly, infinitesimally she let him be. She let him make a life without her. The trace that lingered, and still remained to this day, was the scent of roses in places where it could not be.” 

Anthony is hardly paralyzed emotionally by the constancy of his bond to his dead lover. For Anthony, the absence of Therese has become a presence. Anthony is haunted gently, suggested by how often he catches the light scent of roses.