Marc and Alice went into a resturant. The maitre d' recommended them to take a table
next to the window where they could see the bay. However, Marc rejected it, because his ex
wife was siting near the table they were recommended.
Marc told Alice, without hesitationthe, the reason why he didn't want to take the table.
Alice looked at her husband's ex wife from behind some broad-brimed beach hats. She was
wearing a white dress and smoking alone. The color of her eyes is the same as Alice's.
He kissed her hand and she felt extremely happiness.
They behaved as if Marc's ex wife didn't exist in the restaurant for a while, but they were both conscious of
her being.
Marc suggested that they have coffee somewhere else. Alice doesn't think it was a good idea.
She told that his ex wife must be uncomfortable. However, his ex wife didn't look so.
He said his ex wife hadn't been happy with him.
Comparing with his ex wife, Alice was easy to deal with by him, because, for example, he could find her love
towards him in her eyes, she indulged him.
His ex wife was difficult.
Being alone, she looked satisfied and relaxed.
Alice looked her husband's face, ruddy and regular.
She thought what more his ex wife wanted from him alothough she was satisfied with him.
When they were leaving, Alice kept looking at the woman in white with envy and curiosity.
She thought his ex wife was difficult, but superior.

夫の前の妻はちっとも彼に満足できなかったのに、満ち足りているアリスは前の妻よりつまらない女なんでしょうかね。
二人の幸福の絶頂はこのレストランの出来事を境に変化するんでしょうね。
自宅の勉強会で以前読みましたが、今読んでも、面白いと感じました。

Marc and Alice, a married couple, were going to have lunch on shipboard. Marc chose a table set far from the window though Alice wanted to sit next to the window and complained about his act.
Actually there was his ex-wife near the window, and he was reluctant to set close to her, he ended up telling that to Alice. He also told the reason for thier divorce was "imcompatibility."
His ex-wife was a woman with blue eyes just like Alice. Alice was uneasy about his ex-wife and blamed him for not having told about her eye-color ever. So he replied he'd never thought about it and kissed her hand. And, while waiting for coffee, he suggested going out if she be uncomfortable with his ex-wife. Then she said it was her that must be uncomfortable though she didn't seem so. He said she was just like that and started to talk about the real reason for thier divorce, which was not caused by imcompatibility but wife's unsatisfaction --- he said she was just difficult. Also he told her how much he was satisfied with Alice, his present wife. But that made her irritated. She began to have some kind of envious and curious feeling for his ex-wife, the woman of dissatisfaction, difficulty, superiority...

なんか相変わらずうまくまとまりませんが…。
今回は一番乗りかと思ったら…違った（＞＜）

It was supposed to be a nice lunch for Marc and Alice when they entered a restaurant. However the atmosphere completely changed when Marc recognized his ex-wife sitting by the window. Naturally enough Alice gazed the woman with great interest.
At first Alice had a kind of superior feeling over her as she is now Marc's wife, but became uncomfortable when she noticed the ex-wife had same blue eyes as her. Marc never mentioned about it before. While eating and drinking Alice tried to be ostentatious, and Marc tried not to be conspicuous on the other hand.
After lunch they had to wait quite some time for coffee. Marc asked Alice if she was uncomfortable because of the ex-wife's existence near by. This careless question irritated Alice somehow. Her irritation got to the peak when Marc told her the reason of the divorce. It was not incompatibility but the ex-wife's dissatisfaction. Mark also mentioned that he and Alice were very satisfied with each other. Alice was wondering what more the ex-wife wanted from Marc.
Was the ex-wife too difficult for Marc ? Doesn't it mean Alice is easy ?
When they were leaving the restaurant, the question in her mind made Alice keep looking with envy and curiosity, at the woman in white, smoking, dissatisfied, difficult, and somehow superior.....

Alice and Marc, a happily married couple, went to a restaurant by the sea. It happened that Marc’s ex-wife was there by herself. Marc and she divorced only fifteen months ago. Marc and Alice tried to pretend that they were not uncomfortable. They ate and drank heartily, but actually they felt uncomfortable and behaved unnaturally. On the other hand, the ex-wife, the woman in white, did not seem to be bothered and looked really relaxed.

Marc told Alice that his ex-wife was never happy with him and he did not know how to make her happy. He also said that the way Alice shows him how much she loves him and how happy she is with him makes him proud and happy. Alice cast brief glances at the woman in white. Until that moment she had never doubted about her perfect happiness and her love toward her husband, but she started looking closely at his face and wondering, for the first time, why the woman was not satisfied with him and what more she wanted from him.

Alice thought that the woman was dissatisfied with the man whom she is now satisfied with, and wondered if the woman knows something she does not know, or if the woman is somehow superior to her.

またまた遅くなってすいません。反省・・・

Marc and Alice is nice married couple. They were at the restaurant to eat lunch.
She'd rather sit by the window with the beautiful ocean view. But he denied it.
They ordered lunch and he confessed honestly to her why he kept distance from the window. Alice, at first, didn't think it was big deal whether they took the seats by his ex-wife.
But Alice was watching the woman in white, she was upset why Marc didn't tell her his ex-wife had blue eyes too. They ate and drank, forgot about the woman for a while. They waited quite a long time for their coffee quietly.
His ex-wife was still there, for Alice, she looked so satisfied and happily. Marc was married with this woman fifteen months ago, they divorced by incompatibility, that what Marc said. Alice wondered why she left him and what more she wanted from him. Still Alice kept looking at her as they were leaving the restaurant with envy and curiosity.