How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph), with the exception of Part V, which runs (Part#. "Short Title". Paragraph). Part V has no numbered chapters—only title headings.
Quote #10
He realized he was only a hairsbreadth away from the bursting into laughter. But he knew that if he did, they would no longer be able to make love. Laughter was there like an enormous trap waiting patiently in the room, hidden behind a thin, invisible partition. Only a few millimeters separated physical love from laughter, and he dreaded crossing over them. (VII.9.3)
Jan, like Petrarch before him in this work, understands love to be a very serious state of being. If something like joking or laughter makes its way into a relationship, he knows he'll just have to end it because there will be no more solemn purpose or meaning to his actions in love. He knows this especially well because he's come close to blowing a perfectly good affair with a married woman by giving in to her smile. One small step toward laughter, and the mood would have been gone.