Reaction to Madame Lazarus

When I first read the title of the story I thought it had to do with an old lady. I know Madame means madam but I don't know of what age, young or old, exactly. When I also first read the story I thought the narrator was a woman because she was describing her partner as a male named James. And he mentioned that James was way younger than him. But then when the narrator said that he had an ex wife then that probably meant the narrator was a male. But maybe he/she was a female. Who knows. But I'm only kidding. I think there's already a hint that the narrator was a male when he said that his father always had an upset looking face when he saw him with his guy friend in his house when he was younger. I kind of found it funny how he described the dog falling and his leg sticked up all of sudden but it shouldn't be funny because it must be a sad thing. Without knowing, the narrator actually depended on the little dog. And I've realized that so did Desi, the housekeeper. He wanted Desi to stay because obviously James is never there for him. He's always out doing work business but that way he acts towards the narrator makes me think he doesn't care for him anymore.