“No? Oh....” She is fearfully embarrassed. She feels a little angry. “Of course I didn’t know. You didn’t tell me. How should I know?”
“But of course I thought—— Why do you suppose she didn’t tell you? I thought you were the first one she told. I’m so sorry. I’d better——”
“You’d better tell me about it,” says Barbara. “She didn’t really have a chance, the last time I saw her. My sister had lunch with us and went down to the station too.”
“Sure, that explains it. Why, it was this way. We went up to the cottage in June, and she went to Bedford after that. We came to an agreement after we left the city; I don’t know just when. It took a long time. We changed our minds a lot.”
“I should think so,” she murmurs.
“Well,” you go on, “it’s been three months anyway, off and on. I guess we’ve just been really separated for a couple of weeks. It seems longer because of that adjustment period. She can do what she likes about the divorce; I’ve left it up to her. I told her to do what she thought best. Emma knows how to go about business and all that. Of course I’ll agree to anything.”
“You mean you’ve definitely decided——” Her voice is incredulous.
“Nothing’s definite. But if you mean is it all over, yes. We agree on that, absolutely. Are you really so surprised?”
She thinks about it for a minute. “No,” she decides, “not really. I noticed something. That night you had the party before we all went to the beach, I knew there was something wrong. But I had no idea.... Do you mind talking about it? Some people might.”
Shake your head and laugh. “Certainly not. It hasn’t been particularly painful, you see. You’re one of the family anyway. Why should I mind?”