"Fuck you, Olga," Kit said.
"Easy," Stanley said firmly. "We can have a passionate discussion without descending to insults and obscenity."
"Come on, Daddy," Olga said. She was furious, because she had been called mercenary, and she needed to counterattack. "What could be more threatening to the family than one of us who steals from another?"
Kit was red with shame and fury. "I'll tell you," he said.
Miranda knew what was coming. Terrified, she stretched out her arm toward Kit with her hand upright in a Halt sign. "Kit, calm down, please," she said frantically.
He was not listening. "I'll tell you what could be more threatening to the family."
Miranda shouted at him: "Just shut up!"
Stanley realized there was a subtext of which he was ignorant, and he frowned with puzzlement. "What are you two talking about?"
Kit said, "I'm talking about someone-"
Miranda stood up. "No!" -someone who sleeps-"
Miranda snatched up a glass of water and threw it in Kit's face.
There was a sudden hush.
Kit wiped his face with his napkin. With everyone watching him in shocked silence, he said, "… sleeps with her sister's husband."
Olga was bewildered. "This makes no sense. I never slept with Jasper-or Ned."
Miranda held her head in her hånds.
"I didn't mean you," Kit said.
Olga looked at Miranda. Miranda looked away.
Lori, still standing there with the coffeepot, gave a gasp of sudden, shocked comprehension.
Stanley said, "Good God! I never imagined that."
Miranda looked at Ned. He was horrified. He said, "Did you?"
She did not reply.
Olga turned to Hugo. "You and my sister?"
He tried his bad-boy grin. Olga swung her arm and slapped his face. The blow had a solid sound, more like a punch. "Ow!" he cried, and rocked back in his chair.
Olga said, "You lousy, lying…" She searched for words. "You worm. You pig. You bloody bastard, you rotten sod." She turned to Miranda. "And you!"
Miranda could not meet her eye. She looked down at the table. A small cup of coffee was in front of her. The cup was fine white china with a blue stripe, Mamma's favorite set.
"How could you?" Olga said to her. "How could you?"
Miranda would try to explain, one day; but anything she said now would sound like an excuse. So she just shook her head.
Olga stood up and walked out of the room.
Hugo looked sheepish. "I'd better…" He followed her.
Stanley suddenly realized that Lori was standing there listening to every word. Belatedly, he said, "Lori, you'd better help Luke in the kitchen."
She started as if awakened. "Yes, Professor Oxenford."
Stanley looked at Kit. "That was brutal." Anger made his voice shake.
"Oh, that's right, blame me," Kit said petulantly. "I didn't sleep with Hugo, did I?" He threw down his napkin and left.
Ned was mortified. "Um, excuse me," he said, and he went out.
Only Miranda and her father were left in the room. Stanley got up and came to her side. He put his hånd on her shoulder. "They'll all calm down about it, eventually," he said. "This is bad, but it will pass."
She turned to him and pressed her face into the soft tweed of his waistcoat. "Oh, Daddy, I'm sorry," she said, and she began to cry.
9:30 PM
THE weather was getting worse. Toni's drive to the old folks' home had been protracted, but the return journey was even slower. There was a thin layer of snow on the road, beaten hard by car tires, frozen too solid to turn into slush. Nervous drivers went at a crawl, delaying everyone else. Toni's red Porsche Boxster was the perfect car for overtaking sluggards, but it was not at its best in slippery conditions, and there was little she could do to shorten her journey.
Mother sat contentedly beside her, wearing a green wool coat and a felt hat. She was not in the least angry with Bella. Toni was disappointed by this, and was ashamed of feeling so. Deep inside, she wanted Mother to be furious with Bella, as Toni herself had been. It would have vindicated her. But Mother seemed to think it was Toni's fault she had been kept waiting so long. Toni had said irritably, "You do realize that Bella was supposed to pick you up hours ago."
"Yes, dear, but your sister's got a family to take care of."
"And I've got a responsible job."
"I know, it's your substitute for children."
"So it's okay for Bella to let you down, but not for me."
"That's right, dear."
Toni tried to follow Mother's example and be magnanimous. But she kept thinking of her friends at the spa, sitting in the Jacuzzi, or acting charades, or drinking coffee by a big log fire. Charles and Damien would become more hilariously camp as the evening progressed and they relaxed. Michael would tell stories about his Irish mother, a legendary spitfire in her hometown of Liverpool. Bonnie would reminisce about college days, the scrapes she and Toni had got into as the only two females in an engineering department of three hundred students. They would all be having so much fun, while Toni drove through the snow with her mother.
She told herself to stop being pathetic. I'm a grown-up, she thought, and grown-ups have responsibilities. Besides, Mother might not be alive for many more years, so I should enjoy having her with me while I can.
She found it harder to look on the bright side when she thought about Stanley. She had felt so close to him this morning, and now the gulf between them was bigger than the Grand Canyon. She asked herself constantly whether she had pushed him too hard. Had she made him choose between his family and her? Perhaps if she had backed off he would not have felt forced into a decision. But she had not exactly thrown herself at him, and a woman had to give a man a little encouragement, otherwise he might never speak at all.
There was no point in regrets, she told herself. She had lost him, and that was that.
Up ahead she saw the lights of a petrol station. "Do you need the loilet, Mother?" she said.
"Yes, please."
Toni slowed down and pulled onto the forecourt. She topped up her tank, then took her mother inside. Mother went to the ladies' room while Toni paid. As Toni returned to the car, her mobile phone rang. Thinking it might be the Kremlin calling, she snatched the phone up hurriedly. "Toni Gallo."
"This is Stanley Oxenford."
"Oh." She was taken aback. She had not been expecting this.
"Perhaps I'm phoning at an inconvenient time," he said politely.
"No, no, no," she said quickly, sliding behind the wheel. "I imagined the call was from the Kremlin, and I was worried that something might have gone wrong there." She closed the car door.
"Everything's fine, as far as I know. How's your spa?"
"I'm not there." She told him what had happened.
"How terribly disappointing," he said.
Her heart was beating faster, for no very good reason. "What about you-is everything all right?" She was wondering why he had phoned. At the same time, she watched the brightly lit pay booth. It would be a while before her mother emerged.
"Family dinner ended in an upset. It's not exactly unknown-we do have rows sometimes."
"What was it about?"
"I probably shouldn't tell you."
Then why have you phoned me? she thought. It was extraordinary for Stanley to make a pointless call. He was usually so focused that she sensed he had in front of him a list of topics he needed to cover.
"In brief, Kit revealed that Miranda had slept with Hugo-her sister's husband."
"Good God!" Toni pictured each of them: handsome, malicious Kit; plump, pretty Miranda; Hugo, a pint-size charmer; and the formidable Olga. It was a ripe tale, but what was more surprising was that Stanley should repeat it to her, Toni. Once again, he was treating her as if they were intimate friends. But she mistrusted that impression. If she allowed her hopes to rise, he would crush her again. All the same, she did not want to end the conversation. "How do you feel about it?" she said.