Page 40 of Wife After Wife
A vital breath of more ethereal air.”
Katie looked at him in surprise. “Oh, that was beautiful!”
“Longfellow. It goes a bit bonkers at the end, but it’s one of my favorites.”
“Are you a fan of poetry?”
“Had it drummed into me at school. But yes. Your Harry was good at it—he wrote it too. Wasn’t half-bad.”
“He can be pretty creative.”
“Would you like to know a secret?”
Katie wondered what on earth this person she hardly knew was about to share. “I don’t know, would I?”
“I had a big crush on your husband at school. I decided I was the only one who understood him.”
“Oh. I see! Well, I had a crush on a girl. Letty Anders. Long golden hair. That’s single-sex schools for you.”
“Indeed,” said Will, and they were quiet again.
A fat raindrop plopped into Katie’s lap, making a dark blot on thesilk, and they looked up at the sky just as lightning flashed over to the north, silhouetting the tall Tudor chimneys. There was a distant rumble.
“Looks like our time’s up,” said Will.
They were just getting up to go, Will gallantly offering his arm, when the sound of someone yelling reached them. It seemed to be coming from the maze, which was a short distance away.
“Too funny,” said Will. “Someone’s lost in the maze and there’s going to be a thunderstorm.”
“Surely the maze is out of bounds?” said Katie.
“Wouldn’t you have? When you were a bright young thing?”
“That stage seemed to pass me by.”
The yelling came again. It was a woman’s voice.
“Perhaps we should investigate?” said Katie as more raindrops smacked into the path.
But a maze rescue wasn’t necessary. Cassandra appeared out of its entrance at a run, closely followed by Charles, who was calling to her to stop. Finally, Megan appeared behind them.
“Oh no,” said Katie. “Cassandra!”
“Stop her, Katie!” called Charles. “There’s been a misunderstanding!”
Katie moved to block Cassandra’s path. She didn’t want her friend making an exhibition of herself inside the marquee.
The gravel hurt her feet.
“Katie, be careful,” called Will.
Cassandra ground to a halt and turned on Charles, who had quickly caught up. Behind them, Megan slowed to a walk.
“You BASTARD!” Cassandra shrieked.
“Calm down, Cassandra, for god’s sake,” said Charles. “We were just fooling around in the maze.”
“Fooling around? FOOLING AROUND? You werekissing! BASTARD!” She swayed, and Katie reached out to steady her.
