Joan dropped her head. She was so stupid. So incredibly stupid not to see what had really been going on. But it was hard to admit just how low your own sister could go. Joan’s own moral code had felt so innate as to be genetic, intrinsic to the DNA they both shared. And perhaps that’s why, until now, she had been unable to see just how little they had in common. “What kind of meetings?” Joan said finally.

“What?”

“What kind of meetings does he have in London, Barbara?”

Barbara looked away. “They are transferring him there. In the spring.”

Joan shook her head and then closed her eyes. She stared at darkness and then opened her eyes and her mouth at the same time. “Please tell me you’re making this up.”

“I’m not.”

“What is your plan?”

“I don’t know.”

“I will not let you abandon her. What is your plan?”

“She’s at boarding school, Joan. For crying out loud, no one has abandoned her.”

“She’s crying. Alone up there. She thinks no one loves her.”

Barbara shook her head in her hands. “Of course I love her.” She began to howl in tears.

“If you love your daughter, then you need to show her. By taking care of her,” Joan said. “There is no other option.”

Barbara stood up and snapped, “It’s not that simple!”

“Yes, it is!”

“It’s not! I’ve been doing it on my own since I was twenty years old, and I’m sick of being treated like some sort of screwup because I’m trying to create a life out of this mess!”

“She’s not a mess! Stop talking about her like that!”

“She’s my daughter, I can say anything I like about her!”

“I’m not sure you ever deserved her, you know that? I’ve tried to avoid thinking that for years, but I don’t know what other conclusion to draw anymore. She deserves better than you give her.”

“Then take her!” Barbara said. “You think you’re so fucking smart, Joan. Oh, the mom you’d be! If only you had a love life or a man interested in you enough to give you a child. Please. You take care of her. The two of you would probably love that.”

“Barbara, don’t say things like that. This is not a game.”

But it was a game, wasn’t it? And Barbara had been winning for a very, very long time.

“I mean it!” Barbara said. “She has never liked me as much as she likes you. The two of you, with your special bond. You can have each other, as far as I’m concerned. You can go be happy together, without me to look down on.”

“She doesn’t look down on you. She worships you.”