What was even more shocking to her than Steven’s mother’s affair was that Anna had cheated on Alexander with Vronsky. This revelation rocked Lolly’s world. When she watched Anna, beside herself with grief, run out onto the field after the horse accident like a lunatic, Anna’s face had shown such fear over Vronsky being hurt, it was like she was possessed. It was like those urban legends of adrenaline-fueled mothers lifting two-thousand-pound vehicles to save their children. Lolly had never seen Anna lose her cool before, and she found it wildly romantic. It wasn’t right what Anna did, cheating on Alexander behind his back, but Lolly understood Anna’s decision to wait until Alexander was better and back at college before she broke it off with him. Lolly knew if she was in a similar position, she might have done the same. Or would she?

Lolly found one day of sitting shivah to be plenty for her. Seeing Dustin’s mom barely holding herself together was too much for Lolly to take for four hours, let alone days on end, as Steven and Anna were doing. She could tell that Steven and Anna had both been in denial about their own troubled lives, and it struck her as sad that it had taken someone’s death for them to reflect upon themselves at all.

XVII

When Vronsky walked out of school, he was surprised to find his mother’s longtime chauffeur, Leonard, sitting on his Ducati parked in the back of his school.

“This is a sweet ride,” Leonard said, as Vronsky walked over to greet him. “How fast does she go?” Leonard had been his mother’s chauffeur since before Vronsky was born and so he felt like family. Vronsky was careful with his words around Leonard though, because he knew his mother paid for Leonard’s loyalty with the signature on his paychecks (she also had paid for Leonard’s children’s college educations).

“From what I hear, easily one-forty,” Vronsky answered with a grin. “But I’ve never gone over the speed limit, personally.”

Leonard laughed heartily and threw his leg over the seat and sat down on the bike. He then told Vronsky his mother wanted to see him, and he was to go to the Pierre Hotel for afternoon tea. Vronsky politely told his mother’s driver he had other plans and asked that Leonard send his apologies to his mother.

“No can do, Mr. Vronsky,” he said. “She’s not asking this time.”

“Fine,” Vronsky said casually, careful not to let his annoyance show. “I’ll go there right now.” He stepped toward his bike, but Leonard made no move to get off.

“You’re supposed to ride with me, or if you’ve got another helmet I’ll ride with you,” Leonard said. “Don’t fight it. You know how she can get.” Leonard carefully stepped off the bike.