Later she was told by her brother that their father had decided she was to remain in the city, grounded indefinitely. Her dogs were sent for and she would miss her horses, but she was happy to be living in the same house with Steven again. And at least her dogs treated her exactly the same, even though she wasn’t allowed to walk them. The day after they got back, their mother called Steven and Anna into her bedroom and told them she and her father had decided to take some time apart. For now she’d be living in Greenwich while he stayed in the city with them. When Anna inquired if this was because of her, her mother said that hers wasn’t the only life imploding. All she would say was Maine had not gone well. Their trial separation was decided before they learned of their daughter’s downfall. “Obviously,” she pointed out, “your bullshit isn’t helping.”

“Are you getting divorced?” Steven asked.

“I don’t know,” was her response.

Dustin was now paid double to tutor both Steven and Anna with their schoolwork, but Lolly was no longer allowed to come over and sit with them. She didn’t take it personally, as she was busy after school every day with rehearsals. Each private school in the city had been asked to select one musical number from their school play to be performed at a large end-of-year concert at Lincoln Center. The proceeds from ticket sales would go to charity. Lolly was the student chosen to represent Spence, as she had played Eliza in her school’s all-female production of Hamilton. She would soon be making her Lincoln Center debut in front of a thousand people who’d paid five hundred dollars a ticket to fund arts education for the city’s underprivileged youth.