“What?” She laughed. “I didn’t go to New York, Henry. Are you an idiot?”

“Max said you got on the train. He said he saw you.”

“I didn’t get on the train,” she cried, and he took her shoulders and begged her to be quiet. She wouldn’t. “I got on, I got off. How could you not know what I was doing?”

“Alma, please, please be quiet.”

She dropped her voice, finally. “How could you not know? Honestly, Henry, how dumb are you?”

“I thought you’d gone.”

“Well, I didn’t go. I’m here.”

“Alma”—he squeezed her shoulders—“Alma, I’m sorry,” and he felt her shoulders relax.

“It’s all right,” she whispered, and brought her hands to his stomach. “You’re dumb, but it’s all right. I’m here. I didn’t leave.”

“Alma.”

“You can’t go like this.” She felt the waist of his pajama bottoms. “Can you change? Or we can find you something at the house. A clown suit, maybe.”

“Alma,” he said, “I can’t go with you.”

She stiffened. He braced for her to strike him, or worse, to scream, but she did nothing.

“Alma—I’m sorry.”

She stepped back away from him. “I knew it. I knew it before the sun came up.”

“Please understand. I wanted to, I really—”

“Did you change your mind?”

“No,” he said, “it’s not like that. Alma, please. I thought you’d gone, and then Effie and me…” But it would be impossible to explain last night to her, and where he and Effie stood now. He couldn’t explain it to himself. At some point, he supposed, she would hear from Max some version of what had happened, and she’d draw her own conclusions about him. He was glad he couldn’t see her face. “I can’t go with you,” he said. “You know I can’t. We weren’t thinking straight. We let ourselves get carried away.”

“Was this all just a joke to you?” she said.

“No—Alma—of course not. It meant everything to me.”

“Have you been toying with me?”

“How can you ask me that?” He stepped forward and took her shoulders again, and she let him. She felt weak in his hands, as if she’d fall over if he let her go.

“You told me you loved me,” she said.

“I do love you.”

“You told me you loved me and you wanted to be with me.”

“I do, Alma.”

“No, you don’t. You’ve had your way with me, and now you’re done with me.”