“What good is that?” she said. “Any man could be devoted to me. I have everything to offer. I don’t need you to tell me that. The question is—what do I get with you?”

His mouth hung open. It seemed impossible to answer. “Baby. You have my love. My loyalty—from this day forward, baby, I swear. You have…”

“One thousand acres,” she said. “That’s the only sure thing I can think of. One thousand acres of land—that’ll be ours someday. With that, and Daddy’s business, we’ll have a fortune. We’ll be secure, for our children. Everything else is bullshit.”

For a moment he was speechless again. He only wanted to hold her. “Does this mean you’ll stay?”

Fifteen

They would stay a few more days in Cape May. Until Effie made up her mind. Before they went home, she said, she wanted things to be settled, one way or another. If Uncle George came, so be it: they’d move to a hotel, or they’d go home. She put the sheets back on the bed in the attic room, but she didn’t want him to share it with her. It wasn’t a punishment, she said, it was only that the thought of him touching her made her sick to her stomach. He took the room with the rose-patterned wallpaper, where they’d made love the first time.

He woke late on Sunday and she was gone, but soon she returned, in a nice blue dress and overcoat and white stockings, carrying a bag of groceries. She’d gone to church. She’d bought a few things for supper. She’d called her parents, and suggested he do the same. As soon as she’d unpacked the groceries, she changed into a sundress and sweater and went out again.

That evening, after a quiet supper of chicken and rice, she went to bed early, and Henry stayed up drinking gin, from the new bottle they’d bought before moving over to Clara’s. He got drunk and talked out loud to himself. A grand confession, a vow for the future. There would forever be a shadow over their marriage, he admitted to himself, but maybe all of this would enrich it somehow. It was a trial, which over time would deepen their love. He repeated this point over and over again, as if Effie were sitting in the empty wicker chair beside him.