Lilian thought of her visit with Aunt Tizzy and how leaving the cottage had disturbed the frail equilibrium she’d found. I don’t want to leave the children, she said. Or Gilbert.

Anna can look after the children. And Gilbert — will he even know? Dolly found this clinic business rather ridiculous.

Of course he will. I visit him every day.

I’m worried about you, Dolly Vernon said. She examined her fingernails, then her rings. If you just had a little break …

It has been a long winter, Lilian admitted.

You poor dear, said Dolly.

I meant for Gilbert’s sake, she said.

Of course, said Dolly, hissing as she inhaled. You know I love him, but honestly. Lilian, he should snap out of it by now. It’s all in his head, you know. To her, this was proof that nothing was wrong.

Yes, that’s what the doctors say. Lilian heard the children in the kitchen playing a rhyming game.

So? Dolly’s eyes were wide.

So it’s his spirits they’re trying to give a boost to, Lilian said.

So give him a martini and be done with it! Look, Gilbert is perfectly sane. Why, he’s one of the nicest, sanest men you’ll ever meet.

I suppose it’s his niceness which is part of the problem, Lilian said.

What if you didn’t have money? Dolly sat up, not shy. Do you think factory foremen and bank clerks have nervous conditions?

Are you saying Gilbert is sick because we have a little money? Lilian did not know whether to be angry or amused.

Dolly Vernon sighed, weary of the subject. She stubbed out her cigarette. Something caught her eye out the window in the sunless afternoon. Oh, that’s just the sort of hedge we were trying for, she said. How do they get that shape? Do you think one could do the same in Boston? You’ve got to tell me whom to ask to find out.

41 • Stretches of clear sky

41 • Stretches of clear sky

GILBERT, feeling better, wrote his college pal Edgar Ames who’d been an usher in his wedding. He felt the need to reestablish contact.

Dear Egg,

I can’t remember if it’s Madagascar or Tunisia though it’s probably someplace else altogether that you are. I am O.K., like a cracked jug with carefully placed clamps, waiting while the glue sets.

Thank you for your letter. Lilian laughed at your interrupting the ceremony and said it was just like you. It was good to see her laugh. Not a great deal of laughing goes on here, inside oneself especially, which is of course the problem. I like thinking of old Egg out crossing continents then at other times I can’t figure out much of anything to like thinking about.

But I am much improved. I feel that.