“It’s just gossip, Gabe. Hurtful gossip. I even hate repeating it. But part of me believes it because it makes sense, at least to me. All gossip has a seed of truth to it, we both know that.”

“Just tell me, Em. Let’s get it all out right now.”

“Well, the secretive looks and whispers started when that picture of Lincoln’s wife appeared in the tabloid. Some of the secretaries actually had the paper. I hate to admit this, but after they left, I took it out of the trash and read it. Things like that always grow legs, and the story can become so outlandish it’s like it came from another planet.

“The gossip was that Lincoln batted Amalie around. One of the girls said a friend of hers was in the restroom at some political function when Amalie was there. It was some affair at the Ritz-Carlton. She saw Amalie lift up her top to look at a huge black-and-blue bruise on her rib cage. She said she put a cold compress on it. She explained to this person that she had fallen off a horse. Then someone else said they used to watch how gingerly she walked, like she’d been hurt. My press secretary looked me right in the eye, Gabe, and told me Lincoln was, and these are her exact words, ‘beating the hell out of his wife’ in places where it didn’t show.

“No one knows why. But all the ladies think Amalie left Lincoln. Think about it, Gabe, because I sure have. None of us have seen Amalie in over five years. Where is she?”

“When I ask, he says she’s in France, that she doesn’t like it here,” Gabe said as he continued to chew his lip. “Why would he beat that beautiful creature? She’s gentle, she’s kind, she’s sweet, and a wonderful person. He also told me more than once that his private life was none of my business. And he’s right, it is not my business.”

“I don’t know the answer to that question, Gabe. I always liked Amalie. She was so shy, and I thought the two of them were in love. I should have known better. Lincoln Moss only loves himself.”

Gabe tried to make sense out of what his wife was saying. “Why? I never had an inkling of any kind that he could or would do something like that.”

“You don’t live with him, Gabe. Amalie did. Nothing is as it seems, you know that. Lincoln is a control freak. I think Amalie was afraid of him. I’m thinking, and this is just my opinion, that she got fed up and just up and left. No one has seen her in over five years. At least no one who will admit to it.