“I know what you mean,” Jane said, “but I haven’t had a chance to talk it over with Thomas. He might have plans. No, no nothing like that, it’s just that Thomas has allergies. And Gerald is so . . . urban.” She looked at Desmond and shrugged, apologizing for something, although he didn’t know what. “Well, I’ll get back to you after we’ve had a chance to talk it over. You’ll never guess who just walked in. Desmond Sullivan. Yes, that one. I’m trying to get him on board this project I told you about. I will.”

She switched off the phone and tossed it onto the chair by the door. “My ex-husband’s current wife,” she told Desmond. “She wants me to tell you she loved your book.” She reached back to lift her hair off her neck and then stopped with her elbow pointed out, as if a thought had just occurred to her. “If you were me,” she said, “would you go away for a weekend with your ex-husband and his new wife?”

It struck Desmond as a peculiarly personal question, especially since they hadn’t even exchanged names. He supposed she was being ironic, but there was something sincere in her wistful expression and the way she was standing with her hand clutching at her hair. “Not just the two of them and you?” he asked.

“No!” She dropped her hair. “I didn’t give that impression, did I?”

“No, no. Just making sure.” He tried to imagine how Russell would respond; Russell generally had more success in social situations that required irreverent spontaneity, while he fared better in situations in which silence could be interpreted as discretion. He opted for the simple truth. “I suppose I’d have to go,” he said. “Just to prove to myself and to him that he didn’t matter to me one way or the other anymore.”

She seemed to consider this point. Desmond handed her a bottle of wine. She glanced at the label and tossed it onto the chair with the phone.

“There’s a good chance this dinner is going to be a fiasco, so don’t judge me by it. I invited too many people. I’m not doing the cooking so at least the food should be edible. My recommendation is to ride with it and have a good time. I’d love to meet with you next week and discuss my ideas for a series of biographies I’m putting together. I’ve set up a meeting with an executive producer to try to get some seed money. He and I have worked together so long now, it might be useful to bring you into it, to give some weight and freshness to the proposal. Assuming you’re interested in getting involved?”

“I could be.”