“I’ll go when I can walk around by myself,” he said, a typically stubborn note to his voice.

Theo laughed; it was good to hear his father determined again.

“Is Laura coming to see you?” he asked. He hadn’t seen his sister for over a year, since she lived in Minnesota with her husband and three children, but it struck him that it would be good to take them to Prospect Park Zoo on their next visit. It was only a few years old, and he’d read that the brick and limestone buildings were decorated with sculpted scenes from Rudyard Kipling’s Jungle Book. The “picture-book” zoo, The New York Times had called it, which again reminded him of Alice.

Samuel said, “I know she wants to, but I doubt she’ll come any time soon with Raymond away. Anyway, the kids are too young to travel and not old enough to leave with anyone else.”

“Maybe you could go see her . . . once you’re feeling better. A vacation?”

“Are you kiddin’ me? Your mother and I would last about two days and then we’d be clamoring to come home. Nice idea, Theo, but keep it to yourself.” He winked.

Theo moved closer to the window, searching the vast parkland to see if he could detect any animals, and he sighed heavily. If he was honest, he’d grown quite excited at the idea of publishing The Zoo Chronicles, and less inquisitive about why she’d kept it a secret, but it would never happen now. And he didn’t know if Women and Children First would ever see the light of day either.

Something shook the treetops, a trail of brown shapes moving through the branches—the monkeys, perhaps—then the canopy settled back into place, shielding the creatures from view. Yes, The Zoo Chronicles was a book that people would want to read, and one that Partridge would benefit from publishing, and he needed to somehow show Walter that he was wrong.

“So, what’s on your mind, son?”

Theo spun round to find his father propped up in his chair, staring at him.

He swallowed hard, wondering whether this was the right time to ask for his father’s advice, or if he should wait until he was feeling better—but then what if that time never came? His father liked Virginia, both his parents did, so this wasn’t going to be easy.

“You haven’t always done what’s expected, have you?”

His father laughed. “Lord no, that would have got me into a whole heap of trouble. You do what’s least expected, and you’ve got to keep surprising people. Things would be a bit dull otherwise, you know that.” His chuckle sounded hoarse. Then he looked at his son’s poker face and grew serious. “Oh, you’re talking about women.”

Theo nodded.