Chapter 69

It was clear to Will as soon as he entered the house that his Aunt Margaret had at least some inclination that he and Cordia had been involved romantically. He was not sure precisely what she knew or how she had come to gain this information, but he could tell by her expression and her shortness that she had come to realize that she had been deceived and that she was pondering both the nature and the duration of their relationship.

At dinner, a heavy silence hung over the entire table. The boys could plainly see that their mother was upset about something and almost thirty years of marriage had allowed Arthur the ability to read his wife very well. In this situation, he found, it was better not to speak than to risk becoming the object of her frustration.