Chapter 102

She was suitably impressed by that, but when we got to the bathroom, she said, “My God, that’s a shower to end all showers.”

“Too right,” Charles said. “I’m something of a shower freak, and this one is the ultimate shower experience.”

We went back to the sitting room and sat down to visit, and I said, “Marie, do you want to tell me what’s really going on in your life?”

She looked pointedly at Charles, and I added, “Charles and I have no secrets from each other. As a lawyer, he might even be able to offer advice.”

She looked at us and thought about it for a minute; then she said, “Well, as you might have guessed, it’s Frank. I know you told me not to marry him, but I was in love, or so I thought at the time.”

“He hasn’t been abusive, has he?” I said.

“No, it’s not that, but there has been a string of other women on the side.”

“So why do you put up with it?” I said. “Leave him and have done with it.”