“You were the subject of several letters home.”
“I can’t imagine what Florence must have thought,” she said. “A strange girl arrives out of nowhere. She’s not even a distant cousin, and suddenly she’s living in her old bedroom.”
“No one was complaining,” he said, wishing he could catch her eye. He got the impression that she considered herself to be a nuisance.
At Virginia Avenue, the family passed the hospital tent but no one acknowledged it.
“So, you can neither confirm nor deny Florence’s hunch?”
Anna smiled. “If I tell you something, you have to promise not to breathe a word.”
He held up three fingers.
“They were engaged.”
Stuart couldn’t hide his surprise, didn’t try. “Mr. Adler and your mother?”
Anna nodded her head. “My suspicion is that he broke it off when he met Esther.”
“Fascinating.”
“I know.”
“Do you think he still loves her?”
“Who? My mother?”
“Sure.”
“I would assume not,” Anna said, as if she’d never considered the question, much less its answer. “Not that it really matters.”
“Of course it matters.”
Anna raised her eyebrows in amusement. She started to say something, and then stopped herself, pressed her lips together.
“What were you going to say?” Stuart asked.
“Nothing.”
“Something.”
“It’s just that,” said Anna, “sometimes, when he looks at me, I get the feeling he’s rearranging my features, trying to recall my mother’s face.”
Stuart had nothing smart to say to that. He thought of the grainyphotograph of Florence that had run in thePress, after she swam around the island last summer. It had captured her perfectly but he liked to think that, even in thirty years’ time, he wouldn’t need it to aid his recollection.
The procession came to a halt in front of the James Candy Company. A woman, whom Stuart didn’t recognize, stopped Esther, and as he and Anna neared, he could hear her asking after the family.
“And how’s your daughter?”
Esther’s face crumpled.
“Still resting comfortably?”
“Oh, Fannie. Yes, still in the hospital. I think she’s probably a little bored but so far, so good.
“Wonderful. And Florence? Still swimming every chance she gets?”
Stuart watched Esther visibly swallow.
