Mary stared at the message and tried to interpret its meaning. Why hadn't Dot written? Why this appeal with almost a touch of pathos? A quick mental tabulation of the years added up to nin c. They hadn't quarreled but gradually drifted apart.

She had asked Dot over for the evening because Carl would be out. There was little possibility that they would be disturbed. The warmth from the fire was peaceful. There was just enough light to soften the heavy shadows of the room. Dot lay so still that Mary thought she was sleeping.

'I don't see how you can do this to Carl,' Dot's voice interrupted the calm.

'Do what?' Mary asked, knowing.

'Be married to him and still love someone else."

'You?"

'Yes.'

'I love him. But differently. He's not neglected.'

'I'm going to get married and have children,' Dot said as she stirred in Mary's arms. 'No double life for me. Only three things will be important my husband, my children and my home.'

Dot's announcement had come true. She married Bill after a short courtship and moved out of town. The announcement of the arrival of Bill Jr. had come like a flaunt followed by secretiveness.

Mary's first intention was to ignore the note, but a little hammer of persistence kept pounding at her until the old pain of awareness was an open bleeding wound. She knew shd must not read hidden meanings into those few words.

The letter was carefully composed, newsy but restrained. Mary watched Teddy as he started out the drive on his bicycle to the mailbox. She hadn't told Dot about her son.

She had to admit that Dot's note had been disconcerting. For eight years her own life had met Dot's specifications of husband, child and home.

With a feeling of compulsion undermined by reluctance, Mary moved to the full length mirror and tried to view herself objectively. She had never been pretty, but the face that stared back at her was arresting. The body still had a quality of litheness. Yet, it was not the same face or the same body of nine years earlier.

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