see each other anymore.’ Across the street a door slammed and she raised a trembling hand in greeting at whoever had just emerged from their house. Her breathing shallow, she said, ‘Tony, just go. Do you think this is easy for me? Because it really isn’t, I can promise you that.’
‘I know, I know, but we need to talk.’ He paused. ‘Who’s Henry?’
She froze, the fingers of her other hand convulsively tightening around the edge of the door.
‘Who told you?’
‘Is he your father-in-law?’
‘No.’
‘Brother-in-law?’
Martha shook her head.
‘So that means he’s your ex-husband.’ Tony had already guessed as much; he didn’t need to look at her to know he was right.
Except he couldn’t help himself; he couldn’t tear his eyes away from her face.
‘He’s not my ex-husband,’ Martha said finally.
‘You mean you’re still married.’
She pressed her lips together, gave a funny, wobbly nod.
‘Why don’t I come in?’ said Tony. And this time she stood back to allow him into the house.
In the kitchen, Martha rubbed her face to get the blood back into it. ‘I still don’t know how you found out. Was it Eunice?’ She shook her head. ‘It couldn’t have been Eunice.’
Rather than tell her how he had stalked the pair of them, Tony said, ‘Just tell me about Henry.’
‘How much do you know?’
‘Nothing at all.’
‘We’ve been married for thirty-three years. Happily. Very happily.’ Her voice began to waver. ‘Well, up until six years ago. OK, I’m going to cry now. Don’t say anything, just ignore it.’ Reaching for the roll of kitchen towel, she tore off a couple of quilted sheets and rested one hip against the kitchen units. ‘The thing is, he has Alzheimer’s. Well, officially it’s presenile dementia. It started seven years ago when he was only fifty-five. Just gradually, you know, losing keys and forgetting people’s names. We joked about it at first. Until he made a serious mistake at work and it stopped being funny.’ The tears were rolling down her cheeks, almost as though she didn’t know they were there. ‘Then he saw the doctor and had to have all these tests… well, you can imagine the rest. We got the diagnosis. We were both devastated and I promised to look after him. Henry was a high-powered accountant. Within a year of giving up work he couldn’t put together a shopping list.’ Martha paused to wipe her eyes. ‘It all happened so much more quickly than I thought it would. He started putting his shoes in the oven. He tried to give our microwave to the postman. And instead of eating his dinner, he’d hide it in the loft.’
She stopped again to gather herself, and it was all Tony could do not to take her in his arms. But he stayed where he was, at the opposite end of the kitchen.
‘And it carried on going downhill from there,’ Martha said quietly. ‘I did my best, I swear I did. But it was so much harder than I ever thought it would be. I was twenty-one years old when I married Henry. He was just the best husband any girl could ask for. I loved him so much… and he could do anything, you know? He was clever, he was practical, if anyone had a problem he was the one who’d solve it. One of our neighbors was desperate once when her plumber let her down. I mentioned it to Henry when he came home from work, and he spent the evening plumbing her toilet in.’ She shook her head. ‘But that was before. Then it all changed and I was the one who had to look after Henry. He started having mood swings, then temper tantrums. It wasn’t his fault, he was just scared and frustrated. But it was like trying to keep a six-foot toddler under control. He wasn’t… easy. And all the time you know it’s only going to get worse. I was having to feed him. And wash him. Brush his teeth.’ Martha’s voice broke. ‘It’s horrible. It’s so undignified. And I know I’d promised to look after him, but it was just the l-loneliest job in the w-world…’
Tony said, ‘That’s why you told me you’d been on your own for a long time.’
She nodded, struggling to regain control. ‘It is. But it wasn’t fair for me to say that. I let you think I was divorced. That was so wrong.’
‘It was completely understandable.’
‘No, it was… disgusting. And I’ve never been so ashamed.’
‘I interrupted.’ Tony made a scrolling-back gesture with his