not raining. I’ll walk with you, of course. We’ll walk to the lake and back. During the early months, we can walk part of the path that goes for miles and miles and circles the lake. Harrison runs, you know. I think he’s run completely around the lake.”
Best to ask no questions, I thought. Best to follow her lead.
“He looks like he keeps fit.”
“Oh, yes, he does. Speaking of that, Mrs. Marlene may be a little upset, but I’ve discussed another idea with Harrison.”
“What idea?”
“Bringing in a nutritionist to design the right things for you to eat. You don’t want to get too heavy, but you do want to eat everything that will help us have a very healthy baby. Right?” she asked as she opened the door to Dr. Davenport’s office.
“Yes, of course.”
“I’ll follow the same diet so you don’t feel strange eating what no one else eats.”
I looked at her to see if she was joking, but she was dead serious.
We entered an immaculate large office that so far looked to me to be the most modern in furnishing and fixtures in the house. It was dominated by the large dark-oak desk before us, the top of which was clear except for a long yellow pad, a telephone, a pen stand, and some framed pictures. There was a tall black leather chair and a small desk lamp. Behind the desk were bay windows creating a small nook.
To the right were shelves of books, many looking leather-bound, and the wall on the left was dominated by a beautifully framed large picture of Samantha in her wedding gown. In her hands she held a bridal bouquet of coral peonies paired with ranunculus, garden roses, and Queen Anne’s lace. My mummy loved all those flowers.
The floor of the office was a charcoal-colored tile. At the right front of the desk was a comfortable-looking cushioned metal chair, and on the left, under the framed portrait, was a black leather settee with a small glass-surfaced coffee table, also silver metal. There were some medical magazines on it in a neat pile.
“That’s a beautiful picture of you,” I said. “And a simply magnificent bouquet.”
“Thank you. Elizabeth was in charge of all the floral arrangements. Give the devil her due. We had our wedding here at Wyndemere. I wish you could have seen it. Simon, Harrison’s father, had a dance floor built on the lawn, and there was a gazebo with an arch decorated with arrangements of the same flowers. We had two hundred and fifty guests and a full orchestra.” She stared up at herself. “My mother hired a designer for that dress, someone from New York City whom Elizabeth Davenport had recommended. I don’t want to tell you how much it cost. Probably equal to half my wardrobe.
“The Davenports insisted on contributing to the wedding because they wanted to invite an additional one hundred guests. Elizabeth claimed the event was equal to the budget of some states in the union.” She laughed. “Harrison was a little embarrassed by it all, but he put up with everything to please me more than to please his mother.”
“That’s lace pearl, isn’t it?”
“Yes, a one-of-a-kind design.”
“It’s a beautiful dress.”
“Thank you. I put it on sometimes just to relive that day. Harrison enjoys that. My mother-in-law thinks it’s ridiculous. She had her own wedding dress redone to create a gown she could wear at some charity ball.”
“Really? Most women keep their wedding dress sacrosanct.”
“Most women are not my mother-in-law,” she said. Then she paused, her expression finally reflecting what was happening in the house. “I shouldn’t speak ill of her right now. I’m sure she’s in a bad way. Despite how much she does by herself, she’s been married for nearly fifty years. Now she’s a queen without a king. When you see the rest of Wyndemere, you will see many portraits of them together, many framed photographs of them at important events with powerful politicians and celebrities. They were a very important social couple. And Simon was very good friends with my father. They did some business venture together, actually, before Harrison and I were married. My father looked up to Harrison’s as a sort of mentor.
“My own father passed two years ago,” she quickly added. “He died from complications during an operation to remove a cancerous tumor on one of his lungs. Harrison wasn’t his doctor, of course. My father was a heavy smoker. He went from cigarettes during the day to cigars at night in