That small request told me exactly where I stood: present, perhaps, but not yet part of the picture.

I went home grateful that I had been allowed even that much.

PART 15: The House of Mirrors

Cordelia announced she wanted a separation on an evening when the house was full of people preparing for a charity dinner.

She said it loudly enough for staff to hear, perhaps hoping that public pressure would make me surrender before the conversation began.

“I can’t live with a man who’s turned against his own family,” she declared.