At 2:00 a.m., My Husband Thought I Was Asleep While He Emptied Our Safe to Run Off With His Mistress. Before Leaving, He Kissed Me and Whispered, “Poor Audrey. You Never Saw This Coming.” Hours Later He Sent a Photo From the Airport. I Replied With Four Words That Made Him Call Me Immediately.

The meal was ordinary and loud in the way families are loud when they are not managing a man at the end of the table.

After dessert Eleanor helped me dry glasses.

“You look less arranged,” she said.

“I stopped rehearsing my face for him.”

“Good.

Rehearsal is expensive.”

When they left I stood on the porch with a coat over my shoulders and watched the streetlights come on.

I did not make a speech to the dark.