It was a short letter from his new attorney, stating that he had recently discovered a sealed file in his late father’s private archive and had questions about whether earlier notices had been withheld from him.

His father, Graham Brandt, had died the previous winter.

We had rarely been close; Graham mostly let Lorraine speak for the family.

But he had been scrupulous about keeping documents, and apparently even letters that others tried to make disappear were not always truly gone.

The archive included copies of my pregnancy disclosures, delivered with handwriting on the outside that read: HOLD FOR LORRAINE.

It also included a message from Lorraine to the old firm instructing the lawyers to discourage “further contact from Ruth concerning her alleged condition.”