Founder and chief executive of Rhodes Capital.

And, though Marcus was only now beginning to understand the full horror of the coincidence, the man whose investment firm was, at that very moment, deep in negotiations to acquire Marcus’s company.

Julian reached us, and kissed my temple, and smiled down at our daughter.

“There you are,” he said.

And I watched Marcus’s champagne glass slip, just slightly, between his fingers, watched him catch it, watched the confident architecture of his face begin to come apart.

“Evelyn,” he said, and his voice had dropped to something barely audible.