Their first wedding anniversary was February third. “Why don’t we celebrate in Houston, darling?” Erich asked. “I’ll give you your present there.”

“That will be fine.” She wasn’t a good enough actress to keep up the farce of celebrating this marriage. But, oh, God, soon, soon it would be over. The anticipation put a sparkle in her eye that had not been there in months. Tina and Beth responded to it. They had become so quiet. Now they brightened as she chatted with them. “Do you remember when we were on the plane and had that lovely ride? We’re going on a plane again to a big city.”

Erich came in. “What are you talking about?”

“I’m telling them about our trip to Houston, what fun it will be.”

“You’re smiling, Jenny. Do you know how long it’s been since you looked happy?”

“Too long.”

“Tina, Beth, come on with Daddy to the store. I’ll buy you ice cream.”

Beth put her hand on Jenny’s arm. “I want to stay with Mommy.”

“I do too,” Tina said positively.

“Then I won’t go,” Erich said.

He seemed unwilling to leave her alone with the children.

On the night of the fifth she packed. She only took what would appear reasonable for three days. “What fur should I take, my coat or jacket?” she asked Erich. “What’s the weather like in Houston?”

“The jacket would be enough, I think. Why are you so nervous, Jenny?”

“I’m not nervous. It’s just that I’m out of the habit of traveling. Will I need a long dress?”

“Maybe one. That taffeta skirt and blouse would do. Wear your locket with it.”

Was there an edge in his voice; was he toying with her? She tried to sound natural. “That’s a good idea.”

They had a two o’clock flight from Minneapolis. “I’ve asked Joe to drive us to the airport,” Erich said.

“Joe!”

“Yes, he’s able to start working again. I’m going to rehire him.”

“But, Erich, after all that happened.”

“Jenny, we’ve put all that behind us.”

“Erich, after all the gossip you propose to rehire him!” She bit her lip. What difference who was here?

Rooney would be coming back from the hospital around the fourteenth. They had persuaded Clyde to let her stay a full six weeks. Jenny wished she could say good-bye to her. Maybe she could write and have Fran mail the letter for her from some city on one of her flights. There was nothing else she could do.

At last it was time to go. The girls were dressed in their velvet coats and matching hats. Jenny’s heart surged. I’m going to take them to the Village for linguine the night we get to New York, she decided.

From the bedroom window she could barely see a corner of the cemetery. After breakfast she’d slipped over to the baby’s grave to say good-bye.

Erich had packed the car. “I’ll get Joe,” he told her. “Come with me, girls. Give Mommy a chance to finish dressing.”

“I am finished,” she said. “Hold a minute. I’ll go with you.”

He seemed not to have heard. “Hurry up, Mommy,” Beth called as she and Tina clattered down the stairs behind Erich. Jenny shrugged. Just as well to have five minutes to be sure she had everything. The locket money was in the inside jacket pocket of the suit she had packed.

On her way downstairs she glanced into the girls’ room. Elsa had made the beds and straightened the room. Now it seemed inordinately neat, with a quality of emptiness as though it sensed that the girls would not be returning.

Had Erich sensed the same thing?

Suddenly troubled, Jenny ran down the stairs, pulling on her jacket. Erich should be back any minute.

Ten minutes later, she went out on the porch. She was getting so warm. Surely he’d be along any second now? He always left so much time to get to the airport. She stared at the road, straining to see the first sign of the car coming.

At the end of half an hour, she phoned the Ekers’. Her fingers fumbled with the dial. Twice she had to break the connection and start again.

Maude answered. “What do you mean have they left yet? I saw Erich drive past here over forty minutes ago with the girls in the car… Joe? Joe wasn’t driving them to the airport. Where did you get that idea?”

Erich had gone without her. Taken the girls and gone without her. The money was in the luggage he’d taken. Somehow he had guessed her plans.

She called the hotel in Houston. “I want to leave a message for Erich Krueger. Tell him to call his wife as soon as he arrives.”

The reservation clerk’s hearty Texan voice: “There must be a misunderstanding. Those reservations were canceled nearly two weeks ago.”

At two o’clock Elsa came in to her. “Good-bye, Mrs. Krueger.”

Jenny was sitting in the parlor, studying Caroline’s painting. She did not turn her head. “Good-bye, Elsa.”

Elsa did not go at once. Her long frame hovered in the doorway. “I’m sorry to leave you.”

“Leave me?” Yanked from lethargy, Jenny jumped up. “What do you mean?”

“Mr. Krueger said that he and the girls would be going away. He said he’d let me know when to come back.”

“When did he tell you that, Elsa?”

“This morning, when he was getting in the car. Are you staying here alone?”

There was a curious mixture of emotion in the stolid face. Ever since the baby’s death Jenny had felt a compassion in Elsa she would not have expected. “I guess I am,” she said quietly.

For hours after Elsa left, she sat in the parlor waiting. Waiting for what? A phone call. Erich would phone. She was certain of that.

How would she handle the call? Admit she’d been planning to leave him? He already knew that. She was sure of it. Promise to stay with him? He wouldn’t trust the promise.

Where had he taken the girls?

The room grew dark. She should turn on some lamps. But somehow the effort was too great. The moon came up. It shone in through the lace of the curtains, throwing a weblike beam on the painting.

Finally Jenny went into the kitchen, made coffee, sat by the telephone. At nine o’clock it began to ring. Her hand trembled so she could barely pick up the receiver. “Hello.” Her voice was so low she wondered if it could be heard.

“Mommy!” Beth sounded so far away. “Why didn’t you want to come with us today? You promised.”

“Bethie, where are you?”

The sound of the phone being moved.

Beth’s voice changing to a protest. “I want to talk to Mommy.”

Tina interrupted. “Mommy, we didn’t go for a plane ride and you said we would.”

“Tina, where are you?”

“Hello, darling.” Erich’s voice was warmly solicitous. Tina and Beth were wailing in the background.

“Erich, where are you? Why did you do this?”

“Why did I do what, darling? Prevent you from taking my children from me? Keep them from danger?”

“Danger? What are you talking about?”

“Jenny, I told you I’d take care of you. I mean it. But I’ll never let you leave me and take my girls away.”

“I won’t, Erich. Bring them home.”

“That’s not good enough. Jenny, go over to the desk. Get writing paper and a pen. I’ll hold on.”

The girls were still crying. But she could hear something else. Road sounds. A truck in gear. He must be calling from a phone booth on a highway. “Erich, where are you?”

“I said get paper and pen. I’ll dictate. You write. Hurry up, Jenny.”

The Edwardian desk was held closed by a large gold key. As she tried to turn it, she pulled it out and dropped it. Awkwardly she bent down, scooped it up. The sudden rush of blood to her head made her dizzy. Tripping in her rush to return to the phone, she had to steady herself against the wall.

“I’m ready, Erich.”

“It’s a letter to me. Dear Erich…”

Wedging the receiver between her shoulder and ear, she scrawled the two words.