The Husband's Secret

Usually when John-Paul returns from a business trip, Cecilia cooks a lamb roast. Instead, this time Cecilia has cooked fish, which John-Paul hates. The girls complain about the overcooked fish. John-Paul tries to rally everyone to enjoy it, but Cecilia stops him and clears the plates, saying they can all have toast for dinner instead. She’s drinking wine, which she was supposed to have given up for Lent. This scandalizes Polly. Cecilia thinks about how strange and cold she’s being with John-Paul. She wonders why she’s bothering to be cold when she’s already decided not to report him. She thinks maybe she’s being mean to him to appease her sense of guilt over not telling Rachel Crowley the truth.

Tess and Connor have gone back to his apartment and had intense, passionate sex. Tess waits to feel ashamed by this—after all, she is a married woman. She feels no shame, though, instead identifying her emotional state as “cheerful.” She and Connor briefly discuss the end of their relationship. He says that she’d announced she was moving to Melbourne and hadn’t asked him to come along.