Borrow My Seat novel · Chapter 20 of 24

Chapter 20: Marjorie's Lunch

The woman in the lavender cardigan called Greta's number on Monday night.

"It's a club matter," she said to me.

"We are voting tomorrow on one of our members."

"I think you ought to be in the room."

"Whose membership?"

"I'd rather not say it on the phone."

I didn't need her to.

At noon on Tuesday I walked into the Lakeshore dining room with a white paper gift bag in one hand.

The same chandelier hung over the same long table.

Twenty-three women sat in cardigans and pearls, and this time not one of them smiled.

Marjorie sat at the far end of the table with her hands folded, and the crystal bell was missing from beside her glass.

She had put on her best coat.

She looked at me and then away, as one looks away from a clock.

The woman in lavender stood up at the head of the table.

She was the club president, which I had not known.

"Thank you for coming, Ingrid," she said. "Please, take the chair by the window. We'll be short."

I sat.

"Marjorie has asked to speak first," the president said. "Marjorie."

Marjorie rose.

Her pearl studs shook, very slightly, in the chandelier light.

"Ladies," she said. "I want to say that what happened was a misunderstanding. A family matter that got out of hand."

"Marjorie," said the president. "Did you witness a marriage three years ago?"

"I did."

"Did you know that Ingrid believed she was signing insurance forms?"

A long silence.

Twenty-three women waited.

Marjorie's mouth worked, and I could see her hunting for the answer that had saved her at every other lunch in thirty years.

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