Chapter 24: The Door Stays Open

Gwen put both hands on the brass handle of the front door and pulled.

It swung open on its old hinges, and cool air came in from the gravel.

The white-haired partner stood on the step with his hat in his hand.

Behind him stood a dozen of the neighbors who had walked out of the tent.

Preston's father was among them, looking at the ground.

"Miss Cuyler," the old man said. "We have come to be forgiven. We are late, and we know it."

Gwen looked at the hat, and at the faces behind it.

I watched her do something I had never seen her do.

She didn't glance over her shoulder to see who was watching.

"You can't be forgiven at the door," she said. "It's cold. Come in."

"That's very kind."

"It isn't kind. It's a door," Gwen said.

She stepped back, with a small breath of surprise at herself.

"It's meant to be walked through."

They came in one by one, and she said each of their names as they passed.

She had learned them from my mother's guest lists, and she got every one right.

When Preston's father reached her, he stopped.

"I am sorry about my son," he said.

"He's sorry himself," Gwen said. "He wrote me three pages."

"It was a very bad chapter, and I've decided not to read it."

The old man laughed, a short startled bark, and went into the foyer.

The supper had never really ended.

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