In December of the fifth year, something happened that neither of them told me directly but that I understood from context and from the specific change in the quality of their presence at Christmas.
Robert had said something to Diana.
Or Diana had said something to Robert.
Or both.
What I knew was this: they arrived at the estate for Christmas within an hour of each other, which had been the case for two years, and the way they occupied the same rooms was different from the previous Christmas in a way that was subtle and unmistakable.
Not dramatically different. Not publicly transformed. But there was a quality of settled acknowledgment between them that had not been there before, the quality of two people who have had the conversation that changes the configuration and are now living
