“You know Rosemary is married again,” she said. “And Una, her youngest had another baby. And Jimmy, he’s in law school. And Lily’s son Alex is playing the clarinet. And Ben had an operation on his foot. And . . .”
“What did he do?” Garnet asked suddenly, interrupting.
“Who?” the woman asked.
“The dead man, what did he do? I want to know what he did.” Garnet made the demand. August stirred, leaning toward her, her face shifting.
“He did something in finance?” The woman said it like a question. “I think.”
“When you ask that question, what are you really asking?”
“What . . . now?” She was growing puzzled. “I don’t . . . know.”
Lyosha and Mitya were flirting with some male relatives of Garnet’s by the buffet, not paying any attention to anything or anyone around them.
“Why are they imm
