CHAPTER SEVEN
Harriet’s pregnancy was met with celebration in some quarters, regret in others. As was her miscarriage in the second week of her fourth month, though not by the same people. Elsbeta had to unwind from her plans to give them her apartment and retrieve her deposit on a smaller apartment she had found for herself and Ira in the same building. Ira blamed Harriet for all the confusion. When news of her pregnancy was first announced, he was phlegmatic, but the miscarriage evoked paranoia. He felt he was being cheated of his due. He had taken no interest in the pregnancy, suspecting this was an excuse for Elsbeta’s determination to move and dislodge him from his office. The grim mandate had been uttered: start packing your journals. Then the news of Harriet’s miscarriage came, but
