Page 18 of Wife After Wife

“Before you ask me what I’m going to do, I don’t know. But tell me, do you love her?”

Harry looked away, stared at the floor. “Not in the way I love you.”

Something inside Katie snapped. She’d never lost control in her life, until now. She picked up the nearest thing to hand, which was a copy ofHooray!, rolled it up, and hit Harry across his shoulders.

He raised his arms to protect himself. “Katie—for god’s sake! That’s not going to solve anything.”

“No, but it’s making me feel a whole lot better,” she said, delivering more blows.

“Then hit away, if domestic abuse is your thing. Let it all out, and then maybe we can move on.”

His smug comment gave Katie renewed energy, and she hit him again.

She was grimly satisfied when the stupid magazine bent into a state where it was of no further use as a truncheon. She dropped it on the floor, saying, “Piece-of-shit magazine made of terrible paper.”

Harry chuckled. “True.”

“I’m not laughing, Harry.” She sank into an armchair.

“Shall I get us a drink?” said Harry.

“I don’t want a fucking drink.”

“Katie, stop it. None of this is you.”

“It’s what you’ve made me.”

“Look, I’m sorry. Henry was an accident, but you of all people will understand that Bennie didn’t want to get rid of the baby. What was I supposed to do? Try and persuade her to have an abortion? Abandon her? I was trying to do the right thing.”

“Of course you were. You alwaystry to do the right thing. You twist things until you can justify your actions. Have you never heard of contraception? Or of not sleeping around in the first place?”

“Her pills... she wasn’t great at remembering. Quite absentminded.”

The words cut like a knife. She and Harry had never used contraception. He’d suggested she go on the pill after Maria’s birth, but Katie had wanted to leave matters in God’s hands. Tryingnotto have a baby was a completely alien concept.

“How often did you see her?”

“Only occasionally.”

“Define occasionally.”

“Maybe once a month? Recently, anyway.”

“And at the start?”

“A bit more. That was when things weren’t great between you and me.”

“So it wasmyfault you hooked up with her?”

“I didn’t say that. I’m giving you a reason, not an excuse.”

“So what are you going to do, Harry?”

“I’ll end it, but I can’t abandon her completely. Or my son. I’ll give her a regular allowance for Henry.”

“What’s she doing for money? Does she have a job?”

Harry looked uncomfortable. “I’ve been covering the rent on her flat, and a bit more, until she can sort out childcare. It’s difficult for her, she doesn’t have any qualifications.”