It was Mrs. Fitzpatrick who first realized the absence of Mr. Curtis a few days later. She had come over for a cup of tea and an egg beater. Mrs. Curtis had both. Mrs. Fitzpatrick immediately noticed the absence of several objects, such as the bottles from the liquor cabinet, a pipe and tobacco pouch that used to sit on the end table, and the radio. Mrs. Fitzpatrick sized up the room and asked after Mr. Curtis. Mrs. Curtis was a truthful woman, so merely poured the tea as if nothing was the matter, a techinique used to field numerous other forward questions. Mrs. Fitzpatrick would have none of it.
"O dear, I'm so sorry!"
Mrs. Curtis suddenly found herself holding an affectionate Mrs. Fitzpatrick who was babbling about how terrible men could be and how common it was that husbands left their wives after their kids were grown to go after younger women and it was probably his secretary because it always was if it wasn't a stewardess or a waitress or some other kind who always wore too much make up and their hems too high and was there anything she could do?
Mrs. Curtis extracted herself from Mrs. Fitzpatrick and assured her that she was fine. She then pointed out that the tea was getting cold. Mrs. Fitzpatrick left much earlier than usual in such a state that she forgot to ask about the egg beater. Mrs. Fitzpatrick was always in a hurry when she had a new piece of gossip.
Link back to "The Lives and Deaths of Mrs. Curtis" Title Page. Send mail to marleigh@mit.edu.