Chapter 51
We spent an enjoyable hour visiting, during which Mrs. Barnett reminisced at length—for my benefit, I suspected—about Charles and Richard as boys and young men. It became apparent from her anecdotes that Richard had spent more time in her home growing up than he’d spent with his own family. From time to time she managed to skillfully draw me into the conversation with questions about Louisiana and my family. I realized finally that without having made an inquisition of the process, she’d managed to gather more information about my history than one would have thought possible. Just in time to prevent us from having a third round of drinks, Goodman appeared in the doorway and announced that dinner was served.