Maeve Binchy - Evening Class

His face lit up. 'You couldn't have made me a happier man,' he said. 'I'll never let you down.'

'I know,' she said. But she didn't know, because she felt sure that there was a whole part of his life that she could never share and that sooner or later he would share that side at least with someone else. But in the meantime she must do all she could to shore up the parts of his life she could share.

Together they attended many public functions, and Connie insisted that she be described as Mrs. Constance Kane of Hayes Hotel as well as just Harry's wife. She raised money for two charities with the wives of other successful men. She entertained in her own new and splendid home, where all the decorating had been done by Kevin's family.

She told her mother nothing about the situation between them. She told Vera everything. 'When the baby's born,' Vera advised, 'go off and have a fling with someone else. You might get to like it and then come back and do it properly with Harry.'

'I'll think about it,' said Connie.

The baby's nursery was ready. Connie had given up her job. 'No hope we could tempt you back, even part time, when the baby is old enough to leave with a nurse?' Mr. Hayes pleaded.

'We'll see.' She was more calm and controlled than ever, Mr. Hayes thought. Marriage to a tough man like Harry Kane hadn't taken away any of her spirit.

Connie had made a point of keeping well in touch with Harry's family. She had driven to see them more often in one year than they had been visited by their son in the previous ten. She kept them informed about all the details of her pregnancy, their first grandchild, a very important milestone, she told them. They were quiet people, in awe of the hugely successful Harry. They were delighted and almost embarrassed to be so well included and to have their opinions sought about names.

Connie also made sure that she had the partners and their wives well within her own area. She took to giving light suppers in their house on a Wednesday night. The partners would all have wined and dined well at lunchtime after their weekly meeting, they would not want a huge meal. But each week there was something delicious for them to eat. Not too fattening because one of them was always on a diet, and not too much alcohol served since the other was inclined to hit the bottle.

Connie asked questions and listened to the answers. She assured these women that Harry thought so highly of their husbands that she was almost jealous of all his praise. She remembered every tiresome detail of their children's examinations and their home improvements and their holidays, the clothes they had bought. They were almost twenty years older than her. They had been resentful and suspicious at the outset. Six months after her marriage, they were her devoted slaves. They told their husbands that Harry Kane could not have found a more suitable wife, and wasn't it great that he hadn't married that hard-faced Siobhan Casey who had such high hopes of him.

The partners were unwilling to have a word said against the entirely admirable Siobhan. Because of discretion and male bonding they didn't see any need to explain that Miss Casey's high hopes might not have resulted in marriage but there was distinct evidence that a romantic dalliance that had once existed between them had begun again. Neither of the partners could understand it. If you had a beautiful wife like Connie at home, why go out for it?

When Connie realised that her husband was sleeping with Siobhan Casey she got a great shock. She hadn't expected anything like this so soon. It hadn't taken long before he had let her down. He hadn't given the life they had together much of a chance. She was seven months married, three months pregnant, and she had kept her part of the bargain perfectly. No man ever had a better companion and a more comfortable lifestyle. Connie had brought all her considerable knowledge of the hotel industry to bear on their house. It was elegant and comfortable. It was filled with people and flowers and festivity when he wanted. It was quiet and restful when he wanted that. But he wanted more.

She could possibly have put up with it if it had been a one-night stand, at a conference or visit abroad. But this woman who had obviously always wanted him! How humiliating that she should get him back. And so quickly.

His excuses were not even devious. 'I'll be in Cork on Monday, think I'll stay,' he had said, only the Cork partner had rung looking for him. So he wasn't in Cork after all.

Connie had played it down, and appeared to accept Harry's casual explanation. 'That fellow couldn't remember his own name if it wasn't written on his briefcase. I must have told him three times I was overnighting in the hotel. That's age for you.'

And then shortly afterwards when he was going to Cheltenham the travel agency sent the ticket around to the house, and she saw there was a ticket for Siobhan Casey as well.

'I didn't realise she was going.' Her voice was light. •

Harry shrugged. 'We go to make contacts, to see the races, to meet people. Someone has to stay sober and write it all down.'

And after that he was away from home at least one night a week And perhaps two nights a week so late that it was obvious he had been with somebody else. He suggested separate bedrooms so as not to disturb her, let her have all the sleep she needed in her condition. It was, Connie realised, as lonely as hell.

The weeks went on and their communication grew less. He was always courteous and praising. Particularly of her Wednesday suppers. That had really helped to cement the partnership, he told her. It also meant that he spent Wednesday night at home, but she didn't tell him that was her aim. She arranged taxis to take the partners and their wives to Hayes Hotel, where they had suites at a special discount.

She would sit with Harry when they left and talk about his business, but often with only part of her mind. She wondered did he sit in Siobhan Casey's flat and talk about his successes and failures like this. Or did he and Siobhan feel such a swelling of lust that they took the clothes off each other as soon as they got in the door and were at it on the hearthrug because they couldn't wait until they got to the bedroom?

One Wednesday evening he stroked the large bump of her stomach and there were tears in his eyes. 'I'm so sorry,' he said.

'What for?' Her face was blank. He paused as if considering whether to tell her something or not, so she spoke quickly. She wanted nothing admitted, acknowledged or accepted. 'What are you sorry about? We have everything, almost everything, and what we don't have, we may have in time.'

'Yes, yes of course,' he said pulling himself together.

'And soon our baby will be born,' she said soothingly.

'And we'll be fine,' he said, unconvinced.

Their son was born after eighteen hours of labour. A perfect healthy child. He was baptised Richard. Connie explained that by chance this was Harry's father's name and her father's name too, so it was the obvious choice. The fact that Mr. Kane senior had been called Sonny Kane all his life was never mentioned.

The christening party in their home was elegant and simple at the same time. Connie stood welcoming people, her figure apparently slim again a week after the birth, her mother overdressed and happy, her friend Vera's children Deirdre and Charlie honoured guests.

The parish priest was a great friend of Connie's. He stood there proudly. Would that all his parishioners were as generous and charming as this young woman. A middle-aged lawyer friend of Connie's father was there too, a distinguished member of the Bar, with a very high reputation. He wasn't known for losing cases.

As Connie stood there in her elegant navy silk dress with its smart white trimmings, flanked by the priest and the lawyer and holding his baby son, Harry felt a frisson of alarm. He didn't know what it was and dismissed it. It might be the beginnings of flu. He hoped not, he had a lot of work in the weeks ahead. But he couldn't take his eyes off the tableau. It was if they represented something. Something that threatened him.