“Hello, Hester.”

He stood still, aware of how he towered above his stunned wife. She would scarcely reach up to his shoulders if they stood closer together, some part of him registered, although by the look on her face he thought she might faint if he tried.

I forgot how small she is. Or—more likely—perhaps I never bothered to notice?

Ignoring the question, he offered a bow, feeling her stare boring into the top of his head as he bent forward. “It’s been a long time since we last met. I’m happy to see you’re looking considerably better than I am.”

The Hester he remembered would’ve been quick to jump in with some clumsy compliment to deny his self-reproach—but no such thing came.

“I thought… We all thought…” Hester’s hand gripped the parlor door as though she might break it off, but then her eyes hardened. All of a sudden she looked nothing like the timid wife he’d left behind, and Nathaniel’s brow contracted in a frown.

“You’re supposed to be dead!”