THE TEXT FROM Darcy, which arrived just after ten o’clock on a Thursday night, read: Hi, Liz, I’ll be in NYC next week, and I’d like to take you and Jane out for dinner. Are you free either Tues or Wed? I realize this is short notice.

How perplexing these few lines were! Why would Darcy wish to have dinner with her and Jane? Did he remember that Jane no longer lived in the city? Perhaps, Liz thought, he hoped to avoid issuing an invitation that might otherwise sound like a date.

And then, as sometimes happened, the memory of Darcy’s declaration (he’d been in love with her, he’d wanted to be her boyfriend) flew through Liz’s head, followed by that dreadful echo: I’m sure you’ve heard from my brother about him and Caroline.

Yes, there’d been extenuating circumstances; but none, Liz thought with sorrow and regret, had been extenuating enough to absolve her.