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By Root 581 0

his jacket, as he had been down to the cove to see the men off, and he sat at the table. He was wearing a blue cotton shirt without a collar, and had exchanged that day his overalls for a pair of woolen trousers with suspenders. Over the last several years, his body had filled out some, so that I was most impressed with the length and breadth of his back, which seemed strong. Also his face, which before had shown the beginnings of the sunken cheeks which was certainly a family trait if not a national one, had filled out as well. These changes combined to give an impression of contentment and of a man who now daydreamed when once he had brooded. His hair, I noticed, had grown long in the back, and I wondered if I should offer to cut it, or if this task belonged now to Anethe. Indeed, it was difficult to know just exactly what the nature of the attachment between Evan and myself was, apart from our history, and though I wished to discuss in some oblique manner this question, I was content, for the moment, simply to be serving my brother at table.

I set before him a plate of bread and geitost, and sat down with him.

“Do you think John will be long in Portsmouth?” I asked.

“The tide is favorable, and the wind as well. They must have bait and set the trawls, and fill out the list you have given them, but I think they will be home before dark. And anyway, there is a moon tonight, so there is no danger either way.”

“Why didn’t you go with them? Isn’t Portsmouth vastly more interesting than this poor island?”

He laughed. “This poor island has everything I need and ever wanted,” he said. “My wife is here.” He took a mouthful of biscuit. “And my sister,” he added with a nod. “And I do not need the distraction of the city at the moment. I am content to sit here and mend the nets and think about my good fortune instead.”

“You and Anethe are settling in well then?”

“Yes, Maren, you have seen this.”

“She is very agreeable,” I said. “And she is pleasant to look upon. But she has a lot to learn about keeping a house. I suppose she will learn that here.”

“She can’t fail with such a good teacher,” Evan said, stabbing his spoon in my direction. I winced, for I thought sometimes that his new jocularity was overbearing and not really suited to him, however happy he had become.

“Maren, you have turned yourself into a first-rate cook,” he said. “If I do not watch myself, I will grow fat from your cook-ing.”

“You are already fat from your happiness,” I said to him.

He laughed a kind of self-congratulatory laugh. “That is overweight I would not mind carrying,” he said, “but you are growing fat as well, and with luck you may grow fatter still.” I think my brother may actually have winked at me.

I got up at once and went to the stove.

“I mean that you will one day give us all some good news,” he said amiably.

Still I said nothing.

“Maren, what is it?” he asked. “Have I said something wrong?”

I struggled for a moment over the wisdom of answering my brother, but I had waited for so long to speak with him, and I did not see when I would easily have another opportunity.

“I cannot have a child,” I said, turning, and looking at him steadily.

He looked away toward the south window, through which one could see across the harbor and over to Star. I did not know if he was simply taken aback, or if he was chastising himself for so carelessly bringing up a painful subject. I saw, when he turned his head, that the silver-blond hair was thinning at the crown. He looked up. “Are you sure of this, Maren? Have you been to a doctor?”

“I have no need of doctors. Four years have been proof enough. And, truth to tell, I am not so surprised. It is something I have suspected all my life, or at least since…”

I hesitated.

“Since our mother died,” I said quietly.

Evan put down his spoon, and brought his hand up to the lower half of his face.

“You remember,” I said.

He did not answer me.

“You remember,” I said, in a slightly more distinct voice.

“I remember,” he replied.

“And I have thought,” I said quickly, “that my illness after that time and the