He arrived with the storm the night of the wake, his appearance marked by a gust of cold wind and noticed only by one startled infant who burst into inexplicable tears. It was the splendid row of funerary casseroles that detoured him from his long journey, but it was the widow's face that made him stay. She reminded him of someone he had lost long ago, someone he had loved very much, someone he had hurt.... She moved around the room with quiet dignity, smiling warmly at sympathetic strangers, accepting their regrets and condolences with the grace of an angel. Afterwards, she cried alone in...