Behind Closed Doors

The next chapter focuses on the day Grace’s life “became perfect eighteen months ago, the day Jack danced with Millie in [Regent’s Park]” in London (20). On that day, Grace is playing cards with Millie in the park. She notices what everyone else in the park is seeing: a man with ethereally-good looks walking through. When he sits down on a bench to read a book, Grace cannot stop glancing at him.

Finally, the sisters leave the park so Grace can take Millie back to her boarding school. As they go back, Grace keeps thinking about the man from the park, and imagines that they will fall in love. Her fantasies make her reflect upon the fact that she desperately wants to get married, but it has been difficult to keep a boyfriend once she reveals that she is Millie’s sole guardian and must care for her. “I loved her dearly,” Grace admits, “but the thought of the two of us growing old together on our own filled me with dread” (22). However, the next week she does see the handsome gentleman at the park again.

They are at the bandstand that Grace describes at the dinner party and Millie is dancing the waltz. Jack offers to dance with Millie; Grace immediately begins to fall in love with him. They talk afterward and Jack takes them to get juice. The next week, they meet for dinner; Grace notes Jack “quickly became a permanent fixture in [her] life” (25). After about three months into the relationship, Jack asks to meet Grace’s parents.

Grace and her parents are not very close. They never wanted children. Both Grace and Millie were accidents. When her mother became pregnant with Millie, she was 46 and considered an abortion, but Grace reminded her parents of their Catholic background and said that she would help care for her younger sister. When Millie was born with Down Syndrome, their parents rejected her, but Grace stepped in and became like a parent. When Millie was three months old, their parents said they wanted to put Millie up for adoption and move to New Zealand, where their mother’s family is from. Grace convinced them that she would bring Millie up if she could have her parents’ financial support. It worked. She got the job at Harrod’s so Millie could go to a private high school and not an institution. At the point that she met Jack, Grace’s parents were getting ready to move to New Zealand.

After meeting Grace and Millie’s parents, Jack and Grace take a walk in Regent’s Park. Grace asks Jack what he thought of her parents and he says that they were perfect. Grace is confused. He responds, “Just that they were everything I hoped they would be” (28). Grace rationalizes that perhaps it’s because his parents were very distant.

When they’re in front of the bandstand where they met, Jack proposes to Grace. He says that her father gave Jack his blessing earlier in the day, adding that there will always be a place for Millie in their lives. She says yes. He wants to get married in March, which is coming up. He knows a place that will be perfect for the reception, as long as they don’t invite too many people. As he drives Grace home, Jack asks if they can meet the next day to iron out a few things before she goes on business to Argentina. When she asks him if he wants to come into her apartment, he says that he needs to look at some paperwork.

The next night, he tells her that he wants her to move to Surrey, outside of London, so that they can have children and she can be comfortable. Millie is welcome to live with them, and he will pay her school tuition until she graduates. Grace won’t have to work anymore. Jack doesn’t want Grace to be constantly away on business. He wants to be able to come home and tell her about his day. Jack also wants to find his and Grace’s dream house while she is in Argentina and surprise her with it after their honeymoon.

When Grace gets back from Argentina, she puts her house on the market and, at her insistence, they use the money from the sale to pay for the furniture for the new one. Grace begins to send out wedding invitations and feels that she “[is] the luckiest person in the world” (34). 

It is the day after Grace and Jack’s dinner party, and the couple is going to see Millie. Grace is excited. Jack follows her from the bedroom where she woke into another bedroom, where her wardrobe is. Grace wants to wear a blue dress that Millie likes because it matches Grace’s eyes, but when she takes it out of the closet, Jack tells her to put it back. He wants her to wear a beige dress, as he loves her in neutral tones. Grace also chooses the shoes, handbag, and makeup she thinks that her husband would like. Before they leave the house, Jack makes Grace turn out her coat pockets.

As they drive into London to Millie’s school, Jack admits that the previous night’s dinner was perfect. However, he wonders why Esther might not like Grace. Perhaps she has no appreciation for perfection, Grace suggests, which placates Jack, but Grace really thinks that Esther is suspicious of her.

The two haven’t seen Millie in over a month, and when they arrive at the school, Millie is waiting outside wearing a yellow scarf (yellow is her favorite color). Janice, her caregiver, is with her. Jack tells Janice that they weren’t able to come for so long because Grace had the flu. Millie says that she is happy to see both of them. Jack gives Millie an Agatha Christie book on tape. Agatha Christie is another of Millie’s favorites. Millie wants to go to lunch at the hotel, but Jack says that he is taking them to the restaurant by the lake. Millie is disappointed.

When they arrive and sit down at the table, Grace touches Millie’s leg with her own, her “secret sign to her” (40). After lunch, Millie wants to take a walk around the lake alone with Grace. However, Jack says that he will tag along. As they walk around the lake on a chilly afternoon, the sisters are frustrated by Jack’s presence. Millie repeats her catch phrase to Jack: “I like you, Jack…but I don’t like Jorj Koony,” then laughs hysterically (41).

Jack tells Millie that they are getting her room ready for when she comes to live with them. She makes sure that it will be yellow, and he confirms it. Jack says that they will be visiting the next weekend.

When Millie finds out that Jack and Grace are getting married, she wants to be Grace’s bridesmaid and Grace agrees. Jack is irritated, as he thought it was going to be a simple wedding. In fact, Jack’s friends, Giles and Moira, are holding the reception at their home at Cranleigh Park, forty minutes outside of London.

The couple goes out to meet Giles and Moira and see their house. Then they stay at a hotel near the house, out in the country. Grace is excited to finally make love to Jack, but after she gets out of the shower, he has fallen asleep. In the middle of the night, he wakes up and is embarrassed that he missed his opportunity. He makes love to her right then.

The next morning, they spend time in bed together and then head back to London. They don’t see each other for a week, which gives Grace time to finish a painting that she has been working on for Jack. She has not told Jack that she enjoys painting and is eager to surprise him with the present. It is a large abstract piece featuring varying shades of red and silver. When looking at it closely, one can see that the shading represents “hundreds of tiny fireflies” (45). The red marks were created by lipstick, as Grace kissed the canvas over and over again wearing different shades. She is able to present the painting to Jack on Christmas Day. He loves it and wants to hang it up in the house, along with all of Grace’s future paintings.

While waiting for the house to be finished and for the wedding, Grace leaves her job. She begins to get bored with not working, so Jack shows up at her apartment one day with a puppy. Grace is ecstatic, as she will now have a companion during the day while Jack is at work.

On the day before the wedding, Grace drops the puppy, Molly, off with Jack so that he can take her to their new house and leave the puppy with the housekeeper, who will look after her while they are on their honeymoon. Millie and Grace get ready at a hotel. However, while they are there, Jack shows up with presents. Grace complains that it is bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the wedding, but Jack doesn’t care. He gives her his mother’s pearl necklace and matching earrings. He also has a present for Millie: a pearl on a silver chain. Millie is delighted.

They go to the registry office in a limo. All of the guests are surprised when Jack also gets out of the car, including Grace’s parents. Grace’s parents are moving to New Zealand two weeks after Grace and Jack get back from their honeymoon. They signed Millie over to Jack and Grace so that they are now her legal guardians.

As Grace and her guests are going up the stairs to the registry, Millie, who is walking arm and arm with Jack, trips and falls back down the stairs. She ends up at the bottom, passed out. Jack apologizes, saying it happened so quickly he couldn’t catch her. Grace’s dad thinks that Millie’s leg is broken. As Millie begins to come to, their mom says that she and their dad will go with Millie to the hospital and that Grace should still get married. Grace doesn’t want to because she is worried about the extent of Millie’s injuries. Jack agrees that they can call it off if she wants. The paramedics explain that once Millie gets to the hospital, Grace won’t be able to stay with her while she is having x-rays. Jack looks so down about not getting married that Grace decides to go through with it. She lies, telling Jack that Millie would want them to get married, even though in reality Millie will not understand why Grace went on without her. Grace hopes that she’ll “never have to choose between [Jack] and Millie again” (53).

Grace’s mom calls during the reception and says that Millie does indeed have a broken leg. Grace promises that she and Jack will come to visit Millie on the way to the airport.

After the reception, they go to the hotel where they are staying before they leave for their honeymoon in Thailand the next day. Grace takes a bath while Jack pours a whiskey. Grace puts on the lingerie she bought for their wedding night and goes into the room.

On the car ride back from seeing Millie, Grace says she can cancel lunch with Esther and Diane, but Jack says that she should keep the date. Grace is surprised, as Jack never lets her keep plans with her friends.

On Friday morning, as he drives her to town for the lunch, Grace thinks that she shouldn’t let this opportunity pass her by: “I begin to plot feverishly, terrified that I’ll let the moment slip through my fingers” (56). However, her hopes are short-lived, as when they arrive, Jack asks Diane and Esther whether he can join them for lunch.

During lunch, Esther continues to probe into the lives of Grace and Jack. She asks whether Jack is truly perfect and Grace says yes. The conversation turns to reading, and Grace offers that she loves to read, though she doesn’t get to do it very often. Esther offers to let Grace borrow a book that she just finished reading and enjoyed. She offers to drop it off at the house for Grace. Grace says yes, but then realizes that she has made a mistake, saying that she’ll likely be in the garden and that Esther might have to put it in the mailbox. Jack points out that they can just buy the book.

As dessert is ordered, talk moves to Millie. She must be so excited about coming to live with Grace and Jack, Esther remarks. Grace reveals that Millie hasn’t yet seen the house, as her room is not ready. It will be red, her favorite color (Millie’s actual favorite color is yellow).

As lunch ends, Esther wants to exchange numbers and Grace reveals that she doesn’t have a phone. She and Jack also share an e-mail address. Esther is astonished. Jack says that he will put Esther’s number in his phone and write it down for Grace later. As Esther gives Jack the number, Grace closes her eyes, trying to memorize it. When she opens her eyes, Esther is staring at her. Esther asks Diane to double-check the accuracy of the number, because sometimes she misremembers it, and Diane indulges her. Esther repeats her number more slowly.

When Grace and Jack get to the car, Jack asks Grace if she enjoyed lunch. She responds that she didn’t. Jack says that he’s getting bored with her lack of “fighting spirit.” The idea that she might be rebelling against him again by being contrary excites him; he says, “‘Bring it on Grace—I’m waiting for you’” (66). 

The story shifts back to Jack and Grace’s wedding night. When Grace emerges from the bathroom at the hotel, Jack is nowhere to be found. She calls him, but the phone goes to voicemail. When she calls again, it goes directly to the recording. Grace begins to look for him in the hotel and outside. His car is gone. Grace is in tears and leaves Jack a message saying that if she doesn’t hear from him in ten minutes, she is going to call the police.

Finally, he sends her a cruel text message, telling her not to be so hysterical. He says he will see her in the morning. Grace rationalizes his behavior, deciding that the situation is her fault for being too needy and not understanding his busy work schedule. She feels as if she has failed him and will apologize to him when she sees him.

When Grace wakes up at 8am, Jack still hasn’t come back. He finally texts her coldly, letting her know that he will meet her in the parking lot at 11am. He leaves her waiting out in the cold for twenty-five minutes.

When he does arrive, Jack says that there is now no time to see Millie. Grace argues with him, saying that they still have a chance to turn around and go to the hospital. Jack pulls off to a service station and tells her that she has to choose: it’s either get out of the car and take a cab to the hospital and don’t go to Thailand, or go to with him and miss seeing Millie. Grace doesn’t want their marriage to start off badly, so she picks Jack. He asks for her passport, and he puts it in his inside coat pocket. Then he gets back on the highway and drives to the airport. Grace has to leave a message on her mother’s cell saying that she was mistaken about their flight time and they can’t come to see Millie.

Once they’re at check-in, Jack uses Millie’s condition as an excuse for asking to be upgraded to first class. Grace is mystified. The Jack that she had gotten to know would never have done that. Once they are on the plane, he doesn’t wake her up for dinner. When Grace does open her eyes, she is hungry and has to argue with Jack until he calls the stewardess over and asks for a snack.

When Grace wakes up, the plane is landing in Bangkok. Since he has been to Thailand before, Jack has planned the entire trip. They end up at a hotel with a small room where Jack can barely fit into the shower, but to Grace’s surprise, he doesn’t complain. Grace begins to think that perhaps Jack has lost his job and that is why he has been acting so strangely. Indeed, he says, “‘The dream is over, I’m afraid’” (83). However, he laughs at her suggestion that he has lost his job, and tells her that she should have chosen Millie over him, because she just sold their souls.

Done with Jack’s games, Grace decides to leave, but then realizes that she doesn’t have her passport. Jack dangles it in front of her. Her money and credit card are also missing. Jack asserts that even if she had her money and identification, Grace could not leave anyway because he will stop paying for Millie’s school and Grace’s little sister will end up in an asylum. Jack has control of Grace’s money from the sale of the house.

After more pleading from Grace, Jack says that if she listens to a story that he wants to tell her, then she can leave. Without options, Grace agrees. Before he begins, however, he tells her another secret: there is not a housekeeper looking after the dog.