Het doosje met alles

I knew all the people seated separately. 

Lord Henry, a banker and a good fellow. A loyal husband, straight as an arrow, dependable. 

Countess Whittaker, a daughter first, wife second. Majored in economics, quite the match. 

Doctor Solomon, a man as wide as he stood high. Fond of cigarettes and sherry. 

Madam Geraldine, mother of both the nation and a dynasty. In age, she’d grown small like a bird. 

All people I understood, adored. Yet together, packed into one dining room, they became strangers anew. I strained at the possibility of a connected past, the combined secrets they held. 

Now, I too was a stranger, and I gleefully seated myself next to these new people.