Charlotte Gibney

In their company? No, not exactly. That phrase suggested equality. Charlotte Gibney and Henry Sirois had treated her more like a mentally defective child out on a day pass.

Holly remembers how Charlotte and Henry treated her in the past.

He’d seemed pretty much okay on her occasional visits, and Charlotte Gibney kept her own concerns about her brother strictly to herself, following one of the great unspoken rules of that lady’s life: if you don’t talk about …

The narrator recounts Charlotte withholding concerns about her brother from Holly.

Holly could tell Jerome that her mother likes the sameness, it makes her feel safe (Charlotte Gibney has her own issues), but doesn’t. She’s gearing up for what promises to be a stressful lunch and an even more stressful afternoon.

Holly thinks about her mother Charlotte while approaching a stressful family visit.

Henry Sirois, a fat man with a moist handshake, shows up at eight. Charlotte Gibney appears an hour later, herding an overloaded bellman ahead of her and complaining about the terrible service on her flight.

Charlotte arrives at the hotel directing the bellman and complaining about the flight.

She sends the email, and tells herself to get off her buttinsky (that one’s all Charlotte Gibney) and start looking for the missing jewelry. But she sits where she is a little longer, because something Izzy said is troubling her. “No, not Izzy.

Holly recognizes her mother Charlotte’s characteristic expression in her own thoughts.