The Birthday

Confident that she was the dominant member of her family, and the one to whom the others were bound by ties of love and loyalty, Meriel Graham expected that on her birthday it would, as usual, be everyone's concern to give her pleasure. However, under the normal surface of the day, all were occupied with problems of their own, so that the anniversary was remembered only by accident. At the end of the day's surprises, faced with revelations which, if acknowledged, could result in the loss of her prized security, Meriel shrinks from self-recognition. It is Peter, her husband, who, after all the unhappiness her obtuseness has caused, is determined that in future she will not dictate the manner of their lives.