Mary Maloney seems to adore her husband. She caters to his every need, from preparing his dinner to giving him his needed time after work to unwind before she tries to engage in conversation with him. She tries to anticipate his needs, making him his favorite strong drink when he comes in from work. And she adores him:
She loved to luxuriate in the presence of this man, and to feel—almost as a sunbather feels the sun—that warm male glow that came out of him to her when they were alone together. She loved him for the way he sat loosely in a chair, for the way he came in a door, or moved slowly across the room with long strides.
And she is six months pregnant.
On this particular night, she senses that something is amiss. Finally, he admits that he has to tell her something and that he hopes she won't be too upset.
And he told her. It didn't take long, four or five minutes at most, and she sat very still through it all, watching him with a kind of dazed horror as he went further and further away from her with each word.
Her husband is leaving her—and doing so while she is less than three months away from delivering their first child. At this point,he stops and mentions that "it's kind of a bad time" to deliver this news.
These words ring hollow to a woman who has devoted her every hour to taking care of her husband's needs. It would always be a bad time to hear that one's husband is leaving, but to leave a pregnant wife without just cause and then to casually throw out that it might be poor timing is a bit much for this wife to take.
Of course, all that leads to her moment of revenge.
Readers are never sure of exactly what Patrick tells Mary, but we do know that it is quite upsetting to her. It is generally assumed that Patrick tells Mary that he wants a divorce or that he is leaving her. Either way, readers can be fairly certain that the marriage is over.
His comment about it being a bad time sends the message that he actually believes that there might be a good time to share this kind of news with his wife; however, that is not exactly what he means by "bad time."
Mary is pregnant, and she is going to have the baby in the next few months.
Her skin—for this was her sixth month with child—had acquired a wonderful translucent quality, the mouth was soft, and the eyes, with their new placid look, seemed larger and darker than before.
Patrick's comment is referring to her pregnancy and their nearly arrived child. Patrick is not only leaving Mary. His absence not only affects Mary, but his actions now leave a child without a father figure. Yes, Patrick's timing is absolutely terrible.
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