On the train to New York, Jane sat staring out the window, reflecting on the strange and wonderful turns her life had taken. She felt very good about herself just then, very confident and attractive, like everyone who saw her wanted her.
It was a far cry from her younger self, who had been a very shy and insecure person. She had grown up poor and although her intelligence had gotten her a scholarship to a good private school, she never felt like she fit in. The girls at the school were mean and made fun of her inexpensive clothes, and though she was pretty she was awkward and not good at presenting herself, so the boys ignored her. She finally lost her virginity on the last night of high school to a boy that she never saw again, but did not enjoy the experience and was in no hurry to repeat it.
She had planned to go to college but that summer her mother, who had raised her single-handedly, took ill and she was obliged to go to work. She got a job as a legal secretary and after that lived a quiet life, tending to her mother and working lots of overtime to make ends meet. After three years, her mother passed away, but by now Jane (that was not her name at the time, of course) was set in her ways and continued living in their house and following the same routine.
The men at the law firm considered Jane prim and proper and unapproachable, but after she had been there about five years, an older man who was a senior partner at the firm took a shine to her. When he started plying her with compliments and gifts, she soaked up the attention like a parched plant soaking up water. They had only gone out a few times when he asked her to marry him, and although he was 25 years older than her, she readily accepted. He was wealthy, powerful, and handsome in a distinguished, graying way.
He insisted that she quit her job and stay at home, but he himself worked long hours, often not returning home until late at night. They had sex only occasionally, and even less after her husband had a heart attack about a year into the marriage. He recovered well and seemed to show no lingering effects, but after that he became paranoid about sexual activity, saying that he feared it would trigger another episode.
This didn't bother Jane too much, as their sex had never done much for her, but she grew increasingly restless, searching for something that she couldn't name. Her mother had been very religious and very sexually repressed, and this attitude had transmitted itself to Jane. She was aware that women could be attracted to each other, but it was something she had never allowed herself even to think about. So it took her a long time to realize what was happening when she started to become drawn to Agnes, a maid who worked in the house.