The Latecomer

Phoebe shows the letter to Lewyn, who now lives in the basement. He is the only one of the triplets that Phoebe speaks to regularly. Sally only returns from Ithaca for funerals, and Harrison, who lives on the Upper East Side, is an arrogant snob. Johanna no longer enforces the September birthday gathering. Phoebe understands that the distance in her family is about something that happened when she was just a baby but does not know what.

Ten years ago, Lewyn returned from Utah with a degree in art history and took control of curating Salo’s art collection. Phoebe tells him about Johanna’s comment about her birth and realizes, from Lewyn’s reaction, that there is more to the story. He tells her that her embryo had been fertilized at the same time as the triplets, and then frozen until years later.

Phoebe had always thought her father’s death was the tragedy of the family and believed that she had missed the best years of the family. She is thrown by this new information and changes the subject by showing him the letter from the museum. He is surprised that it is addressed to Johanna, rather than himself, and is further surprised because Salo did not collect outsider art. He recognizes Stella’s name, and they find her photo online, but neither of them recognizes her.

In Phoebe’s junior year, her guidance counselor gave her a book called Colleges That Change Lives, but she has never looked at it. At another meeting with the counselor and Johanna, Johanna brings up going to Cornell, but she has no interest, even though Sally lives in Ithaca. Later that week, she goes to visit Sally, fueled by her conversation with Lewyn. Although Harriet has died, Sally lives in her house and continues with her business. She tells Phoebe about Paula, who she is seeing, and Phoebe admits she had not come to Ithaca to look at Cornell, but to reconnect with Sally, and ask about family history.

At dinner, Sally confesses that she avoids emotional discussions, but Phoebe is right about the family being broken. She is proud of Phoebe for taking action and wants to help. Phoebe reveals what she learned about her embryo, and also the sense that she had missed the best of the family, which Sally confesses was not very good.

When Phoebe brings up the Rizzoli collection, Sally does not recognize it, but she reacts at Stella’s name. Although she does not want to burden Phoebe with the story, Sally tells her about Stella and Salo. When Phoebe wonders if Johanna knew, Sally thinks that may have been what prompted Phoebe’s birth. She had always felt badly about how the three of them had abandoned Phoebe with Johanna and Salo. Sally also suspects that, on the day Salo died, he had been going to Stella.

The next day, Phoebe goes on a tour of Cornell, and Sally shows her the Art that their family had donated. She then takes Phoebe on a more personal tour of the campus, talking about her history with the school and Harriet Greene. She shows Phoebe the dorms she and Lewyn had lived in, and Phoebe imagines them spending a lot of time together. Sally, however, tells her the truth—that they had denied each other’s’ existence.

When they go for lunch, Sally tells her about Rochelle, which is difficult for her, and Phoebe reflects that Lewyn has never mentioned Rochelle. When she shows compassion for Sally, Sally begins to cry, and tells her about the night of the clambake, and how the family has been frozen ever since. Phoebe thinks that this is about to change.

Phoebe waits in a limo to speak to Harrison, who is appearing on Fox News. Harrison is now in charge of the family firm, Wurttemberg Holdings. She is thankful for the family wealth, and that he takes care of it, but hates his neo-conservative beliefs. She does not want to be there, but after her conversation with Sally, she is more determined than ever to put the family back together.

After the show, which also featured Eli Absalom Stone, they both get into the limo. They drop Eli at his apartment, after which Harrison comments on the fact that both he and Eli have been to the White House for dinner. Phoebe considers this a dubious honor, but resolves not to lose her temper, always difficult when she talks to Harrison.

When she brings up Stella Western, Harrison hedges until she tells him that she knows about Salo and Stella’s affair. He is shocked, because he thought he was the only one who knew. He tells her that, after Salo’s death, she had contacted the family, wanting some things. When she finds out that Stella’s request was refused, they argue, but Harrison seems pleased. When she confessed her uncertainty about college, he gives her his copy of Colleges That Change Lives, and tells her about Roarke, which now accepts women. She realizes this is the most connection she has ever had with Harrison.

Phoebe shows Harrison the letter from the museum about the Rizzoli collection. He tells her that Stella had wanted to stay in her house in Red Hook, which their father owned, and he had agreed on the condition that she never contact the family. He also tells her that Salo and Stella have a son, whom he has never met.