Contents
Hannah — Chapter 44
Overview
The ushers return rowdy, and a bar fight erupts when Charlie attacks Duncan. Shaken, Charlie reveals the stag weekend’s targeted bullying and blames Will as ringleader. A vicious argument with Hannah exposes Charlie’s past affair with Jules after Ben’s birth. Hannah, devastated and furious, leaves him to his mess.
Summary
The ushers burst back into the marquee, rowdy and triumphant after carrying Will off. Guests surge toward the bar, while Hannah notices Jules sitting alone, withdrawn. Shouts from the bar draw Hannah to find Charlie pinning Duncan, fist raised. She pulls Charlie off, and they retreat under the silent gaze of onlookers.
Hannah presses Charlie for an explanation. Loosened by drink, Charlie recounts the Stockholm stag: Trevellyan old boys mocked him for not drinking, pushed magic mushrooms, then abandoned him naked on a cold island for hours. He describes terror and humiliation, and insists Will led it, with Johnno’s support.
Hannah questions Will’s role, and Charlie snaps, accusing Hannah of fancying Will. Their argument escalates as Hannah counters with Charlie’s enabling of Jules. The tension exposes deeper fractures: Charlie admits he once slept with Jules.
Under Hannah’s questioning, Charlie reveals it happened after Ben’s birth, during Hannah’s postpartum struggle. The confession reframes Jules’s behavior and Charlie’s loyalty, devastating Hannah. She rejects his attempts at comfort, condemns his drunkenness and irresponsibility, and walks away, leaving Charlie to face the consequences alone.
Who Appears
- HannahPOV; stops Charlie’s fight, hears his stag-do ordeal, learns of his affair with Jules, and leaves him.
- CharlieHannah’s husband; drunkenly attacks Duncan, reveals stag bullying, blames Will, admits sleeping with Jules.
- DuncanUsher; rowdy on return, becomes the target of Charlie’s bar-room attack.
- JulesBride; seen sitting apart, later revealed to have slept with Charlie after Ben’s birth.
- WillGroom; offstage but accused by Charlie of leading the stag-do bullying.
- FemiUsher; joins the roughhousing on return to the marquee.
- AngusUsher; wrestles with Duncan during the rowdy entrance.
- Peter RamsayUsher; knee-slides into the marquee, part of the rowdy group.