"I'm sorry," Mary replies, hoping that she hasn't ruined their picnic by bringing it up. "I only ask because..."

Why? Because she enjoys his company and doesn't want to allow herself to think of him as anything more than a companion if she knows that he's married? Because she'll feel a bit better about flirting with him despite the fact that he wears a ring?

"I am a widow," she says. "My husband died three years ago."