David Webber

David Webber is Margaret Campbell’s former partner, whose return during her father’s mourning briefly offers her comfort before exposing how differently they understand their shared past. His attempt to revive their relationship ends when Margaret rejects the possibility of a future with him and makes clear that she loves Li Yan.

Identity and Past

David is a doctor who became the youngest cardiac consultant at Chicago Hope. He and Margaret had been involved before graduation, and their relationship combined mutual physical attraction with a history that, in retrospect, Margaret considers fundamentally unequal: she believes David had been drawn to her physically, with little understanding of who she was beyond that. She remembers their earlier closeness, but not as evidence that they were suited to build a life together.

Their different routes through university sharpened that distinction. David attended the University of Chicago because his parents could afford it; Margaret attended on a scholarship. When he tells her that he is still single, she responds by imagining that he must have had many women interested in him after their separation. The exchange gives his return a personal charge, but also reveals Margaret’s skepticism about the self-presentation with which he approaches her.

Return During Margaret’s Bereavement

David appears in the doorway of Margaret’s dead father’s den while she is there with her mother. At first, the semi-darkness leaves Margaret unable to identify him; his voice brings back memories of the years before graduation, and she recognizes him. He has come to see her after many years apart. His mother-in-law-to-be? No: Margaret’s mother quickly resumes the role of the bereaved widow and leaves the two alone, saying they should have time to reacquaint themselves. The scene thus places an old intimacy inside a house newly shaped by grief, without suggesting that their reunion can undo either the loss or the intervening years.

When David steps farther into the room, Margaret recognizes his appearance and remembers their former physical closeness. She unexpectedly bursts into tears. David responds without demanding an explanation: he holds her until her sobs ease, then suggests taking her out to dinner so she can get away from the house. The comfort is immediate and familiar, and Margaret smiles at his promise to make her laugh. She also recalls that she used to insist they split the bill and that he used to make her laugh. In this first moment, the old ease seems to return through care and shared habits rather than through any resolution of their past.

The Past Reconsidered

That warmth does not alter Margaret’s account of what happened between them. She remembers becoming pregnant and David treating one course of action as the only possible choice. She says she allowed herself to be persuaded and never forgave herself or him. The memory gives their former relationship a lasting consequence: what had seemed rewarding to her at the time became bound to regret, and reunion cannot be separated from the decision she still holds against them both.

David’s claim to have cared for Margaret all along is met with disbelief. She tells him that they never had a future, either then or now, and refuses to become a pawn in what she sees as her mother’s matchmaking. Margaret suspects that her mother is impressed less by David himself than by the wealth of his family, recalling that his parents could pay for his education while she needed a scholarship. The evidence does not establish that her mother instructed David to pursue her; rather, Margaret infers a plan from the circumstances, and David’s blush confirms that he had made the dinner reservation well in advance.

Rejected Reconciliation

David insists that his concern is personal and that he has always cared for Margaret. She does not accept that declaration as a reason to resume their relationship. Instead, she distinguishes his attachment from the future she wants and names Li Yan as the man she loves. Her response ends any uncertainty about whether the dinner has renewed her romantic interest: the tenderness of the reunion has not displaced her present commitment.

The meal arrives as two wooden platters of sliced bream, bass, salmon and tuna, accompanied by squid rolls, finely cut daikon radish and a quail’s egg, with the sushi rice served separately. Margaret and David sit in silence looking at the food before she rises, takes her purse and says she should leave. She allows him to pay the check, but the gesture is not a return to their old arrangement or an acceptance of his invitation. David smiles sadly, acknowledging that he did not make her laugh. The dinner ends not in renewed intimacy but in a quiet measure of the distance between the memories they share and the future Margaret has chosen.