[Tempo moderate] Verse 1 The book group gathers every week To parse what Dunnett wrote Of Claes the dyer, sharp and sleek In his blue apprentice coat But tonight the Zoom stays dark, my friends No link will light your screen For Fergus has a rendezvous At old Trudeau-Dorval, if you know what I mean Chorus Cancel the meeting, close your books Set Niccolò aside There's a man who's flying into town Who she cannot let slide He doesn't know his who from whom But she loves him all the same And Dunnett would approve, I think— She always loved a complicated game Verse 2 Now Jan has read her Dunnett well She knows each plot and feint She's got a PhD that tells Her grammar from complaint But this man writes "who" where "whom" should go And mangles every clause And still she's driving to the gate Without a single pause Chorus Cancel the meeting, close your books Set Niccolò aside There's a man who's flying into town Who she cannot let slide He doesn't know his who from whom But she loves him all the same And Dunnett would approve, I think— She always loved a complicated game Bridge He's not her boyfriend, so they say Just some fellow from Denver way But Marian de Charetty would know When a merchant's worth the risk You pack your heart and go Verse 3 So raise a glass in Bruges tonight To lovers on the run To book groups dark and airport lights And chapters left undone We'll reconvene when Jan gets back With stories of her own A plot twist Dunnett never wrote— The meeting cancelled for a love well-known Outro Cancel the meeting… close your books… She's off to meet her man And somewhere Dorothy is smiling down On the beautiful, brilliant Jan
