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nowadays seem to think of nothing else.’
    Theodosia would have liked to tell her that it wasn’t new clothes, more’s the pity. It was cat food, and milk, bread and cheese, tea and the cheaper cuts of meat, and all the other necessities one needed to keep body and soul together. But she didn’t say a word.
    It was the professor who said blandly, ‘I don’t imagine that Theodosia has a great deal of money to spare—our hospital salaries are hardly generous.’
    He smiled, shook hands and took his leave. At the door to the drawing room he bent his great height and kissed Theodosia’s cheek. ‘Until tomorrow evening.’ His smile included all three ladies as he followed Mrs Trickey to the front door.
    Great-Aunt Jessica might not have moved with the times—in her young days gentlemen didn’t kiss young ladies with such an air, as though they had a right to do so—but she was romantic at heart and now she smiled. It was Great-Aunt Mary who spoke, her thin voice disapproving.
    ‘I am surprised, Theodosia, that you allow a gentleman to kiss you in that manner. Casual kissing is a regrettable aspect of modern life.’
    Theodosia said reasonably, ‘Well, I didn’t allow him, did I? I’m just as surprised as youare, Aunt Mary, but I can assure you that nowadays a kiss doesn’t meant anything—it’s a social greeting—or a way of saying goodbye.’
    And she had enjoyed it very much.
    ‘Shall I unpack the things you wanted?’ she asked, suddenly anxious not to talk about the professor.
    It was a task which took some time and successfully diverted the old ladies’ attention.
    The weekend was like all the others, only there was more talk of Christmas now. ‘We shall expect you on Christmas Eve,’ said Aunt Jessica. ‘Around teatime will suit us very nicely.’
    That would suit Theodosia nicely, too. She would have to work in the morning; patients still had diets even at Christmas. There would be a tremendous rush getting the diets organised for the holiday period but with luck she would be able to get a late-afternoon train. She must remember to check the times …
    In bed much later that night, with Gustavus curled up beside her, she allowed herself tothink about the professor. It was, of course, perfectly all right for him to kiss her, she reassured herself, just as she had reassured her aunts: it was an accepted social greeting. Only it hadn’t been necessary for him to do it. He was a very nice man, she thought sleepily, only nice wasn’t quite the right word to describe him.
    It was very cold in church the next morning and, as usual, lunch was cold—roast beef which was underdone, beetroot and boiled potatoes. The trifle which followed was cold, too, and her offer to make coffee afterwards was rejected by the aunts, who took their accustomed seats in the drawing room, impervious to the chill. Theodosia was glad when it was time for her to get the tea, but two cups of Earl Grey, taken without milk, did little to warm her.
    She was relieved when the professor arrived; he spent a short time talking to her aunts and then suggested that they should leave. He hadn’t kissed her; she hadn’t expected him to, but he did give her a long, thoughtful look beforebidding his farewells in the nicest possible manner and sweeping her out to the car.
    It must have been the delightful warmth in the car which caused Theodosia to sneeze and then shiver.
    ‘You look like a wet hen,’ said the professor, driving away from the house. ‘You’ve caught a cold.’
    She sneezed again. ‘I think perhaps I have. The church was cold, but the aunts don’t seem to mind the cold. I’ll be perfectly all right once I’m back at Mrs Towzer’s.’ She added, ‘I’m sorry; I do hope I won’t give it to you.’
    ‘Most unlikely. We won’t stop for a meal at Great Dunmow, I’ll drive you straight back.’
    ‘Thank you.’
    It was the sensible thing to do, she told herself, but at the same time she felt overwhelming