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Rosemary
would
be upset, and I hated the thought of her being hurt by what she might feel was Eva’s desertion.
    Donald must have moved quite swiftly because tickets for the Theatre Royal in Bath duly arrived.
    ‘It’s for the pre-London run of
Heartbreak House
,’ Eva told us enthusiastically. ‘It’s got a marvellous cast. It was so clever of Donald to get tickets, it’s pretty well sold out.’
    ‘How splendid,’ I said. ‘It’s such a gorgeous theatre,’ I went on hastily to cover up Rosemary’s lack of response, ‘and they have such terrific things on there and it’s not really that far away, but I never seem to do anything about it. Silly, really.’
    ‘Next time there’s anything special on, we must
all
go,’ Eva said.
     
    Anthea had stopped badgering Eva to give a talk at Brunswick Lodge since Donald had proved an easier target.
    ‘South America is such a fascinating place,’ she was saying, ‘and we none of us know anything at all about it. It’s a real privilege to have someone like Donald, who held a very high position out there, to tell us all about it.’
    ‘He’s only going to talk about the country,’ Derek cut in. ‘More a sort of travelogue.’
    ‘Well, it’s all going to be most interesting,’ Anthea responded.
    ‘I didn’t say it wasn’t going to be interesting,’ Derek said. ‘Donald is a very interesting man and whatever he has to say will be worth listening to. Unlike that woman who went on about Corfe Castle, who you said was so wonderful. Hardly anyone turned up for that. We should have a full house for Donald and I reckon we could easily charge five pounds for him.’
    ‘With refreshments,’ Maureen said. And the conversation turned to who was going to bring what and wasn’t it time something was done about the tea urn.
    Donald’s talk was, indeed, interesting, very lively and full of anecdotes and people crowded around him at the end as he most amiably continued to answer questions.
    ‘Well, really,’ Alison Shelby was at my elbow. ‘I don’t know when I’ve heard such a good talk! So interesting; it really brought it all to life, didn’t it?Such an amazing place. Mind you, I can’t say I’d like to live there – give me England all the time – and the people! Well, I suppose it takes all sorts, but some of the things …’ She moved past me and managed to insinuate herself into the group around Donald where she continued her enthusiastic exclamations.
    ‘It was certainly very popular.’ A cool voice behind me. I turned and saw that it was Maurice Shelby.
    ‘It was,’ I agreed. ‘Most entertaining, and he really knew his subject.’
    ‘Indeed. Since he spent many years out there and travelled widely. His job seems to have taken him to many different places.’
    ‘Actually, he didn’t really mention his job,’ I said tentatively.
    ‘No, I suppose it would have been unsuitable to do so.’
    ‘You mean because it was a large multinational company – you think there may be a lot of things he can’t talk about?’
    ‘Possibly. I don’t know the terms of his contract, but I imagine there must have been some restrictions.’
    ‘I suppose so,’ I said reluctantly, ‘but I’d have thought in a talk like this it would have been all right to say something – just to give us a general idea of what he did exactly.’
    ‘Apparently he chose not to do so. And now, if youwill excuse me, I need to collect my wife.’ He glanced towards the group where Alison was still in full flow, moving purposefully towards her, and I reflected that Mr and Mrs Bennett still lived today. Certainly she had the remains of a certain kind of prettiness which accounted for the match, but their two daughters (who took after their father) had managed their marriages (one to a doctor who would, one day, certainly be a consultant, and one to a barrister who, one day, would inevitably be a judge) most competently themselves.
    I went into the kitchen to help with the