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forgotten how passionately I can feel – how fierce I can be on behalf of those I care for, how deeply I have loved myself. Over the long years I had lost my awareness of the vulnerability of youth and forgotten how vital it is that a capacity for loving should not be wasted.
    But now that I have remembered, I must share that knowledge with Katy. For she must not make the mistake that I did.
    Outside at the kerb her Bentley was waiting, Evans standing patiently beside it. As Elise appeared he moved forward to open the door for her and she slipped into the luxurious interior, airconditioned against the heat of the summer evening.
    â€˜Bartlett Mews, please, Evans,’ she said quietly, and as the car purred gently away to slide through the London traffic she sat back and pondered on her coming meeting with Katy.

Chapter Four
    â€˜Granny, this is a real treat! I couldn’t believe it when you said you were coming up to town tonight!’
    Katy, cool and lovely in a strappy camisole top and harem pants in palest lemon lawn, stood in the centre of her cluttered kitchen beaming her welcome at Elise.
    Around her, chaos reigned. Piles of books and magazines jostled vases of freesia, roses and sweet peas; unwashed dishes were stacked high on the draining board beside the orange peel from this morning’s freshly-squeezed oranges and the joint of lamb Katy was defrosting for a weekend supper party. Tidiness was not and never would be one of her attributes.
    â€˜Sit down, Granny!’ Expansively Katy cleared a space on her kitchen bench of scrubbed pine. ‘Sorry about the mess – I don’t know where it all comes from.’
    â€˜I didn’t even notice it,’ Elise lied. ‘You’re looking very brown, Katy.’
    â€˜Yes, I am!’ Katy stretched out-slim tanned arms and looked at them with critical pride. ‘After the fortnight I had in Bermuda at the beginning of the summer, I was determined not to let all that lovely sunbathing go to waste and turn pasty white again. So every week when the sun hasn’t shone, I’ve treated myself to a topping-up at the solarium.’
    Elise laughed. ‘You haven’t needed to do that this week.’
    â€˜No, it’s been gorgeous, hasn’t it? Not that I get much opportunity to be out in it. The gallery …’
    â€˜Oh yes, how is the gallery?’ Elise asked.
    â€˜Fine! I’ve sold two originals this week by a super new artist I found all by myself. And I’ve made an enormous profit on a print I picked up at auction for a song …’ She broke off, pushing her mane of rich brown hair behind her ear with an impatient gesture. ‘I’m sorry, Granny, going on about work When you must be starving. What can I get you to eat? How about some lamb? I could cut off a couple of slices from the end of this leg, I expect; it’s just about defrosted. And I’ve got courgettes in the fridge, and a punnet of fresh raspberries …’
    â€˜Darling, no, really!’ Elise protested. ‘You know too much supper doesn’t agree with me these days. One meal a day is quite sufficient and I had that at lunch-time.’
    â€˜A drink, then? Oh, I suppose Uncle Alex has topped you up pretty well?’
    â€˜He tried!’ Elise agreed.
    â€˜You mean I can’t get you anything? Oh, Granny, that’s ridiculous after you’ve come all this way.’
    Elise smiled. ‘ I’ll have a glass of wine, Katy, if you have it.’
    â€˜Yes, of course. There’s the most enormous bottle of white plonk, or … have you tried Lambrusco? Light red, with bubbles that tickle your nose if you’re lucky!’
    â€˜All right, I’ll try it,’ Elise said, smiling as she thought of the cellar of fine old wines and new season Beaujolais at Durscombe Park.
    â€˜How’s Mummy?’ Katy asked, pouring wine into a glass and setting it down on the scrubbed pine table at