The cars rattled along Baker Street at rather better than thirty miles an hour. There were a few signs of life – some figures skulking away into doorways as the patrol reached them, others calling...

‘And what does that give you, with the river as its southern boundary?’ McKay looked up, eyes sharp in his thin face. ‘It gives you the London Pale. The name isn’t official, but it’s apt....

‘I was up at the Pool of London yesterday,’ David said. ‘There are chunks of ice floating. You can cross the river above Chiswick.’ ‘There have been other winters as cold, though, haven’t there?’ With...

‘David,’ she said. ‘He asked if you were here.’ ‘What does he want?’ ‘He asked if he could come and have coffee with us.’ Her hands, as though automatically, went to her dress and fastened...

They walked separated by a distance that had to be consciously gauged; far enough apart, but not so far as to be conspicuous. His hand touched hers accidentally, and he choked down an apology as...

‘You’re something of a bastard,’ Andrew said, ‘aren’t you?’ ‘In both senses of the word, as a matter of fact. That’s probably what made her so self-sacrificing. I’m also something of a realist.’ Andrew said...

‘For weeks you were sleeping with my wife and meeting me seemingly as a friend.’ ‘Nothing seeming about it. It started with Carol when I hardly knew you – that first time you came round...

She said: ‘I’m going to leave you, Andy.’ He was aware of a slight shiver that ran across his shoulders and down his spine; he hoped the tremor had not shown. The girl behind the...

Over the week-end, the snow stopped falling. There was a thawing rain on Saturday afternoon and Sunday, and on Monday it was clear and cold, with small clouds skating over a chill blue sky. In...

‘I do like you for being old-fashioned,’ she said. ‘No, I suppose he wouldn’t, under the circumstances.’ The last phrase carried a shadow of emphasis. ‘There’s nothing wrong – nothing basically. He’s meeting … a...