Two days after they left Gibraltar, land appeared on the port side. Michael went on deck with the others, to watch the mist open out into brown hills, flecked with small, incredibly white villages. During...

They went out into the garden, where a figure was already bending over Roger, helping him to his feet. He had apparently fallen against a sheet of glass, propped beside a box. The figure –...

The music, starting up again in the room behind them, had a faintly wistful note even as the trumpets brayed, through its dissipation into the cold night air. Beside him Rosemary shivered. He put a...

Jessica filled his glass again and he drank, aware of the excitement of the drink pricking under his skin. Jessica watched him for a moment, and then leaned over. ‘You’re a nice boy, Roger,’ she...

‘I’ve always wanted a child, too,’ Stephen said, softly. He saw the curtain of Rosemary’s face contract interrogatively, and thought despairingly of the communion of lovers. Perhaps with women it was impossible; and all the...

Mulready came over, swaying ponderously like a tight-rope-walking elephant. He threw forward a large white hand, like a tentacle, as Stephen began to rise. ‘Don’t disturb yourself, Mr Hallam,’ he protested. ‘I just hoped I...

Roger climbed the stairs slowly. As he reached the landing he saw that a door on the left was half open, so that he could see part of a cream wall and the end of...

‘In a way I’m sorry I gave you that telephone number,’ he said. ‘She’s a bit of a bitch, you know. And you were at an impressionable age when you knew her.’ ‘Who?’ Roger asked,...

Lance heard Gordon’s voice calling. He closed the car door. ‘I’ve got to be getting back,’ he said. ‘Good-bye.’ He ran back to Mummy and Gordon, who were getting ready to leave. As they all...

Gordon drove slowly at first through the crowded streets; down the station road to the promenade and then to the east. On their right the sea rolled in across the cloud-flecked sands, sinking further below...