‘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...

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...

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...

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 –...

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...

He heard voices calling for him and crouched down over the table, his arms falling across his books. For a while he sat motionless, active only in his hate for the importunate voices. He heard...

He drank the champagne and sat down. The others were talking and laughing. Ignoring them, he twisted the champagne glass in his fingers, trying to balance it at awkward angles, spinning it round between his...

Round the bend the Grand Canal narrowed towards the Rialto Bridge. As they drew near it the water was turning to gold until they saw, framed in the narrow arch of the bridge, the whole...

Rosemary stirred, moving against him on the narrow seat. She said: ‘Your friends – the Danvers, all of them … They don’t really like me. They put up with me because of you. But that’s...

Rosemary said: ‘I believe you will be glad to be back in Hampshire.’ He smiled at her, relieved that she should imagine his thoughts so far from where they were. He said: ‘I shan’t be...