‘It’s something I’ve only just realised.’

He settled her weight more firmly against him. ‘And what was the cause of your just realising?’

‘Little things. You know.’

‘I know when you’re deceiving me.’

She blushed. ‘It was after she had been telling me I ought not to go skiing. She said it might be dangerous for the baby. I told her you thought that was old-fashioned, that a woman only need take reasonable care and she could do whatever she liked. So then she asked me if … I still let you make love to me.’

Lionel grinned. ‘Did she?’

‘From the way she said it, I realised that really she was jealous. And when I looked at it like that, I could understand other things too.’

‘If it is true,’ Lionel said, ‘it’s a bit unfair on John.’

‘Unfair?’

‘Don’t you think so?’

She said scornfully, ‘John got what he wanted.’

‘And what was that?’

‘To copy you, of course, as he always does. You found a wife in Switzerland, and it turned out there was a sister for him. It couldn’t have been better.’

‘Now you’re being unfair to him. He’s a good chap.’

She smiled. ‘Well, of course.’

‘In himself, I mean.’

Victoria looked closely at her husband. ‘I wouldn’t have married him. I think it’s poor Kitty.’