Free Two Loves by Sian James Page A

interested. I thought he looked moth-eaten and a bit spiteful. I was glad to escape from him.’
    â€˜So why are you looking so gloomy?’
    â€˜I was thinking of old age, as a matter of fact.’
    â€˜It’s time you had a new man,’ Dora said. ‘You’ve been on your own too long. I know several attractive young men. Just give me a few days, that’s all I ask.’
    â€˜She doesn’t like young men,’ her father said drily. ‘Surely you know that much about her.’
    *   *   *
    â€˜Darling,’ Dora said later that night when Rosamund was tucked up on their sofa. (Dora and Paul had a smart flat in a smart square in Fulham, but it was minute, with only one bedroom.) ‘You must come and stay for a longer time and let me find you a boyfriend. I know exactly the sort of man you’d like, someone very handsome and very dependable and rather rich. I was thirty-five when I met your father. It’s the age of discernment, the age when one makes the right choice. Trust me.’
    â€˜You think you made the right choice?’ Rosamund asked, surprised but pleased.
    â€˜Of course. We’re very happy together.’
    â€˜But isn’t he rather … rather self-absorbed?’
    â€˜Oh yes. But you won’t find a man without faults. But if he gives you enough pleasure, you’ll put up with him very happily. That’s what it boils down to, Rosamund.’
    â€˜So why didn’t that work for my mother?’
    They were both silent for a moment. ‘Because she was too young,’ Dora said then. ‘She wanted everything. It takes maturity to work things out, your own worth, how much you can justifiably expect from life. You know the score by the time you’re thirty-five.’
    â€˜I don’t think I’ve learnt much.’
    â€˜I’m sure you have. You seem very wise, eager and calm at the same time.’
    â€˜I was very timid when I was at art school, I can’t quite understand why I didn’t get more out of it, why I didn’t make the most of being with all those dazzling young people.’
    â€˜They were probably a lot of pseuds and show-offs. That’s what I was anyway, when I was young – a show-off and a predator, only after the quick thrill. Now things have settled down to a nice steady richness.’
    Rosamund took Dora’s hand and kissed it. It was heartening to know that people could be happy instead of unhappy, bored and discontented. ‘Good night,’ she said. ‘I’ll be back by seven tomorrow night to help you make supper. I won’t be late again.’
    *   *   *
    At first Rosamund thought the woman at the door was Molly. ‘Mrs Gilchrist?’ she said, holding out her hand.
    â€˜No,’ the woman said, ‘I’m her cousin, Lorna Drew. I’ll take you to Mrs Gilchrist. She’s expecting you.’
    Lorna Drew was about seventy with short frizzy white hair and wide hips. She scrutinised Rosamund for several unblinking seconds as though she’d been curious to see her for many years. Perhaps she had.
    Rosamund followed her along a wide hall to an elegant Victorian conservatory where Molly Gilchrist was sitting. She held out her hand again. ‘I’m Rosamund. Please don’t get up.’
    â€˜I’ll bring some coffee,’ Lorna Drew said, leaving them together.
    â€˜Please sit down.’
    Molly was small and frail, expensively dressed in a pleated black and cream suit, perfumed, coiffeured and carefully made-up – her face a mask, but not at all grotesque. In fact rather beautiful, Rosamund thought; rather beautiful when you got used to it.
    â€˜I’m so glad you decided to come and see me. I suppose you must be as distressed as I am.’
    â€˜I’m sorry you’re distressed. You must try not to be, you know. Men aren’t worth fretting about.’
    What a strange thing to