Free Visitors by Anita Brookner

was forced to conclude that Ann was not pleasing. Like David she was jovial, even jocular, but she did not aim to please. In withholding her co-operation she became paradoxically powerful. Negligent in appearance, she gave notice of a lazy will. The child that Mrs May remembered had seemed to be seeking an outlet for her own way. The woman, for she was more woman than girl, seemed to have found it. Of the two of them, David was the innocent. Steve, in neutral, seemed to have no views on this unlikely partnership. Both Steve and David, in their identical sexless clothing, were like members of a youth club. Ann, by contrast, had something of the leader about her.
    Mrs May judged it prudent to keep any discussion within the bounds of the immediate family. An argument was clearly on the way.
    ‘I’m sorry to make this meeting rather brief,’ she said. ‘Kitty, will you excuse me? I hadn’t realised how late it was.’
    ‘Steve is staying to dinner, if that’s all right, Grandma,’ said David.
    ‘Quite all right,’ said Kitty, defeated. ‘Cold chicken and salads. And apple tart. If you’ll wait a moment I’ll make some more tea.’
    ‘You see what I mean,’ said Austin, accompanying her to the main road. ‘You’re sure you won’t stay, Thea? We see too little of you.’
    ‘No, I won’t stay,’ she said. ‘And yes, I do see what you mean.’
    ‘It’s not just that they’re strangers. They’re
aliens
. They have different customs. When Estrella went in to do Ann’s roomyesterday she found her still in bed, at half-past ten, reading. She was wearing a T-shirt. Kitty’s answer to that was to take her off to the White House and buy her a trousseau. That’s how she thinks, poor darling. All leave has been cancelled, of course. No Freshwater, no Bordighera. I must say Molly and Harold have been very supportive, although Kitty can’t always talk freely on the telephone.’
    ‘What was she reading? Ann, I mean.’
    ‘I asked her that. I still take an interest.’ Austin had been a publisher of trade journals. ‘
A Holistic Tomorrow
. The shout line was “Say no to pharmaceuticals!” ’
    ‘If only we could.’
    ‘She’ll find out. They all will. Youth is ignorant. That’s what makes it so special.’
    ‘We mustn’t grudge them their ignorance, Austin.’
    ‘We resent it though, don’t we? Old people aren’t very nice either. I don’t like them myself.’
    They came to a stop silently on the street corner, neither of them anxious to go home.
    ‘You’ll be a great-grandfather,’ she observed.
    ‘Don’t. We’re old enough already.’
    ‘We are rather old, aren’t we? It’s such a comfort to be with someone one’s own age. That’s why I really can’t have Steve in the flat. It’s not fair to either of us. You remember what I said about the hotel?’
    ‘At least we can send them off on honeymoon. I booked it this morning; Paris, the Royal Monceau Hotel. Kitty and I went there. So did Molly and Harold.’
    ‘Will Steve go with them? I hardly think …’
    ‘I booked three air tickets. So you don’t have to worry. I doubt if they’ll move out, the boys, I mean. Ann would certainly object. She seems to like communal living. Like Gerald,’he added sadly. ‘He can eat his dinners with us. Just leave him something for breakfast.’
    ‘It’s the daytimes I worry about. I’m usually out for lunch …’
    ‘Are you? Good girl. I hope you look after yourself. There’s a taxi.’ He kissed her firmly on both cheeks and told her to keep in touch. ‘It meant a lot to Kitty, your coming all this way I dare say she’ll be on the phone tomorrow. I’ve enjoyed talking to you; I always do. I’d better get back: Molly and Harold said they’d look in. Take care, Thea.’
    The remark was valedictory. Looking out of the taxi’s back window she saw him walk dejectedly away and knew that she could not impose further on his attention. The drive back was less enjoyable than the earlier journey