I go back to my sewing and when I’ve done enough to take a break, I look for the book so as to call the owners of the unmarked dresses. Bizarrely, I can’t find it anywhere. Increasingly frustrated, I decide to stop looking. Sooner or later, it’s bound to turn up.

KIM

On the narrowboat, Mercia, Betty and I are having the Boatman’s Buffet.

‘Looks wonderful,’ Mercia says.

‘As long as the boatman doesn’t mind,’ Betty adds, laughing.

I’m looking out at the green canal banks; we’re motoring slowly past joggers and cyclists and dog walkers and tramps, and I’m thinking about Moss’s collapse. For some reason, it strongly reminds me of the game of British Bulldogs, where after each run from one end of the street to the other the players thin out until there are more bulldogs than players. We’re in our eighties and Moss is even older than us. We’re thinning out, too.

It’s not the only thing on my mind, though. David told me that Fern is giving up the stall. It bothers him and it bothers me, too. I feel a sense of responsibility for her. More than that – I feel regret for a wasted talent that’s nothing to do with her love of clothes but more about her ability to see people looking their best. Trivial is the word David said she used. Trivial! I wouldn’t call it that. But watching her working at the back of the shop, dressed all in black with those solid workmen’s boots, she looked as if she were at a funeral for her own dreams.

‘Wine! Oh yes, wine! Kim? Ship’s white, or ship’s rosé?’

We opt for the ship’s rosé and our food is wonderful, poached salmon and three salads, just the thing for a hot day, with a choice of desserts to come.

‘You’re awfully quiet all of a sudden, Kim,’ Betty says to me.

‘Betty, how would you go about convincing someone that the course of action they’re taking isn’t the right one?’

‘Who are we talking about?’

‘Fern Banks. She’s going to give up the stall to be a sales assistant.’

‘What a shame! Just when we’ve discovered her!’ Mercia says in dismay.

Betty looks thoughtful. ‘In answer to your question, Kim, I don’t think you can convince anyone to change their minds once they’ve made them up. I don’t think you’ve got a right to.’

‘That’s pretty well what David said.’

‘I do think David’s rather good-looking, didn’t you, Betty? He reminded me of Bertie. The same build. I’m talking about when he was young, of course. Did you see his light boxes?’