RICKY AND VERITY accelerated their relationship in a manner that was viewed as positively unseemly and inappropriate by Verity’s parents and friends. They advised her against getting involved too quickly with this foreign divorce who, apart from being Asian, seemed too good to be true. Secretly they were jealous; Verity’s poor life choices and unluckiness in love had always provided a secret, unworthy comfort to her nearest and dearest. Her parents had privately believed that their dowdy daughter would never get married, and although they had outwardly complained about still having her on their hands, they knew that this meant she would always need them. And her friends knew that whatever they did in life, they would never be as badly off as poor little Veetie, what with her horrible, feckless Pete, and the one before who was just like Pete; she made them all seem quite successful by comparison,, So it was unthinkable that Verity, when she was quite beyond the age that anyone should reasonably expect to marry, was now in the throes of true love with an almost handsome, moderately successful, jet-setting businessman, who seemed to harbour only honourable intentions towards her.

The question that everyone asked, although no one asked out loud, was why would such a man choose Verity? Why would such a man, who could surely choose from many better-appointed contenders, choose a nervous, ageing administrator with a tremulous smile, whose youthful bloom had so clearly faded, leaving nothing to recommend her excepting a thinness of figure which was currently quite fashionable, and her English rose colouring? Perhaps it was because she was blonde - didn’t Asian men always like blondes? They didn’t understand the secret of Verity’s innocent seduction, because they had never seen Ricky for the man he was before he met her; a man who had been unhappy for almost all his life. The secret was simple; with Verity, he saw the hope of happiness. That was all. That was enough.

Verity’s family and friends actively made it their business to try and expose Ricky and find out the ulterior motive he might have for seeing their Veetie, persuading themselves they had only her best interests at heart. Ricky, aware of their suspicion, was acutely aware that they had good reason to be suspicious; he was still a married man, after all. He therefore went on an extraordinary charm offensive, wooing Verity’s inner circle with the same enthusiasm with which he had wooed and won Verity’s heart.