‘Thelma’s not young and she’s got that full-time job,’ his mother had said. ‘It’s very kind of her to help us out like this, so you mustn’t give her any cause to regret it. You be a big help round the house while you’re there, Seymour. There’s no need to tell you to watch your manners, I can say that for you. Take her a cup of tea first thing in the mornings, she’s never had anyone to do that for her. I’m sure she’d appreciate it.’

He didn’t mind making anyone an early morning cup of tea, but it was a nerve-wracking business in this particular kitchen, where even inanimate objects like cannisters seemed capable of disapproval if you put them back in the wrong places. Here there was a place for everything and everything in its rightful place. The tea, for instance, was kept in a green plastic caddy with its own little measuring ladle, and you somehow didn’t dare use any other spoon. He took the cup of tea along the hall and knocked on Thelma’s bedroom door.

‘Come in, Seymour, and don’t bang so loud, you’ll have the plaster flaking off the walls.’

Her voice sounded tart and rebuffing, but he knew it wasn’t aimed at him in particular. She spoke like that to everyone and, after two days of staying there, he was slowly learning not to duck his head with alarm every time she addressed him. She didn’t thank him for making the tea, just watched sharply as he set it down on the bedside table next to her reading glasses. The room was spotlessly tidy and so was Thelma, as though she’d slept perfectly flat on her back all night. Her hair was a neat steel-grey helmet, and there wasn’t one crease in the bedspread. Even her wrinkles looked regimented.

Seymour didn’t quite know what to do while she was sipping the tea—whether to go, which seemed rude, or stay there, although Thelma wasn’t the type of person who went in for early morning banter. Or conversation of any kind at all, really. He hovered self-consciously at the end of the bed, running the sole of one foot on the calf of the other leg, aware of the trapped heat even in this room which the sun hadn’t yet reached. Thelma didn’t leave her windows open at night, despite the thickly meshed security screens.