“There’s a great deal wrong with local government. It’s far less than perfect. It could be immeasurably better than it is. Well, ladies and gentlemen, the remedy is in your hands. I don’t care if you’ve heard this before; now you’re hearing it again. I don’t only ask you to take an intelligent interest in local government – in any case by attending this course you’re doing that already. I ask that each one of you who feels himself capable of doing the job of councillor should do his best to become a councillor. I don’t care what your politics are: your duty is plain.” I heightened my voice. “I address this appeal especially to the young people in the audience. You know what the definition of an idiot is – the real definition. An idiot is a person who takes no interest in public affairs. Don’t be idiots, please. Yes, watch us like hawks. Yes, ques­tion us. Yes, criticize us. Yes, even abuse us if we deserve it. But, best of all, join us. Join us in working for the public good, join us in making democracy work. Thank you.”

I sat down, wondering, as I always did, just what I was thanking them for. The Warden rose and said the usual things: I was refreshing, I was down to earth, I was practical, I had an unusually comprehensive experience of local government . . . I looked at Norah again. Her dress was a bright blue with a pattern of golden birds; the neck was high but the skirt scarcely covered the knees. She crossed her legs; there was the faintest of rustles and the sound of nylon rubbing against nylon.

It was that sound which undid me; it wasn’t loud, it couldn’t have been heard had I not been listening for it, but it was of the same order of sounds as a finger rubbing against glass. It hit a raw nerve, it awakened a sensuality which I had thought was tamed. I began to understand what makes a man rape a woman. It wasn’t the need for sexual intercourse, it was the need for rape.

The trouble with that, Mark was fond of saying, was that the women have all of it. Norah had all of it now as far as I was con­cerned; I wondered if she knew it, if that revelation of rounded knees had been deliberate, if that faint smile wasn’t because she had no intention of giving me what I wanted because for her I didn’t exist as a man at all.

“And now,” the Warden said, “Mr. Lampton has very kindly agreed to answer your questions . . .”