Graffham put his hand on her shoulder. “We really must be going,” he said. “You’re very cruel, Norah. Can’t you see the poor man’s tired?”

I saw what he was trying to do.

“You needn’t try to rescue me, Mr. Graffham,” I said. “Norah hasn’t even begun to ask me any real questions yet. But just let me say this: I care very much about the swimming baths. I care very much about anything appertaining to the welfare of Warley. Let’s leave it at that. We’ll argue about politics some other time.” I held out my hand.

“I’ll look forward to it,” he said. His hand was sweaty: I imagined it on Norah and felt a spasm of jealousy.

Mrs. Fulwood had turned her attention from me to the Warden; the tension had relaxed as quickly as it had tightened.

“I didn’t know you felt so strongly about things,” I said to Norah. “It makes a pleasant change. Don’t forget you must come and see us soon. I’ll show you the roses . . .”

“Thank you,” she said. “We’ll enjoy that, won’t we, Peter?”

He took her arm possessively, more in the manner of a police­man than a lover. As he opened the door for them to go out the draught from the corridor moulded her skirt to her hips for a second; I saw that she was not as slim as she’d first appeared. She hadn’t boyish hips; she had childbearing hips.

The door closed. I finished my beer and went to the table to open another bottle. But even as I opened it I knew that I didn’t want any more to drink. I would drink it, but I didn’t want it. I strolled over to the window; the courtyard was empty except for half a dozen cars and a Volkswagen minibus.

Except for my own Zephyr and a shiny red MG Midget the cars looked old and battered. I tried to extract some feeling of superiority from the fact of mine being the newest and most expensive there, but succeeded only in thinking of Norah again.

The Warden came up to join me. “My God,” he said. “Are there many more like her in Warley?” He glanced behind him at Mrs. Fulwood, who had now transferred her attentions to a young woman whom I recognized as being the Deputy Librarian of Warley.

“She’s one on her own,” I said. “When they made her they broke the mould.”

Graffham and Norah got into a Ford Popular. I turned away from the window as the engine started up. This was what I’d been waiting for; but now that the moment had come I couldn’t bear to see them together.

“This is a fantastic place,” the Warden said. “Just look at that courtyard. All that stone – God knows what it cost to bring it up here.”