‘It’s below my knees,’ Constance protested.

Diana laughed. ‘It’s wonderful though. You’ve always been able to get away with anything!’

‘Have I?’

Other women Constance’s size would have looked lost, but her authoritative beauty along with the agile confidence with which she moved allowed her any style she wanted to take on.

‘Decide before you take anything off whether you like it or not,’ Diana suggested, knowing Constance’s capacity to choose was so limited that, without clear help, she could easily fail before the task.

When she succeeded in finding four tops and when a pair of lavender slacks had been added to the white, they paused for mid-morning coffee. Refreshed, Constance tried on jump suits, one terry cloth, one velour, a long white sweater, a raincoat, and a robe. At the selection of bathing suits, she balked.

‘We’re going to the desert. There’s a pool,’ Diana reminded her.

‘I don’t know how to swim.’

‘I think you’ll remember,’ Diana encouraged.

‘I’m too old,’ Constance said.

‘Everyone’s our age down there. If I can get into a suit, you can.’

‘Look,’ Jill said. ‘Here’s one with a wrap to match.’

Constance flung off her clothes. In nakedness she was trim-fleshed, her small breasts still defined, but, when she stepped into the one-piece suit, her upper arms and her thighs were suddenly singled out and exposed, the slight flesh sagging under the draping skin. Jill quickly handed her the wrap. But she didn’t put it on at once. She stood before the long mirror contemplating herself.

‘I’m melting away,’ she said, an innocent bewilderment in her voice.

‘You’ll put the forty-year-olds to shame,’ Jill said gallantly. ‘Here, put this on.’

Obediently Constance did, and the wrap restored her to herself.

That’s not too bad,’ she admitted.

When the task was finished, she had chosen nearly half the clothes Jill had brought, and they were all delighted. Silently Diana rebuked herself for having let Constance’s wardrobe deteriorate over the last few years. She had cut more pleasures out of their life than was necessary, trying to protect Constance from confusion and fear. It had become an excuse, too, for avoiding things like shopping which Diana found difficult to do.

‘Thank you,’ Diana said to Jill, embracing her, before Diana took up her new cane and went off on her own expedition.

‘See you do as well for yourself,’ Jill admonished.