Let us leave her there, in an attitude of indecision, confronted by choice. Not, of course, a very serious choice, unless you wish to read it symbolically; but not, you will agree, an uncommon one. A lot of time is spent in such attitudes, by many of us who would not care to admit it. There she sits, Kate Armstrong, in her black Marks-and-Spencer petticoat, her feet dangling in their emerald Arabian slippers, wondering what to wear, and wondering what will happen at her party. Will Hunt stay reasonably sober and refrain from insulting people, will Marylou turn up, and if so, what on earth will people make of her, will Stuart be civil to Ted, will Ted make a pass at Rosamund Stacey, will Evelyn find the whole thing too exhausting, will Hugo’s mother find it too much of a squash, will the neighbours object to the noise? Will she herself abandon all hesitation and agree to fly out to Bagdad with Hugo, will she find a voice in which to speak, at last, to Ted, there, amongst so many people? Will she fall in love with Ruth’s Rastaman? (The Rastaman was to prove to be as beautiful as Ruth had promised, though disappointingly lacking in dreadlocks: he and Marylou were to dance together, he striped in red, green and gold, she in her beige pink lace, a sight not to be forgotten.) Anything is possible, it is all undecided. Everything or nothing. It is all in the future. Excitement fills her, excitement, joy, anticipation, apprehension. Something will happen. The water glints in the distance. It is unplanned, unpredicted. Nothing binds her, nothing holds her. It is the unknown, and there is no way of stopping it. It waits, unseen, and she will meet it, it will meet her. There is no way of knowing what it will be. It does not know itself. But it will come into being.

A child calls her from downstairs. The doorbell rings. The telephone also rings. She hears her house living. She rises.

About the Author

MARGARET DRABBLE is the author of The Sea Lady, The Seven Sisters, The Peppered Moth, and The Needle’s Eye, among other novels. For her contributions to contemporary English literature, she was made a Dame of the British Empire in 2008.