I went back to the sitting-room and the dog followed. Syl had had the end part of the house converted for me, so that when he married I should be out of the way of the bride. I had suggested that there was nothing to prevent him from buying his own house but he had not seemed to listen. I was not blind to Syl’s faults. He could be spontaneously and ridiculously generous, but he was also mean. I could hardly blame him for this trait, since it was from me that he got his Yorkshire blood and Yorkshiremen are known the world over as careful.

I was not delighted to be consigned to only a part of my own house but I didn’t care enough to argue about it. One of my anxieties was that I knew Syl would spend a good deal of his time with me in my new quarters and Margaret would be left rattling round on her own in the rest of the house. I had ceased to wonder why Syl not only stayed with me but sought out my company. It had become very noticeable when his father died and I had tried once or twice then to tell him that he need not trouble himself about me—I was quite self-sufficient. Again he had not seemed to listen, and in the end I was forced to accept that, for some reason, he would stay with me. I knew it would appear to everyone that I was a possessive and demanding mother, but I didn’t care. There was very little I could do about it. Some of the girls had complained that he spent more time with me than he did with them, but Syl could be stubborn. I also think that he believed he could have everything. He had always wanted everything—both sorts of cake at teatime, jelly and blancmange at parties when he was a child. It didn’t seem like greed—more like curiosity. I used to wonder if that was why he had so many girls. He was not truly an amorist since he always meant the latest girl to be the last, believing her to be finally the love of his life. Then she would run away—and I never did understand that—or Syl would tire of her, and look around for another source of sweetness. Or perhaps I mean a sort of sweetmeat.

I had not yet used the converted part of the house, despite all the trouble Syl had taken to make it pleasant. I was waiting until Margaret moved in. Margaret.