off when people come. You wouldn’t notice. You’d just think it was a nice beige shade. You wouldn’t notice till you came to wash the walls down. Then it’d go all streaky.”
“That’s unscrupulous.”
“They get what they see. What they don’t see, that’s their problem.”
“That’s settled then. Get somebody round to give us a valuation.” He took her hand. “And what about Francis? What will he say?”
She looked down at her knees. “I don’t know, what will he say?”
“I thought you had something going.”
“Not really.”
“I thought at one time he was going to leave Hermione.”
“Leave Hermione?” she said scornfully. “She’s a bishop’s daughter. Anyway, do you know, I saw another side of him. When we were down at the night shelter—I didn’t tell you, did I? These two poor old men came in, wanting soup. Well, I didn’t recognise them, they were wearing balaclavas. They were having leek and potato. When Francis saw them he ran up and said, ‘These are the bastards who’ve been causing me all the trouble.’ He said he’d caught them laying a fire in the vestry. He kicked one of them quite hard—you know what big boots he wears. I was ashamed, I said, they were probably feeling the cold, you know what February is. He said, ‘You don’t set fire to cassocks, do you?’ He said it was arson. He phoned the police.”
“What happened to them?”
“They were taken into custody. They’ve been sent to a home.”
“They’ll probably be better off.”
“Oh, no, Colin. They’ll get institutionalised.”
“Still, I can see why you were disillusioned. Does he know you’ve gone off him?”
“Probably.” Sylvia dipped her head. A tear ran down her cheek, slow and singular, and quivered at the corner of her mouth. “He doesn’t care. He’s got other involvements.”
“Oh yes?”
“There’s this deaconess. Julie.”
“The man’s a philanderer! Well, never mind,” Colin said cheerfully. “Never mind, you’ve done some good to the community between you, which I may say is more than Isabel Ryan and I ever did. We were great theorists, but I don’t think we left anybody better off. How’s the canal clean-up going?”
“Oh, it’s going to be lovely.” She sniffed, and wiped her face with the back of her hand. “We’re going to have a nature trail. Anyway, I’ll tell you another thing about Francis. He has this fat crease in his ear.”
“What?”
“It means he’s going to have a coronary. Men with paunches and creases in their ears, they’re At Risk. I read it somewhere.”
“The
“No, it’s true.”
“Have I got one?”
“I don’t think so. I’m not sure if I’m looking in the right place.”
“At least I know now why you keep staring at the side of my head.”
“There’s this new diet I’ve heard of. For the first two days you just eat apples. Any kind, but you mustn’t mix them; if you have Golden Delicious for breakfast you can’t have Cox’s for lunch. Then for two days you eat only cheese—if you have Edam for breakfast you must—”
“No,” Colin said. He shook his head. “No, I don’t think so.”
“No, somehow I don’t think so either. I’ll just get fat.”
“That would be restful.”
“Mrs. Ryan wasn’t fat, was she?”
“Skin and bone.”
“Colin?”
“Yes?”
“Do you think three beds will be enough?”
“I’m counting on Alistair going to Borstal before long. I think it’s a fair bet.”
“What if Suzanne decides to come home? Oh, you know, I can’t forgive myself now for trying to talk her into an abortion. When I saw Gemma I thought—well, she’s a lovely little thing, who would be without her? And if Suzanne wants—”
“She won’t come home. She told you, she’s got her own life now. So has Alistair, he’ll be off soon, somewhere or other. They’re nearly grown up, Sylvia. That part of our life is over. The other two will be off before you know it. It’s they who have the future.”
“And we have none?”
“There are worse things than no future.” He put his arm across her shoulder, held her tight by the upper arm. “Cheer up. The excitement’s over. Nothing will happen to us now.”
