‘Young people! Stephen?’
‘Well, young couples.’
‘He isn’t a young couple.’
‘Virginia has made him young. They ought to be left to themselves. It isn’t that Virginia doesn’t love me—it’s that she loves Stephen more, and wants to be alone with him.’
‘She’s a horrid girl,’ said Christopher with conviction.
‘She’s mine,’ said Catherine, ‘and I love her. Don’t forget that, please. It’s very important in my life.’
He took her hands and kissed them. ‘I adore you,’ he said simply.
‘Well, it’s not much good doing that,’ she said.
‘Doing what?’
‘Adoring somebody old enough to be your mother.’