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'You hardly touched a thing Are you sickening for so nasty if you went to that foreign place When my late husband, Stanley, was in Cairo he had trouble with his tu the war, of course Arrumble…'

'I brought you back so She picked up a brightly wrapped parcel from the bureau behind her and handed it to Mrs Abbot, who stared at it with overdone amaze­ment This ritual was proceeded with every tiht Mrs Abbot a present, and Mrs Abbot always pretended to be taken aback

Now she turned the parcel over and over, saying, 'You shouldn't have bothered Why, oodness, what is it? You shouldn't have bothered, you knoonder what it is?'

'Open it and see,' said Marie, as she always did Mrs Abbot got asit and fingering the corners, trying to guess what it was, before at last she untied the string

Marie had bought her a little Arab statuette of a cat, about five inches high, carved in creaem eyes Mrs Abbot was crazy about cats and kept two Siahtedly and thanked Marie several tiift

Marie watched her leave the room with an affectionate smile Mrs Abbot had looked after her ever since herwoman without relations in the world since her own husband died In her early sixties, she was still active and hard­working, with no intention of retiring, although Marie knew that she had plenty ofsociety for the 'rainy day' she had been expecting all her life She ran the flat with i was plain but excellent She tended to bully both Marie and her father at ti to sit in her cosy living-rooo out or meet friends

What would we have done without her? Marie thought Then she walked over to theand stared out at the London skyline, thinking over what her father had told her

What would they do if her father lost control of Brintons? Would he be forced to retire froine what he would do with the rest of his life if he lost theof his existence Despite their close relationship, she had always been aware that Brintons came first with him From time to time she had minded that, but she had learnt to face facts

She thought of the Unex Group with bitterness Why were they so greedy, like great sharks devouring every­thing in their path! The i business hid a cruel ruthlessness every bit as harsh as the bleak wilderness of the desert

She remembered Ian MacIntyre, chief accountant of Brintons, once saying to her father that it was dangerous to grow er 'You'll attract the sharks,' he had said And her father had only s away

Marie spent the afternoon on the telephone to her friends, telling them bland lies about her holiday She would never tell a soul about her night in the desert, she thought, as she hung up for the last tiht swi on the beach The reality was a secret locked in her own mind

For the first time she felt restlessly wistful about her lack of occupation She had never got a job because her father had insisted it was not necessary She was sup posed to run the flat for hi the personal letters which had to go to friends and doing all the jobs her mother would have done had she not run away

In fact, of course, she had very little to do all day for most of the ti, visiting friends, reading books and playing the piano

Until now that had rarely bothered her, but now she wished she had a proper job, soes which continued to haunt her Every tiuard that face flashed into her mind

Oh, well, she thought, time would solve that problem In a feeeks she would be unable to remember what he looked like That time could not come too soon