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Marie saw the barman eye her curiously, and lowered her lids It would becoht, if she had to keep up the fiction of being sweet seventeen for hours But it was all in a good cause if she was to keep her mother happy and satisfy her father

After their drinks they repaired to the dining-roolazed despair, then ordered melon and salad Marie decided to follow suit to keep her company, and was rewarded with another smile

'Very sensible You eable eyes 'Tell me about your boy-friends'

Unconsciously, Marie wrinkled her nose, thinking of the el with his bland smile and passion for cars, Daniel who talked obsessively of cricket and danced like a rogue elephant, Stephen, the shortest ressively masculine and carried a chip on his shoulder the size of a tree

Clare saw the expression and laughed suddenly, her eyes bright 'Darling! I know just how you feel! Dull, are they?'

'As ditchwater,' said Marie

Their eyes met in a smile of entirely new sympathy Clare leaned her elbows on the table in an attitude of confidentiality 'Poor girl! Has there never been anyone who…?' Her carefully pencilled brows rose enquiringly

Marie, caught off guard, thought of Khalid, and at once her mother's face reflected an amused curiosity

'I see there was so?'

Marie laughed ruefully 'Very'

'English?'

'No,' Marie admitted

'No, darling, they rarely are,' herhim?'

Marie shook her head, her lower lip caught between her teeth, and Clare's blue eyes shrewdly assessed her

'Serious?'