Iâm on the market again!â She listened to her own voice. She certainly did not feel as comfortable about it as she sounded. It was astonishingly painful. Even now.
âOh, my goodness,â said Gwen in dismay. âThat ⦠I mean, we all saw it coming, but somehow thereâs always a hope ⦠How do you feel?â
âWell, weâve been separated two years now. So nothing has really changed. But itâs still a turning point in my life, so Iâve rented a new flat. This one is too big in the long-term, and anyway ⦠somehow it has too much to do with Stephen.â
âI can understand that,â said Gwen. She sounded a little uncomfortable when she spoke again. âI ⦠I feel completely tactless now, but ⦠I really didnât know that you had just got divorced, otherwise ⦠I mean, I wouldnât have â¦â
âIâm fine. Really. So donât beat around the bush. Why are you calling?â
âBecause ⦠now, I hope you wonât be offended, but ⦠you should be one of the first people to hear: Iâm going to get married!â
Leslie really did not know what to say for a moment.
âMarried?â she then echoed, thinking that the amazement in her voice must hurt Gwen, but she simply had not managed to conceal her surprise. Gwen was an old maid if anyone was: an old-fashioned girl living in isolation in the countryside ⦠Gwen, for whom time seemed to have stood still, to have stopped in a past century where a young lady would wait at home until a gentleman rode up on his horse and asked for her hand ⦠Marry? Just like that?
âSorry,â she said quickly. âItâs just â I always thought you werenât all that keen on marriage.â
That was a lie. She knew that Gwen had pined for the stories which she devoured in romance novels to become true in her own life.
âIâm so happy,â said Gwen. âSo unbelievably happy ⦠I mean, I had just about given up hope of still finding someone, and now Iâll be married this year! We thought the beginning of December would be nice. Oh, Leslie, suddenly everything is ⦠so different!â
Leslie had finally got a grip on herself.
âGwen, Iâm overjoyed for you!â she said sincerely. âReally, you have no idea how much! Who is the lucky man? Where did you meet him?â
âHeâs called Dave Tanner. He is forty-three years old, and ⦠he loves me.â
âHow wonderful!â said Leslie, but once again there was a slight feeling of amazement. Her first thought had been of a considerably older man, perhaps a widower, a sixty-year-old with no great expectations, who as much as anything was looking for someone to take care of him. She was ashamed to think it, but she really could not imagine anything other than a selfish reason for a man to get involved with Gwen. Gwen was a dear woman, sincere and warm-hearted, but there was little about her to make her desirable in the eyes of a man. Unless that person was only looking at her inner character, which in Leslieâs experience was something few men did.
But perhaps Iâm completely wrong, she thought.
âIâll tell you everything,â said Gwen, whose voice was trembling with joy and excitement, âbut first thereâs something I want to invite you to. On Saturday weâre going to celebrate a kind of ⦠engagement, and it would be the most wonderful present for me if you could be there!â
Leslie thought quickly. The journey north was too long and difficult just for the weekend, but luckily she was on holiday. She could drive up on Friday morning and then stick around for three or four days after the weekend. She was from Yorkshire. She had grown up in Scarborough and it had been far too long since she had last been there. She could stay with her grandmother, who would be glad to see her. Of course she did not really