Come on. Let's hail a cab.'

In the taxi Jane reflected ruefully that her friend's idea of stoniness was quite a different thing from her own. To Gerry it meant trying to stretch to the end of the year an annual allowance of fifteen hundred pounds. It was ironic that there should be such a contrast between the situations of two girls whose families a few generations previously had been of about equal standing - two girls who had gone to the same school, been 'finished', and come out together. But whereas the present Earl of Burford was still the proprietor of estates in the West Country and Scotland, a series of disasters and blunders over a period of sixty or seventy years had gradually eroded the Clifton fortune, so that Jane had to fend for herself.

She sighed. 'Oh, Gerry, why am I such an ass? Why do I keep throwing over all these jobs? I know it's irresponsible, but I can't seem to help it.'

'Well, nobody could put up with being spoken to like that. You had no alternative.'

'Oh, but I did. To bite my lip, keep smiling, and say I was very sorry if I hadn't given satisfaction. That's what any of the other girls would have done. It's what I've done - often.'

'I don't know how you stood it for so long.'

'Because I wanted to eat. It's as simple as that.' A minute later the taxi pulled up outside the Ritz. 'Come along,' Gerry said, 'you'll feel better after a good lunch. No banting today. Let's forget our figures and have a real blow-out.'

* * *

It was while they were drinking their after-lunch coffee that Gerry suddenly said: 'I say, I've just realised you're a free woman. You can come down to Alderley for a bit.'

'Oh, it would be heavenly. But I must start job-hunting again.'

'Bunkum! You needn't begin straight away. You need a breather first.'

'But, Gerry, I explained, I'm practically on my beam ends. I can't afford—'

'You're not going to be any worse off by spending a few days with us. It won't cost you anything to live while you're there. Look, I'm motoring down in the Hispano-Suiza tomorrow - oh, of course, you haven't seen her, have you? She's absolutely my pride and joy. She's got a nine and a half litre VI2 engine. Does over a hundred miles an hour. Pushrod ohv, two twin-choke carbs - sorry, I'm being a bore. Where was I? Oh, yes, you must come with me, you must, you must.'

Jane laughed. 'All right. It's terribly sweet of you. Thanks awfully. But I can't come tomorrow, really. I must put in a few days job-hunting first. Next Thursday OK?'

'Lovely.'

'Actually, it's just what I need.