I was so sorry, but I had predicted this: two of my friends ended their marriage because they no longer spent enough time together. The husband kept the house, so I offered to help the wife find temporary accommodation. I remembered that GW rented quite a nice room in a hostel, so we arranged a viewing. A place like GW’s would do for the time being. However my friend disapproved of GW’s practice of holding PhD tutorials in her bedroom when dressed in blue striped pyjamas. She would not be doing this herself.

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It was a chaotic couple of days and I loved it! Here I was back in France at a massive party for the D and M families, and practising my French again. Amongst the dozens of children was a French lady who spoke almost perfect English. I was most impressed with her collection of dogs. They were the glossiest, sleekest hounds that I had ever seen. Eventually, however, I tired of all the company so I took my mother’s silver mark 2 Ford Granada to the river where I spent the night on my own. I expected TPR to be upset, but he quite understood why I needed some time away from everybody else.