Averil had gone about, very silent, answering in monosyllables when she was spoken to, never spoke if she could help it. She had got thinner and paler. A month later she had expressed a wish to go to London and train in a secretarial school. Rodney had assented at once. Averil had left them with no pretence of distress over the parting. When she had come home on a visit three months later, she had been quite normal in manner and had seemed, from her account, to be having quite a gay life in London. Joan was relieved and expressed her relief to Rodney. ‘The whole thing has blown over completely. I never thought for a moment it was really serious – just one of those silly fancies girls get.’ Rodney looked at her, smiled, and said, ‘Poor little Joan.’ That phrase of his always annoyed her. ‘Well, you must admit it was worrying at the time.’ ‘Yes,’ he said, ‘it was certainly worrying. But it wasn’t your worry, was it, Joan?’ ‘What do you mean? Anything that affects the children upsets me far more than it upsets them.’ ‘Does it?’ Rodney said.
What do You think about Absent In The Spring (2013)?
