‘She doesn’t know I exist,’ Barney said gloomily. ‘Not like that, anyway.’ ‘Prove you do.’ ‘How d’you propose I do that?’ ‘You could try wining and dining her.’ Barney shook his head. ‘She’s changed,’ he said. ‘She’s sort of sad all the time. I don’t think she’s thinking about men at the moment.’ ‘Well, get at her through the old folks, then, so she starts to notice you.’ ‘Not the mother,’ Barney said. ‘She gives me the willies, the mother, but her father’s all right. Fact is, I’ve thought for a while it’s a bloody shame for him to be lying in bed with the sun shining outside. Now that spring’s definitely here, I could push him about in a wheelchair on fine afternoons.’ ‘You got a wheelchair?’ ‘No, but I’m sure the doctor can get a loan of one from the hospital or some such place.’ Maria, when he broached the subject one day, after Sam had gone to sleep, was doubtful. ‘What harm could it do?’ Barney asked. Maria couldn’t think of any.
