he declares proudly, once more reciting from speeches he has made to himself for hours on end. “I loved that in her from the start. She was so desperate to have our child at once. The death of her parents must be compensated as soon as possible! Why wait till we were married? I held her back. I shouldn't have done. I pleaded convention—God knows why. ”Very well,“ she said, ”if we must be married in order to have a baby, let's get married immediately.“ So we went off to Italy and married immediately, to the huge entertainment of my colleagues.” He is entertained himself. “”Quayle's gone mad! Old Justin's married his daughter! Has Tessa passed her A levels yet?“' When she became pregnant, after three years of trying, she wept. So did I.” He breaks off, but no one interrupts his flow. “With pregnancy she changed. But only for the good. Tessa grew into motherhood. Outwardly she remained lighthearted. But inwardly a deep sense of responsibility was forming in her.
