She paused sometimes to wonder if she had ever worked so hard, but she enjoyed her work: in the office all day, often in the workshop in the evening; picking blackcurrants and gooseberries for Corinne to make into jam, or raspberries and peas to go into boxes into that capacious deep-freeze against the fruitless days of winter. There were times of enjoyment too; Sundays spent swimming and picnicking at the sea, or lazing in the garden with visiting friends. Ralph came to Combe Russet for a week, and Alison took a few days of her holiday to spend with him, days when Corinne made herself scarce, confining to Neil that she did not want to be de trop, and strengthening his conviction that Ralph and Alison wanted nobody else.It became necessary for Corinne to go to London with increasing frequency to see her specialist. Alison felt a nagging anxiety that Corinne would decide to stay in London to save herself so much journeying, and knew that she would not like to live alone again. The only consoling factor was that the intimate friendship with Neil, which might easily be so much more than friendship, at present drew Corinne back to Combe Russet.Roger seemed always to appear on the scene when Corinne went away.
