She liked to walk, did it often, it kept her legs shapely (that’s what Victor told her at least). It kept her fit. It kept her young. Hyde Park was her favourite place to walk with the Serpentine running through, all the trees, the different monuments and statues here and there, Diana’s Memorial, Speaker’s Corner, the people riding horses and there were so many dogs being walked and babies in prams. There was always something to see and it was never the same. That sunny, beautiful, warm day, for instance, Laura saw a man who looked like he was wearing black kohl all around his dark eyes; he had hair nearly as black as Nathaniel’s but without the blue sheen, darkly tanned skin, a protruding belly and a pointed, black goatee. He looked almost, Laura thought fancifully, like a genie but in regular people’s clothes. She watched as he stopped and planted his feet wide apart and crossed his arms, his face mock-fierce with annoyance, just like Yul Brenner in The King and I. This made him look exactly like a genie.
