'He's picking me up at a quarter to seven.' 'You mean Simon Wells, the injured partner?' Fenella questioned, aware of an overtone of embarrassment in her mother's voice. 'Yes,' she replied. 'Either one or both of us visit him whenever we can,' and she went upstairs to change out of her working clothes without prolonging the conversation. 'So tell me about him,' Fenella persisted when she came down again. 'What do you want to know? Simon is fifty years old and recently divorced. The accident occurred when he had been visiting a patient at a farm up on the tops. As he was driving back to the practice a car came round a bend too fast on one of the narrow lanes and crashed into him. The other driver was unhurt, but Simon received multiple injuries and is likely to be in hospital for some time. It happened a fortnight ago, the night before you left university.' 'Does he live here in the village?' 'Yes. He moved into one of the lock-keeper's cottages by the canal when his divorce came through, and now, if you've finished asking questions, I have to be off,' she said with heightened colour.
