You know Winnie is astonishingly clever with that plasticine stuff. Hermione declares she is an artist.’ Gerald spoke in the usual animated, chatty manner, as if nothing unusual had passed. But Birkin’s manner was full of reminder.

‘Really! I didn’t know that. Oh well then, if Gudrun WOULD teach her, it would be perfect — couldn’t be anything better — if Winifred is an artist. Because Gudrun somewhere is one. And every true artist is the salvation of every other.’

‘I thought they got on so badly, as a rule.’

‘Perhaps. But only artists produce for each other the world that is fit to live in. If you can arrange THAT for Winifred, it is perfect.’

‘But you think she wouldn’t