The Misremembered Man by Christina McKenna Read Free Book Online Page A

door.
    Lydia considered her friend with an approving eye. She was wearing a coral twinset and matching cotton skirt. The color suited her, offsetting her honey-colored boyish bob and healthy, outdoor complexion. Only the gold-rimmed spectacles on the chain around her neck ruined the girlish impression. She had a perpetual air of enthusiasm about her which Lydia envied. Every time they met, she was reminded of a child on the brink of opening yet another birthday gift, of a child who would forever be the adventurer in a game of hide and seek, always looking and exploring while she, Lydia, remained in hiding, not wanting to be found.
    They had been firm friends since their high-school days, after which, they had gone their separate ways for a time: Lydia to teacher-training college in Belfast, Daphne to the local technical college to follow a secretarial course which, a year later, had resulted in her securing a position at the library where she’d been ever since.
    Their friendship was founded on a mutual respect and understanding of the other’s circumstances and aspirations. They shared their problems and celebrated their achievements in a spirit of empathy and genuine goodwill.
    Like Lydia, Daphne was unmarried. She did, however, have a fiancé, a farmer named John whom she’d been going out with for at least ten years. John refused to get married until his mother died, and there was no sign of that happening just yet. At seventy-three, his mother was as robust and active as someone half her age, and had no intention of sharing her only son, her home—and indeed his inheritance—with another woman, even if that other woman was as amiable and good-natured as Daphne.
    The idea of marriage was simply unthinkable.
    “Do you remember Heather Price from school?” Lydia said. “Tallish, brunette, quite plain. We trained together.”
    “You mean Ettie and Herbie’s daughter?”
    “Well, you’ll never guess what I got this morning.”
    She took the invitation from the envelope and handed it over. “She’s getting married.”
    “Really? How nice.” Daphne unfolded her glasses and inspected the card.
    “I expect you’ll be getting one too, Daphne.”
    “Oh, I hope so! It’s been so long since I had a nice day out. Give me an excuse to buy a new outfit, too.” She removed the glasses, at once deep in thought. “Now, I’ll have to warn John well in advance so he can prime his mother. She can be very difficult, you know…” She looked up from the card. “Oh, Lydia, forgive me for thinking of myself. This is great news. Aren’t you looking forward to it?”
    “Well, that’s just it, Daphne. I can’t face another wedding with my mother. I have to find someone else to accompany me. Otherwise I just won’t go.” She leaned back in the chair, deflated.
    “You mean a man.”
    “Yes, of course I mean a man! One of those alien creatures whom my father disapproved of and my mother thinks objectionable.” She sighed and looked out the window. “Oh, I do get so depressed with my life, Daphne. All my school friends are either married or engaged and I’m still alone, like some kind of reject at a jumble sale.” At that moment, the engagement ring on Daphne’s finger winked playfully as the sun bloomed in the window. The coincidence was not lost on Lydia. “No, I’ll just have to find someone to go with. And how on earth can I manage that in the next eight weeks? Something I haven’t been able to manage in the past twenty years.”
    “Nonsense, Lydia, that’s easy. I’ve got the answer at the main desk.” She got up and went to the door.
    Lydia looked up, alarmed. “Daphne, really! Sean’s a child, for heaven’s sake.”
    “Please, give me some credit. Just wait here; be back in a jiff.”
    Daphne amazed her, always seeming to have an answer at hand. The reassuring part of it all was that she was usually right about most things, too. Lydia thought her wasted in her monotonous job, stamping and shelving