Had probably once been her

That dresses were still frocks to him. Party frocks, they used to call them, when he was a lad. And women could always be bribed to good behaviour by the offer of a new one, in those days. 'I shan't be going.' Diana was pleased with the way she delivered this. It came out calm and clear, as she had intended. Modern women would have had no difficulty with the delivery, but she had been rehearsing it for four days. She could hear the pulse drumming in her head, even now, when the announcement was out. Charles said, 'What do you mean, you won't be going?' It was like a line in a bad soap, one of those American things she had insisted on watching a year or two back, but he couldn't oneeyedeer.com think of any other reaction. He needed to think; already he was wondering what pressures he could apply to her when ordinary persuasion failed. 'Just that I won't. I don't want to. You can go on your own.' She picked up a nail file and began to smooth some invisible blemish on the nail of the index finger of her left hand. She did not normally spend much time on such things; now she found them quite useful. They saved her from looking at her husband, reinforced the air of indifference which she did not feel but so wanted to project. 'But you've got to, Di,' he said clumsily. 'I can't go to a Ladies' Night on my own. Not when I've got a wife. Not when I'm to be the Master of the Lodge next year.' He realized anew how important to him it was to be Master, how much he treasured that assurance of respectability. 'That's up to you. Sort it out as you think fit. Next time buy instagram followers you play your dressing-up games with the other little boys.' She shocked herself buy instagram followers with the words: she had never spoken like buy instagram followers this before; had even, in the early days, enjoyed putting on her finery to go out with him to the occasional Masonic functions where women were permitted. But with the surprise that she should speak to him like this came also an exhilaration. Her part in this exchange was not proving as difficult as she had thought it would be in the days of her anticipation. He came over and stood behind her, placing a hand on each of her plump shoulders. It was a long time since he had done anything like that, and he felt her flesh stiffen under her dress. 'Come on, old girl. Don't go sulky on me. Is it the change giving you problems again? We'll – ' 'No, it isn't. Can't you get it