慡hall we go and join the reunion??she says.
For one panicky moment, Ruth thinks that she doesn抰 know anyone in the room. There seem to be middle-aged men everywhere, grey-haired or balding. To her surprise one of these old men ?these dads ?immediately comes up to talk to them.
慠uth??
Ruth still doesn抰 recognise him. It抯 Alison who says, 慏aniel? Daniel Breakspeare??
慏anny. Yes.?
Ruth looks dumbly at the bald man in a suit. In the sixth form Daniel Breakspeare had been her boyfriend. They went out together for almost a year. Her mother had liked him and never failed to tell Ruth that he抎 慸one very well for himself?since school. He抯 a plumber, Ruth seems to remember, and now runs his own company. That explains the suit and the Rolex watch protruding subtly, but not modestly, from Danny抯 shirt cuff. Ruth wouldn抰 have been able to pick him out in a police line-up.
慔ow are you, Ruth? I didn抰 know you were back in London.?
慖抦 just here for the weekend. Do you live in London??
慪es. In Blackheath. Just around the corner from here.?
Jean would be very impressed. For most people living in Eltham, Blackheath is the promised land. Alison says that she抯 living in Clapham after years in the States. She and Daniel chat about New York （憃ne of my favourite cities?says Daniel） and Ruth finishes her lime and soda with an embarrassing sucking noise.
It抯 a couple of seconds before Ruth realises that Daniel has left Manhattan and is addressing her. Alison has drifted away to talk to another grey-haired group.
慉re you married, Ruth??
慛o, but I抳e got an eleven-year-old daughter.?
慙ovely age. I抳e got two grown-up daughters and now I抳e got a baby. It抯 a nightmare going through all those sleepless nights again.?
The grown-up daughters and the new baby remind Ruth of Nelson but she抯 willing to bet that Daniel抯 new baby is the result of a new marriage. Sure enough, Daniel says that he met Ruby a few years ago and it was a 憌hirlwind romance? The name alone tells Ruth that she抯 in her twenties. Or her eighties.
慖 met your mum in Waitrose a few years back,?says Daniel. 慉ctually, it must be six or seven years ago now. She said you were famous. Appearing on TV, writing books.?
Ruth loves the way Daniel name-checks the upmarket supermarket in case she should imagine he shops at Morrisons. But she抯 touched to think that Jean stood next to the fresh sushi and the cheese of the week and showed off about her daughter.
慖抦 an archaeologist,?she says. 慖 teach at a university in Norfolk and I抳e written books about bones. Nothing anyone would actually read.?
慪ou always were clever, Ruth. You and Alison and . . .?
慒atima. She抯 a doctor now. My mum told me that you were very successful too.?
Daniel laughs. 慚ums, eh? How抯 yours? I always liked her.?
慡he died five years ago.?
慜h, I抦 sorry,?says Daniel. And he does sound it. He was always very kind, Ruth remembers. He hadn抰 been bad-looking in the old days either. She would have slept with him if she hadn抰 been terrified of getting pregnant and being trapped in Eltham. As it was, they had done what was euphemistically called 慹verything else? She thinks of this now and knows that she is blushing. Luckily the upstairs room is very dark.
慚y dad died last year,?says Daniel. 慔e was in his eighties but it was still a shock. I don抰 think you can ever be prepared.?
慖 think that抯 right,?says Ruth. There抯 a brief, but not uncomfortable, silence, as if they are both acknowledging the fact that they are older and their parents are dying.
慣hat抯 why I抦 in London, really,?says Ruth. 慖抳e been sorting out my mum抯 stuff. My dad has married again and they want to redecorate.?