“Come in, we’re expecting you”, she said. Then she took him by the hand and led him to the dining room.
It was the first time Dimitri had been invited for lunch at an English home. The table in the dining room was already set for lunch. As he went through the doorway, Anne let go of his hand. He saw that Mrs Winslow was putting minute pieces of bread onto little silver plates, one to the left of each place setting, with a pair of tongs. This ritual was the first of many small surprises to greet him in the exotic milieu of the vicarage. His sense of unfamiliarity brought back memories of the first visit to Tim’s apartment. Only this time there was Anne’s benign presence nearby, to guide and protect him.
Mrs Winslow put down the tray with the pieces of bread and the tongs she had been hold
