A waiter approached her. “Are you waiting for someone Madam?” he enquired. “Perhaps a drink while doing so?”
“I’m not waiting just yet,’ Isabel replied, calm again. “But I’ll have a drink.”
“Certainly.” See, she thought, a show of knowing what you’re doing always works. She asked for a sweet vermouth, paid for it when it arrived, and sat sipping. She took an electronic reader from her bag and even began reading, but that was inadequate to switch her mind off other things. She noticed a rack of newspapers. What had been happening in the world for the last three days? She had no idea. She went and got a newspaper.
As she took her seat again a group of men came in. They were laughing and jesting, not noisy exactly, but enough to make the place less peaceful. She thought of getting up and m
