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. Melinda was I should wrap all th+ Macleans’ he early days presents and that hould take side me atthe them to them on A ‘day before let me do the Christmas, Our gifts were barely us, Now that noticed. Melinda, distraught and jittery, could hardly hold a glass. MN Kim spent the whole Christmas very —dis- Day in bed, partially insensible. Thet® were no presents for me. | drifted around the flat like a lost soul. Kim’s drunken binge lasted into “the New Year. He would surface i 18 a relief to: - at ‘sophisti-: ifter all that . .¥, and there every few days and, for an hour , _ «thought-out or so, would be his old self again, i oa whole plot but then something in his conscious- ' ; ness would trigger off a new bout to. “end 1S of depression and drinking. 1 usible, ' and , _ probed in vain for the cause of . ' his behaviour: I reviewed in my , keeps | ON” mind the whole course of our rela- at” (any rate, hionship and of his career, as I knew has, , any real it. I could not pinpoint what had a “business !! gone wrong. His relations with Sergei seemed unaffected; his work on the Lonsdale memoirs seemed to be making steady progress; the Russians were as soliciious and deferential as ever. He could not therefore be worried about his work. . Was I the cause of his unhappi- "ness 7. tohn' Le. Carré's une in from the io: . Eleanor co Wass: Beers he sat ‘he ab the theatre. . ‘in.an awful state,’ she said, ‘ Donald : hp pa wih ‘has become quite impossible and I can’t live with him any more. - I’m . oy moving the flat about 50° that I can * Jhave a room io. myself. : rm taking *, Pure Ticky’ 8 room [her son] a and b he’ s_ gin with his father =22 27 stemed so helpless, weepy ‘and proven” -up, that I agreed to go round te comianee caine & Our oulings to 4 barely able to “but would, 80d give her a hand. Together we vat'with an im- “+ moved furniture and rearranged one aoe We had, , of their two bedrooms. She had her » productions. _ own telephone extension in there and Eee: “a record player; one or two nice Ee Ae ‘ q es of furniture and a few repro- Christmas Kim Pec net th . . ductions of the better-known Im- _ Pressionists. li was quite a cosy little nes . ly Wanted: “In the New Year, Kim fell into the ate] had © habit of going out more and more .. marvellous | frequently. He also started making nelebrations -,!09g and mumbled telephone calls ith: him * from our flat. Occasionafly T would e's Day, overhear a word in Russian. He ristmas, "ever explained what furtive busi- ‘anniv, ness he was up to, or who his stealthy - i interlocutor was. At first 1 sup- ‘posed these calls had to do with his ‘ work, but then, from the look in his eye behind his cupped hand, I was “.sure he was talking to a woman. He must, I thought, be having an ‘affair with a Russian woman, a *easual passion ignited in my absence : in the: US and which would, no' ag y doubt, soon burn itself out. _ ‘T had-no one to turn to except ne Melinda. ‘ Look, i said to her one Sawa eae wt -i day. * lm worried about Kim. He's ‘drinking too much; he’s so nervous and denressed that 4 think. T : i, _ settled down to dinner 1 and. ap qe of Scrabble. - After dinner, in the cosine. Af the dacha, Kim asked me to read aloud to them from ‘ Burgess and Maclean’ by Anthony Purdy and Douglas Sutherland, a book which he had recently received from England. They particularly wanted me to read the chapter entitled ‘And Now, Melinda,’ which describes her escape with her children from Switzerland to the Soviet Union, Stupidly, I agreed. J did not. ‘I finally got him back to Moscc put him to bed and summoned doctor,, A bone was broken in wrist. Kim was rarely at home after th It appeared that his work with Lo: dale was more and more demandi: but I was sure that Ne was w. Melinda much of the time.’ One day Kim. told me he wor be very late. en he left the ho: I rang Melinda‘to learn from | maid that she too was gone for | I remember there was a paragraph, reeking of Hollywood cliché, which described Melinda as a woman of tremendous courage, acting with the TURN TO PAGE 23 Ina | squalid “oom Home is often a tiny basement room that lacks adequate heating, lighting, plumbing, cooking facilities. No relatives are around to care. No friends visit. Thousands and thousands of old people in Britain today are condemned to similar conditions. Vy million of them live completely alone. More than 300,000 lack suitabie housing. Many live in great distress. Even a Welfare State cannot keep pace with the growing need, but YOU can help through Help the Aged. Money given io Help the Aged builds specially designed flatlets or converts existing houses into suitable accommodation where the needy aged can bring their own personal belongings, settle in, make friends and have the protection of a resident warden, Help .the Aged is also combating loneliness by creating Day Centres where the elderly can meet together for lunch and social gatherings and benef from various welfare services. Will you please enable Help the Aged to launch new projects for the distressed aged. Every £1 donated generates nearly £10 worth of new accommodation in the form of official loans and gifts. day. She usually managed to get h pretty drunk by the time he got hon 50 that he was not much heip to n Give £2 or more and have yéur name recorded in the Book of Donors. £100 will name a room in a Gatlet scheme in memory of a dear one. Piease send all you can to: Help the a the aged ROOM 20; 4 .139 OXFORD STREET, LONDON, W.1. Supporters include: Mrs Margaret Thatcher, Richard Baker, The Earl Cadogan, Viscount Mackintosh, Yehudi Menuhin, Sir Ralph only fear for company | Richardson, Lord Luke, Lady Spencer-Churchill, Sir John Wolfenden._ So