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Page 70
take on companioning my aunt?"
"Money," Linda replied succinctly if not truthfully, and then as Rose-Anne sighed and nodded to indicate mournful understanding, Linda continued, "I had outrun my assets, and I like Europe. What's more, I haven't got anything to rush back to in the United States. I was wondering if I could find work over here, and Mrs. Bates's ad caught my eye, so I phoned. We liked each other at onceat least, I liked her and she hired me, so I guess she liked meand that settled it."
"Aren't you afraid you'll find the life a bit dull? My aunt's friends . . ." Rose-Anne left that unfinished but raised a brow in the general's direction.
"He's a dear," Linda responded in a lowered voice. "I like older people. If they haven't got soured, they've got a whole different world to describe."
Rose-Anne raised a brow again, but before she could speak, Donald said, "But a pretty girl like you wants a bit of life."
The words themselves were not offensive, but the leer that went with them was. "I saw quite enough life in the three years I was traveling on my own," Linda replied, still pleasantly but with enough emphasis to make her distaste clear. "I'm grateful to have found so well-protected an environment for a while."
Donald laughed. "Wait till you get out to Corfu. You'll have enough of older people and a well-protected environment. It's a regular colo-

 
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