Jane And Ben Do Brighton

Episode three of Mrs Sunderbury And The Gold Earring.

Jane and Ben headed off the tube train, with the gold earring firmly stuck in the pages of Ben's Rough Guide to Brazil. As they stood smiling at one another, the up escalator carried them towards ground level and the metal and glass caverns of Victoria Station. Ben noticed that his bag was open, and mid-sentence, zipped it up, sealing Mrs Sunderbury's inadvertent gift in rainproof darkness.

Jane stared at Ben's handsome, kind face and felt that happy-sad feeling for which English has no proper name, a simultaneity of emotions, neither one predominant. She was happy because she was with the man she loved, and she felt loved; she was sad because fate was about to part them, she returning to her final year at university where she was studying Russian, and he having finished his degree, off on a long-planned trip of a lifetime to South America with his best friend Joe.

Jane was not jealous, but she was uncertain even with the strength of feeling that existed between them, how they would survive the long months of separation. She feared the worst and hoped for the best. She remembered Beckett: "I can't go on. But I must! So I will.." and took his existential declaration to heart. Ben was loyal, he was stable, they were in love. She was determined to enjoy the time they had together and to be of good cheer. This was to be their last day together before Ben and Joe headed off to Heathrow tomorrow morning, and a day in Brighton, where they had first kissed, was Ben's romantic choice.

Victoria teemed and brimmed with human energy, as always, and they crossed the busy concourse. Ben marvelled aloud at how many times collisions between fast-moving people seemed inevitable but failed to happen. "It's like birds," he said, "we know how they fly, but we still don't know quite how they all move together in the air.." Jane could see kind of what he meant, but knew better than to articulate her confusion. As they approached platforms 15 to 19, she looked forward to the train journey, the coming hour close to her lover in the snug seats, staring through the window as the train moved south, discussing Life.

"Let's get a coffee," she suggested, "We have ten minutes."

End episode three.