Elizabeth Taylor

A Game of Hide and Seek

1951. Virago, 1986.

Only the faintest breeze wrinkled the lake. Flecks of dazzling colour, the tiny new leaves dotting the trees, the broken sunlight, gave a painted look to the scene...pale, flaking houses enclosed the tender greenness

On a seat in the park Harriet waits for her lover and observes the other visitors.

The Soul of Kindness

1964. Virago Modern Classics, 1989.

went into the park and sat down on a seat by the lake and opened her book

Elinor Pringle, bored stiff on a Sunday afternoon, is too self-conscious to read, imagining passers-by commenting on her solitary state 'when everyone else in the world has company...lovers, entwined like woodbine...family parties, so sedate, so Sundayish'.

A shimmer of heat rose from the paths. The trees, water, iron railings had a gilded look

A few days later Meg Driscoll, in a happy/unhappy state, visits the Zoo accompanied by the gay man she is in love with.