Of course on the face of it it was wonderful news. Poor Jessica who had devotedly nursed her husband through a long painful illness and had been devastated by his death last year, was about to remarry. Laura had been a staunch friend to Jessica during the years of the illness and after the following bereavement. She had seen Jessica through a deep depression and felt she ought to be happy to see her friend with a sparkle in her eyes-a spring in her step. And yet - and yet ...

There was something about James that Laura felt wasn't quite right. It had all been so sudden; one minute Jessica was a bereft woman - a very rich bereft woman -but nevertheless, a sad creature whose life seemed to be over. Then James came on the scene, swept her off her feet and now they were planning marriage, an exotic honeymoon and as far as Laura could make out, James taking over the running of Jessica's quite large estate and fortune.

Someone surely ought to find out something about James' background. It seemed his last job had been working with a travel firm in Paris. One of Laura's oldest friends was her schoolgirl pen friend who had always lived in Paris. She determined to see if Monique could shed any light. Meanwhile both James and Jessica were taking part in a play that Laura was producing for the village festival.

James was playing the hero because he was the only youngish man in the village. That was another thing that worried Laura. Jessica was a wonderful woman, brave,kind and much respected,but she must be at least twenty years older than James. Laura had never considered age to be important but she knew from their trips together that Jessica qualified for a bus pass, and James hardly looked forty. She would phone France tonight.

At the rehearsal that evening Laura gazed at Jessica's glowing face. She had never seen her friend look so happy. She wondered if she was being overprotective or even an interfering busybody. She glanced at James noting his charming, easy manner which belied the shifty, watchful eyes. He didn't seem to like Jessica and Laura chatting together; in fact he seemed to be isolating Jessica from all her old friends.

Laura remembered something she had been told by a producer she knew. He said it was always useful to have a 'fall guy' in rehearsals. Choose someone who was fairly resilient and really lay into him mercilessly. He told her this would put the fear of God into the rest of the cast and get them to buckle down and learn their lines. Laura knew the agony of dealing with a cast who thought it would be' alright on the night' and next week or the week after would be early enough to do any real work. It could be interesting to see how James reacted under pressure.

Jessica had a small part, so for most of the evening was sitting next to Laura whilst James was on stage being firmly directed. By the end of the rehearsal James was looking quite fraught and glared when Laura said she expected to see no books at the next rehearsal. Later on when she phoned Paris, Monique assured her there would be no difficulty as one of her friends had worked with the same firm for many years.

Rehearsals continued with Laura directing the whole of her attention to James. He was on stage throughout the play and had a great deal of complicated 'business to learn. James' engaging persona was rapidly disintegrating. Laura tried to analyse why she detested him so much. He did look a little like her first love who had betrayed her. But that was silly! It must be some strong feminine intuition that made her feel as she did.

The next day Jessica dropped in at coffee time. Before James, the two friends would talk to each other every day. It was a welcome bond between two women who lived alone and Laura realised how much she missed it. She sensed that Jessica had something on her mind; they indulged in idle chitchat before Jessica was ready to broach the subject. As Laura suspected it was about James. Wasn't Laura being a bit hard on him? He was carrying the whole responsibility of the play; it was an awful amount of work and really they were very lucky to have such a personable man. None of the previous productions had had such an attractive man who could act. Laura said it certainly was unusual to have so young a man available in the village, but as she caught sight of her friend's expression,she decided not to pursue that point. Laura promised to be more considerate praying secretly that Monique would come up with something.

Her prayers were answered,two days later,when Monique reported the results of her probing. First of all he had a wife and three children! Early on in his marriage he had drifted into an affair with a widow thirty years his senior. She was very wealthy, showered him with expensive gifts and money and when that affair ended he found another rich, older woman. About this time he left his wife and children and from then on followed the same pattern. It was no secret in the Paris office because he used to boast of his conquests and show off his booty.

When she put the phone down Laura poured herself a stiff drink and thought about what she should do. Of course she would be - unpopular with Jessica for a time. That was inevitable - shoot the herald syndrome - but now her worst fears were realised she had to do something and the sooner the better. She must devise a way to see Jessica alone.With Jessica's wedding on the horizon it was high time she had a new hat. She would invite Jessica to come with her to help choose one. No man would be seen dead on such a quest and she would have her friend to herself. She made arrangements for the next day.

Next morning, spotting her friend's car outside the house Laura ran out but stopped dead when she saw that James was also in the car. Jessica assured her that he had some business in town and that she and Laura would shop, have lunch, and meet up with James at 3pm. Laura decided to wait until lunchtime to break the news and they had a very enjoyable light-hearted shopping spree - just like old times.

At last they were sitting in the restaurant of the large store where they had shopped together over the years. Laura insisted on ordering an expensive bottle of wine and then told Jessica she wanted to have a serious talk. She explained her misgivings about James; how she felt her friend was vulnerable after all she had been through and that grief and depression had understandably affected her judgement. She told Jessica all Monique had told her. She said she was desperately sorry to have to give her this awful news but she knew that as her best friend she simply had to.

Throughout Laura's outpouring Jessica sat silent and motionless. Laura looked at her anxiously.

'Say something please Jessica', she urged. Jessica gazed at her blankly.

'What do you want me to say Laura - thank you for attempting to destroy the man I love? Do you want me to commiserate with you at having to be the bearer of ' this awful news'? Having to ask another person to spy for you? And then the angst of having to decide whether to tell me. Of course you couldn't possibly not tell me could you? No-one could possibly be happy with someone with such a past and twenty three years younger, for God's sake. Oh didn't you know that Laura? Well yes, twenty three years although for half the year it's twenty two ; that`s not quite so bad is it?'

Laura stared at Jessica dumbfounded.

'Well I'll let you into a little secret Laura. I already knew. James told me all. Every last detail. One thing you didn't get quite right ; James gets his decree absolute next week. So we can be married as planned. You will understand if I don't ask you to be matron of honour? In fact I think it would be best if you gave the wedding a miss. And of course the play will have to manage without the leading man - and me - although that was quite a small part wasn't it? Do you mind awfully making your own way back? I really must go now. Bye!`

Slowly Laura reached out for her glass of wine and took a large gulp and then another. She felt her eyes filling with tears. Life was so unfair. All she had done for her friend. All those years of friendship. Gone now, forever. And the play. Ruined! There was no way she could replace James. The whole thing was sabotaged. What would people say? And everyone would know she wasn't invited to the wedding. The shame of it! And all because she had tried to protect her friend. She had always had the best of motives. Hadn't she???