One
I first came to know Sophia Leonides in Egypt towards the end of the war.
She held a fairly high administrative¹ post in one of the Foreign Office de-partments out there. I knew her first in an official capacity, and I soon ap-preciated the efficiency that had brought her to the position she held, inspite of her youth (she was at that time just twenty-two).
Besides being extremely easy to look at, she had a clear mind and a drysense of humour that I found very delightful². We became friends. She wasa person whom it was extraordinarily³ easy to talk to and we enjoyed ourdinners and occasional dances very much.
All this I knew; it was not until I was ordered East at the close of theEuropean war that I knew something else—that I loved Sophia and that Iwanted to marry her.
We were dining at Shepheard’s when I made this discovery. It did notcome to me with any shock of surprise, but more as the recognition of afact with which I had been long familiar. I looked at her with new eyes—but I saw what I had already known for a long time. I liked everything Isaw. The dark crisp hair that sprang up proudly from her forehead, thevivid blue eyes, the small square fighting chin, and the straight nose. Iliked the well-cut light-grey tailor-made, and the crisp white shirt. Shelooked refreshingly⁴ English and that appealed to me strongly after threeyears without seeing my native land. Nobody, I thought, could be moreEnglish—and even as I was thinking exactly that, I suddenly wondered if,in fact, she was, or indeed could be, as English as she looked. Does the realthing ever have the perfection of a stage performance?
I realized that much and freely as we had talked together, discussingideas, our likes and dislikes, the future, our immediate⁵ friends and ac-quaintances—Sophia had never mentioned her home or her family. Sheknew all about me (she was, as I have indicated, a good listener) but abouther I knew nothing. She had, I supposed, the usual background, but shehad never talked about it. And until this moment I had never realized thefact.
Sophia asked me what I was thinking about.
I replied truthfully: “You.”
“I see,” she said. And she sounded as though she did see.

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