Someone at a Distance Part II

Louise is unhappy and angry at her French lover's desertion and she hate the provincial town where she has grown up.. Her parents are fond of her but she is a restless difficult person. She is not much liked by the local married ladies, and they discourage their sons from courting her, so her chances of marriage in France seem very slim. She goes back to England after spending a few months in France, and then visits again, but soon afterwards Mrs North dies. She leaves Louise a lot of her jewellery and a thousand pounds, which is a handsome sum to add to her dowry. Louise decides to go back to England again, to make sure she gets the bequest and while she is staying there, she starts an affair with Avery, who is an amiable but selfish man. Ellen, his wife, is a good, kindly woman who is busy iwht keeping house and her children and she does not devote much energy to her looks or clothes, and Avery is drawn away towards Louise, who is smart looking, intriguing and beautiful. Avery finds the affair exciting, and Louise becomes more selfish and difficult as a guest, but when Ellen suggests that she could now go home to France, she makes excuses to stay a bit longer. Then, when Anne, the Norths' daughter comes home from school, she and Ellen walk in on Avery in a passionate embrace with Louise. Avery loves his daugther and his son Hugh who is in the army doing National Service, and he is dreadfully ashamed of hurting his daughter, so he ends up taking Louise away and going to London. She is delighted, as she feels this will push the marriage towards an ending and she will be married to a rich English man.