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Line 24: ==Plot summary== The story is a satire of London literary society during the [[Interwar period]]. The narrator, a well-to-do author named William Ashenden, is unexpectedly contacted by Alroy Kear, a ~~busybody~~moderately talented London writer who has been asked to write a biography of the famous, recently deceased novelist Edward Driffield by Amy, his second wife. Driffield, once scorned for his realist representation of late-Victorian working-class characters, had in his later years come to be lionised by scholars of English letters. ~~The second Mrs Driffield~~Amy, a nurse to the ailing Edward after his first wife left him, is known for her propriety, and her interest in augmenting and cementing her husband's literary reputation. Her only identity is that of caretaker of her husband in life and of his reputation in death. It is well-known, however, that Driffield wrote his best novels while he was married to his first wife and muse, Rosie. Knowing that Ashenden had ~~a long~~an acquaintanceship with the Driffields as a young man, Kear presses him for inside information about Edward's past, including ~~his first wife~~Rosie, who has been oddly erased from the official narrative of Edward's genius. Ashenden recounts his experience as a teenager in a small town in Kent. He is befriended by Driffield, then an obscure writer, who is married to a former barmaid, Rosie. Both are well beneath Ashenden's status, but he finds them interesting and visits them often. The relationship ends when the Driffields skip town, leaving a host of creditors unpaid. The story relates Ashenden's recollections of his past associations with the Driffields, especially Rosie. Due to his intimate association with her he hesitates to reveal how much information he will divulge to Driffield's second wife and Kear, who ostensibly wants a "complete" picture of the famous author, but who routinely glosses over the untoward stories that might upset Driffield's surviving wife. Ashenden holds the key to the deep mystery of love, and the act of love, in the life of each character, as he recounts a history of creativity, infidelity and literary memory. Years later, as a medical student in London, William runs into Rosie on the street and renews the friendship. Driffield is beginning to make a name for himself, championed by Mrs. Barton Trafford, a socialite who promotes and manages promising talent. William and Rosie become lovers, but he suspects that she is having affairs with other male friends. This second period ends when Rosie runs off to America with "Lord George" Kemp, a former lover. Driffield marries his nurse, Amy, who rearranges his life and molds him into a famous and cherished author. Kear becomes close to them and after Driffield's death, is asked to write his biography. Amy and Roy both denigrate Rosie and see the only good thing about her is abandoning Ted so his genius could flourish. They believe Rosie dead for some ten years. Ashenden, however, knows that she is alive in Yonkers, New York, a wealthy widow, for he has visited her there. Ashenden decides that he will not share anything he knows about Rosie with Kear and Amy. ==Publishing history==

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