What became of us

joke,’ Manon said, ‘I haven’t got any money at all!’
    She thought briefly of the notes that she had stuffed under her mattress before leaving her flat in Bloomsbury.
    ‘But you could have,’ Annie persevered, ‘if you wanted to...’
    ‘I suppose if I’d married Rodolfo,’ Manon said. ‘You must be mad,’ Annie repeated. ‘I’d give anything to be married, let alone rich too.’
    ‘I lived for a long time with a very rich Italian,’ Manon explained for Ursula’s benefit.
    ‘So he wasn’t Mr Right, then?’ Ursula asked, feeling stupid as soon as she said it.
    ‘I’m not sure I believe in Mr Right,’ Manon said cautiously.
    ‘No, nor am I,’ Ursula agreed. ‘Do you, Annie?’
    ‘What? Do you think we all have One Great Love? Trouble is, I do. And I mistake him every time.’
    The waitress brought their food.
    Annie peered into Ursula’s salad bowl.
    ‘I always think that rocket tastes like dope smells,’ she said, ‘but sadly it doesn’t make you giggle or say “wow, this green salad is fantastic!” ’
    Ursula frowned at her, and turned to Manon.
    ‘So what do you do?’ she asked.
    ‘Nothing much. I’ve never had a proper job,’ Manon admitted. ‘I’ve travelled a lot. I’m not sure I ever understood the concept of a career...’
    ‘You came from an army family, didn’t you?’
    Bits of long-forgotten information were filtering back through Ursula’s brain. Manon had always moved swiftly from talking about herself to talking about concepts, she remembered. At the time, it had made everyone else’s conversation seem rather base and unintelligent. She wondered now whether it hadn’t been Manon’s way of protecting herself against spilling her soul as the rest of them were always doing.
    ‘What were you going to be then, Annie?’ Ursula asked.
    ‘I was going to be a famous actress,’ Annie said. ‘Well, we got you right, then.’
    ‘I’m not really an actress, not like Judi Dench or something,’ Annie protested, looking as if she hoped someone would correct her.
    ‘How is work, by the way?’ Ursula asked.
    ‘Fine. The American show is just about to start filming in Toronto. Apparently Canadian crews are cheaper or something and they make it look like New York.’
    ‘I can’t believe there’s an American version when you stole the whole idea from American shows,’ Ursula said.
    ‘I did not steal it.’
    ‘Well, you know what I mean.’
    ‘Who’s going to play Annie?’
    ‘Me, of course, and before you tell me that everyone except Tracey Ullman flops when they go to the States, let me tell you that I don’t intend to. Penny was the one most likely to be happily married with a family,’ Annie suddenly remembered, ‘except we all assumed she’d be with Vin.’
    ‘Nobody even knew Roy then, except me, of course,’ Ursula said.
    ‘He was there,’ said Manon, ‘after finals.’
    Both women were startled by her contribution to the conversation.
    ‘You’re right, I’d forgotten that. He’d come to meet me out of my last exam. It was his first time in Oxford,’ said Ursula.
    ‘He was taking the Oxbridge exams in the autumn,’ Manon added.
    ‘Yes, he was,’ Ursula looked at her oddly.
    ‘We didn’t think of who would be most likely to be dead,’ said Annie breezily. ‘Do you think statistics work like that?’ she asked. ‘I mean, if one in four women is going to get breast cancer, does that mean that the rest of us are in the clear?’
    ‘Honestly,’ Ursula said, ‘do you have to be so flip about it?’
    ‘Don’t tell me you haven’t had the same thought,’ Annie said.
    Ursula’s face, which was slightly pink already, flushed a deeper shade. ‘Well, I’m not Prime Minister,’ she said, trying to change the subject.
    ‘Would you want to be?’ Manon was interested to know. People in England these days didn’t seem very interested in politics. She thought perhaps it had gone out of fashion.
    ‘Well, I suppose I would like to have done more. I mean I’ve been a councillor and a school governor and I’m active in my local party. If I hadn’t got pregnant with George, I might have put myself up for selection.’
    ‘I forgot you were chair of Soc Soc,’ Annie interrupted.
    ‘I was the one most likely to be Prime Minister because I was the only one of you who ever did anything political,’ Ursula said righteously.
    ‘I thought it was because you were so bossy,’ Annie teased.
    ‘Do you think all students think that