Since his wife had left him Otto Roope had lived with his only son Thomas in a town house in Canterbury which had pleasant views towards the cathedral

Although he was nearing his twenty-fourth year Tom had shown no inclination to leave the family home

This suited Otto well as Tom was agreeable company and had recently become a published poet when his small book of verse had been published by the Lilyfrock Press

Indeed it had not been so many years since Tom had been called Rope the Dope by the fellows at his school

As you can guess this was a vulgar corruption of the family name which although spelt Roope was pronounced Rope and this was further corrupted as Rope the Soap and Rope the Pope

But this did not disturb his son greatly who quite often returned the favour

So it came as more than a surprise when Tom brought a pretty undergraduate name Ruth home for tea

He always knew that one day Tom would leave the nest but his quiet son had shown no signs of being more than good friends with with the women he knew

Ruth who had an English father and a Maltese mother was an exotic creature with lively black eyes and a Mediterranean complexion but she spoke with a cut glass English accent which could be rather disconcerting to those meeting her for the first time

It was after this first visit that Otto began to see less of his son and it came as no shock when Tom announced that he had decided to set up home with Ruth in another part of Canterbury

They had plans for marriage but wanted to enjoy each others company to the full before committing to each other

Otto reasoned that although Sonia had left him for another man he was no role model so he kept his rather traditional views to himself

However deep down he hated the hours he spent in the house alone and began inviting friends back for drinks

The although completely acceptable did not fill his loneliness and he felt himself rather isolated even though his academic life was busy and rewarding

But this all changed when Sonia re -entered his life as she had divorced the wastrel she had left Otto for and had found herself quite empty

Sonia was not sure whether Otto would be pleased to see her again although they had maintained a infrequent but friendly correspondence

Yet more than anything Otto wanted his family to be complete again especially as Tom was happy with Ruth and he welcomed Sonia back into his life

Otto refused to bear historical grudges even though he had suffered intense pain when Sonia left him

He was just pleased that the geometry of his Canterbury life had again become symmetrical