'It is wonderfully peaceful to sit in bed with Iris reassuringly asleep and gently snoring. Half asleep again myself I have a feeling of floating down the river, and watching all the rubbish from the houses and from our lives - the good as well as the bad - sinking slowly down through the dark water until it is lost in the depths. Iris is floating or swimming quietly beside me. Weeds and larger leaves sway and stretch themselves beneath the surface. Blue dragonflies dart and hover to and fro by the river bank. And suddenly a kingfisher flashes past.'... Bayley plays down himself and his achievements, creating a persona both endearing and touchingly naive, and sending himself up with deadpan humour. It is hard to do justice to the tenderness with which, in exquisite, measured prose and surprising detail, he evokes their marriage...