15 OCTOBER 1988, Page 36

Albertine

`At seventy it's no disgrace to forget a name', she smiled: Hers, to my dismay, had vanished without trace.

The Albertine rose she was holding out towards me Seemed to reflect the June sunlight of her face - But when I touched the flower it crumbled to a fine Grey powder: the June smile had gone, and in its place Hovered an effigy that leered and seemed to whisper `Age, not amnesia: that, fool, is the one disgrace!'

Edward Lowbury