ABSTRACT
Arden’s heart attack was serious. But he recovered, and the following summer he and D’Arcy were in London to celebrate their fortieth wedding anniversary in Camden. Their affection had withstood the trials and battering which they had endured over years, and remained firm. After his recovery, Arden concentrated on shorter forms of writing, mostly radio plays and short stories. To begin with he made a series of six radio plays, five of which were broadcast weekly from 31 December 1997, out of The Little Novels of Wilkie Collins. In 2003 Arden had to have a hip replacement. It failed to stop new work from him appearing, however, and indeed 2003 was a particularly productive year. The stories as a whole display Arden’s unflagging energy and inventiveness, not to say his sense of humour.
