It was 1972 before Olive showed any signs that she might accept a divorce. In a draft letter written to her that year Alwyn hoped that ‘when all this is over that it will be possible to see you from time to time. It seems absurd that when we have so many memories we share in common, that we should have no means of communication.’ He regretted that ‘our present relationship is anomalous and unnecessary and I do not wish it to drag on thus for the few years that are left to me’. By July 1974 he was complaining to his solicitor of ‘Olive’s completely unreasonable rapacity’ in the terms she was asking. Alwyn complained that his income would not support her demands, his funds being ‘in the main derived from the purely fictitious capital represented by Performing Rights and Royalties and the unsecure foundations of International Copyright laws, to say nothing of the vagaries of fashion to which a creative artist is always subject’. Under the terms of the settlement she received maintenance from Alwyn of ï¿¡2,700 a year. Nicholas thought the financial arrangement ‘parsimonious to an absurd degree’. At the end of October, Alwyn’s solicitors received the form of consent from Olive, which left Alwyn and Mary free to marry. They were about to depart for Switzerland when the news arrived but decided to marry at once. Mary’s Notebooks tell us that ‘On the Friday morning William opened his post and said “You may not believe it but Olive has agreed to divorce me.” […] So a busy morning. Off to Saxmundham Registry Office to see if I could get a quick wedding on Saturday.’ The dates here do not agree, for the certificate shows that Alwyn and Mary were married on 19 April 1975. She told Mark Jackson that she and Alwyn had gone for a walk at Walberswick and she had written, ‘Will you marry me?’ in the sand. Mary bought a white iced cake and a small bottle of champagne for the few guests. Their doctor gave them a decoration for the cake. Mary noticed that the other brides of the day were heavily pregnant.