A sad tale of a college girl, Gilberte (not her true name), who has a penchant for mathematics, having inherited from her father “who was was some high official who presumably dealt with estimates and figures”. In appearance, Gilberte “was tall and thin, like the irreducible first digit, unless you reduced it to fractions, those fey incomprehensible hieroglyphics that reminded me of freckles”. and then, “It wasn't long before she outstripped her teachers in science and maths, and there was talk of allowing her to cycle to the Boys’ High School for the competition.”

It becomes clear that Gilberte’s talents need to be honed in a university but “the attitude of Gilberte’s seemed to be that boys went to university if they were so inclined and girls were homemakers and married.” The school headmistress tries to reason with the father, to no avail, and in a comical turn, ends up slapping the father for his intransigence...

Gilberte has thoughts of being with “someone quiet and dreamy, who will smile when you mention the pleasure of numbers. Someone in the same field to talk projective geometry with in the evenings.” Unfortunately, that was not to be. “She married the first man she met at a dance, had five children, and ran a fish and chip shop. At least she could add the numbers in her head.”...