“Bored with your house party?” she asked when they came together again in the crowd on the footpath.

“The boredom even brandy won’t dispel.”

They did not speak again until they had relaxed in one of the lounges of the famous hotel. Then he ordered gin and vermouth for his companion and brandy and dry ginger ale for himself. She noted that he called for a double for himself.

“What were the other reasons you used to persuade Janet to invite me?” she asked. He drank the brandy as though it were a light beer and signalled to the waiter.

“The mirror in your bag will provide one of the reasons,” he said. “I wish I weren’t old. I wish I weren’t married. I wish I were your age and yet in possession of all the experiences and the success I have today. Dammit! No sooner do we reach the top than we are old and able to enjoy only-brandy. A double, please, waiter. The lady will miss out this time.”

“And the other reasons?” pressed Nancy Chesterfield. Dressed in a beautifully tailored black suit and pale green blouse with a fashionable black hat emphasizing the brilliance of her almost golden hair, she would have made any man proud to be her cavalier.

“Another is that I want you to give a full report of what I said this afternoon. Publicity is an author’s very breath of life,” he said with brutal candour made charming by the way he smiled. The second double brandy had been set before him and he drank it quickly, then said, “That’s better. Again, waiter, and another gin and vermouth. Been on the wagon, Nancy, since before lunch. A week-end party is quite all right, but one that goes on for a week becomes very wearing.