‘Oh, yes,’ said the heartless Squibby, ‘I expect so. Sure to be. I saw them having a very jolly little chat with Lady Prague just now.’
‘You don’t think it would be rather nice if you went and saw how they were getting on?’
‘Well, Aunt Loudie, I don’t think I need. I’d much rather stay and talk to you. In any case, I’ve danced with both of them and they are nothing to do with me. It was Biggy and Maydew who insisted on having them asked down.’
Paul and Philadelphia spent most of the evening shut up together in the linen cupboard, bemoaning the fact that tomorrow they must be parted, and reiterating that they intended to be faithful to each other during the months to come.
‘Darling, when I think,’ said Philadelphia, her voice shaking, ‘of all those lovely girls you go out with in London I do feel so terrified that you’ll soon forget all about me.’
‘I shan’t do that. I tell you that you have quite a special place in my heart, and you always will have. Wherever I am I shall be thinking about you the whole time. I expect I shall go about with other girls, because it would be a mistake not to, but they won’t mean anything to me really. You are, and always will be, the only woman in my life. I shall never feel about anybody as I do about you. You’re perfect, to me.’
The fact that Paul had repeated this sentence, word for word, to at least three other women, did not prevent him, as he said it, from sincerely believing it to be the truth.
‘But I feel terrified too,’ he went on, ‘that you’ll decide to give me up after all and marry Michael instead. Remember, I shall never blame you in the least if you do. It would probably be much more sensible. But to me you are the only woman –’
At this juncture the duchess opened the linen cupboard door and popped her head round the corner.
‘Oh, you darlings,’ she said delightedly, ‘I’m so glad somebody’s having a lovely time. It does me good to see you. You’ve no idea what it’s been like everywhere else, too gloomy and awful for words. Now, when you’ve quite finished being happy together in there we’ve got some cocktails in Bobby’s room, so mind you come along and join us.’
She shut the door carefully and went, bursting with her news, back to Bobby.
‘There they were, locked in each other’s arms. I can’t tell you how sweet they looked – the lambs. Quite frankly, I never should have thought Philadelphia had so much sense. I must ask her to stay as soon as ever we get back from Switzerland.’
‘Now don’t you start encouraging her,’ said Bobby crossly. ‘Amabelle and I are working like niggers to stop all this nonsense and make her get engaged to Michael.’
‘Oh, no, you awful child, you can’t behave like a matchmaking mamma at your age; it’s not natural. For heaven’s sake let the poor girl have her fun, besides, it’s so good for her. Just think how pretty she’s looking now. She is a different being from what she was a month ago.’
‘I’m all in favour of her having as much fun as she likes,’ said Bobby, ‘so long as she’ll be sensible and not go on with all this ridiculous talk about marriage – just think, if Michael heard about it, he might quite easily be put off for good.’
‘You don’t seriously want her to marry Michael, do you? He’s such a fearful bore. I wouldn’t allow a daughter of mine to marry him, however much she wanted to.’
‘That’s just very silly and naughty of you, darling Auntie Loudie, because a girl’s first husband must be eligible, otherwise she will very soon go downhill altogether. Amabelle agrees with me.’
‘Amabelle is so frightfully pompous in these days,’ said the duchess with a hiccough. ‘I can remember the time when she was just an ordinary tart (a very successful one and all that, of course) and then she really was the greatest fun. We used to go secretly to her parties and think we were being absolute daredevils, but ever since she married old James Fortescue she’s been twice as much of a duchess as I am. It’s a great pity, because in those days she used to be too heavenly.’
‘I think she is still,’ said Bobby stoutly. ‘She’s one of the sweetest people in the world. Look how divine she has been to the Monteaths ever since that baby was born.’
‘Yes, I agree she is very sweet and kind, she always has been. I’m only saying that she’s no longer such absolutely rollicking fun. In any case, I think it’s absurd for her to take that line about Delphie. Why surely the child is rich enough to marry anybody she likes.’
‘She’s only rich so long as my mother chooses to make her an allowance.’
‘Clearly. But I suppose that even darling Gloria could hardly see her own daughter starve. I don’t understand what there is against Paul myself. He seems an exceptionally nice young man, good-looking, polite, everything one could want for a son-in-law.’
‘Well, to begin with, if you’d really like to know, his name isn’t Fisher at all.’
‘Oh?’
‘It’s Fotheringay, Paul Fotheringay.’
‘My dear, that’s a much nicer name than Fisher. Most romantic, too. One of Henry VIII’s wives was executed at a place called that. I remember all about it in English history.’
‘Darling, I don’t think you quite understand. His real name, as I said before, is Paul Fotheringay, and he is masquerading here under the alias of Fisher.’
‘How divinely thrilling. Wait a moment, though, wasn’t there somebody called Paul Fotheringay who wrote that screamingly funny book about pawnbrokers trying to commit suicide?’
‘Yes, that’s his book, Crazy Capers.’
‘Oh, but I’ve never laughed so much at anything before in my life. Wait a minute while I rush
