‘Been wanting to do that for a long time,’ he said. ‘Bet you don’t know how many drops to the minute. I do, I counted.’

‘I’ve no idea.’

‘Guess. Tanner if you’re wrong; half a dollar if you’re right. That’s fair.’

‘Three,’ I said.

‘Coo, you’re a sharp one. Been counting ’em yourself.’ But he showed no inclination to pay this debt. Instead he said: ‘How d’you figure this out. I’m an Englishman born and bred, but this is my first time on the Atlantic.’

‘You flew out perhaps?’

‘No, nor over it.’

‘Then I presume you went round the world and came across the Pacific.’

‘You are a sharp one and no mistake. I’ve made quite a bit getting into arguments over that one.’

‘What was your route?’ I asked, wishing to be agreeable.

‘Ah, that’d be telling. Well, I must skedaddle. So long.’

‘Charles,’ said my wife, ‘this is Mr Kramm, of Inter-astral Films.’

‘So you are Mr Charles Ryder,’ said Mr Kramm.

‘Yes.’

‘Well, well, well,’ he paused. I waited. ‘The purser here says we’re heading for dirty weather. What d’you know about that?’

‘Far less than the purser.’

‘Pardon me, Mr Ryder, I don’t quite get you.’

‘I mean I know less than the purser.’

‘Is that so? Well, well, well. I’ve enjoyed our talk very much. I hope that it will be the first of many.’

An Englishwoman said: ‘Oh, that swan! Six weeks in America has given me an absolute phobia of ice. Do tell me, how did it feel meeting Celia again after two years? I know I should feel indecently bridal. But Celia’s never quite got the orange blossom out of her hair, has she?’

Another woman said: ‘Isn’t it heaven saying good-bye and knowing we shall meet again in half an hour and go on meeting every half-hour for days?’

Our guests began to go, and each on leaving informed me of something my wife had promised to bring me to in the near future; it was the theme of the evening that we should all be seeing a lot of each other, that we had formed one of those molecular systems that physicists can illustrate. At last the swan was wheeled out, too, and I said to my wife, ‘Julia never came.’

‘No, she telephoned. I couldn’t hear what she said, there was such a noise going on – something about a dress. Quite lucky really, there wasn’t room for a cat. It was a lovely party, wasn’t it? Did you hate it very much? You behaved beautifully and looked so distinguished. Who was your red-haired chum?’

‘No chum of mine.’

‘How very peculiar! Did you say anything to Mr Kramm about working in Hollywood?’

‘Of course not.’

‘Oh, Charles, you are a worry to me. It’s not enough just to stand about looking distinguished and a martyr for Art. Let’s go to dinner. We’re at the Captain’s table. I don’t suppose he’ll dine down tonight, but it’s polite to be fairly punctual.’