‘Oh, go on, by all means. It’s damned interesting. At least I know where I stand with some of you.’

The lioness was now in the open, roused and dangerous, and the rest of the party was rather embarrassed but full of a fearful joy.

‘Brains, 19.’

‘I gave you nine for brains, dear. I always think you’re so good at those crossword puzzles,’ said Auntie Loo.

‘Thank you very much, Looie; very kind of you, I’m sure,’ was Aunt Maxine’s reply, awful with sarcasm.

‘Good Temper, 12,’ read Sophia quickly.

‘How many? Twenty?’

‘No … twelve.’

‘Twelve? Here … let me see. 5 – 5 – 0 – 2 – 0 – 0. Well, that’s candid, I must say. That’s straight from the shoulder. And who was good enough to give me two, I should like to know?’

‘Me, dear,’ replied Auntie Loo, unmoved. ‘You have a very quick temper, you know. Just like poor Grandpapa, and poor Oliver, and Hartley. I’ve often thought what a trial it must be to you; such a nasty thing to have. Never mind, everyone makes excuses for hasty people; it’s only the mild-spoken ones who are never allowed to fly out.’

And Auntie Loo agitated her ball of crochet cotton, which rolled on to the floor and was picked up by Francis.

‘Well, go on, go on. There’s Selfishness to come yet, isn’t there? I suppose I’ve got sixty for selfishness. Well, this has been a revelation to me. It’s opened my eyes in a way I shan’t forget in a hurry. Don’t misunderstand me, Sophia. I’m not sorry I came here this afternoon. I wouldn’t have missed it for anything. There’s nothing like knowing where you stand, after all; if you don’t, you may make a fool of yourself by doing some little act of kindness to people who don’t deserve it. Well, go on, Sophia. What are you waiting for? Selfishness, 60.’

‘No, 50,’ said Sophia, in the midst of a hush which was certainly disagreeable.

‘I told you so,’ exclaimed Aunt Maxine triumphantly, though she had told them nothing of the kind. ‘I knew it. Let me see – 7 – 6 – 10 – 10 – 9 – 8. Everyone goes as high as they dare, you see, and two people – and I can make a pretty good guess who they are – go the whole hog. Well, it doesn’t matter. It’s only a game, after all.’ (A fact which Aunt Maxine seemed to have forgotten; she might have been coping with the retreat from Moscow.) ‘Just amusement. It’s funny. The whole thing’s funny, really, if one looks at it as a give-away of certain people’s characters. Well … I shall know what to do now, anyway,’ and she crumpled the paper into a ball and threw it into the fire. ‘Who comes next?’

‘Uncle Preston.’

‘Ah!’ said Uncle Preston, leaning forward eagerly. ‘Now may we have all the details of this one, please, slowly and clearly. It should be most interesting.’