But we can’t be anything but kind, as Cathy is so on the defensive. She expected us both to react against Joel, and it was quite funny to see her astonishment at Cornelius’s extreme courtesy and that we both treated Joel as we would any one of our friends. It was rather a stiff occasion, but at least there were no fireworks. Joel is a great asker of questions and almost incredibly naïve. He has us pigeonholed and was visibly surprised that I had gone to college. He has some kind of stereotype of the rich, Cathy says. He seemed quite upset by the stuffed animal heads in the hall. “Why kill them?” he asked Cornelius. And for once Cornelius was stumped. The ethos of the hunter is not something Joel can understand, it appears. Finally they dropped the subject.

So far Cathy has been willing to talk, and assures me that they are not in love. I gather that Joel is companionable and not, it would appear, highly sexed. I have talked with Marianne on the phone about him, and her attitude is that it’s high time Cathy lost her little-girl attitude to boys as the enemy. She doesn’t worry—at least not yet. And it is lovely to see that child opening out. She is suddenly merry, sings all the time, and she and Joel spend hours upstairs singing together while she plays her guitar. Amazing that Cornelius, after a moment’s violent reaction, has accepted the facts of life. He would, God knows, never have allowed a young man into any of his daughter’s rooms for any purpose whatever.