There was a party after the show, on stage, with champagne and all, which Mike and Dave and I duly attended. It was not very amusing, and was distinguished for me by the extraordinarily brave and gay behaviour of Sophy, who wandered around in a gold-and-brown dress, still covered in the reckless patches that she had worn on stage, pretending that she was a great success, which not only was the best way out for her, but also let everyone else off very easily. Wyndham still had his middle-aged couple in tow; he introduced them to Dave and me at one point, and it appeared that the smart woman was his sister, and her husband something to do with some huge chemical industry. My eyes kept meeting Wyndham’s with embarrassing frequency, even when we were at a considerable distance, from each other. The other thing that happened was that Mike Papini made a pass at me: he got me in a quiet corner in the wings, while Dave and Sophy were being photographed together by the press, and told me that I shouldn’t spend my time with a shallow egocentric like Dave, that I had no right to live in a backwater like Hereford and why didn’t I come back to London and live with him. He must have been quite sincere because he started to stammer, a thing I had not heard him do since his first novel came out. I was astounded, and said that I had no intention of doing anything of the sort, and that anyway, didn’t he realize I had two children. He replied that surely children were quite easily dealt with, he thought we had a nanny, and they could stay in the country, couldn’t they, it was good for them, and we could go and catch a late night train immediately, if there was one. I said he must have gone crazy, there was no train, we hadn’t got a nanny, we had an inefficient French girl, and that in any case, I couldn’t bear to be separated from my children for more than a day at a time. He thought that that was pretty feeble, and said so; whereat I said:

“Look here, Mike, the truth is that you couldn’t tell the difference between a child and a kitten,” and walked briskly away.