I sympathized as best I could, and when he had calmed down a little he managed to look at me and said, “I didn’t expect to see you here, did you get bored or something?”

“No,” I said a little flatly. “I just wanted to ask you what you were doing this evening.”

“This evening? Let me think, this evening. Oh yes, I know, I’ve got to go round to Wyndham’s and sing songs, he wants to record some stuff for the Webster thing.”

“Does it have to be this evening?” I asked, realizing that it was not even worth sounding plaintive, and he suddenly remembered.

“Oh Jesus,” he said. “I know. Hugh. It’s today Hugh’s coming over, isn’t it?”

“That’s right.”

“Oh God, what a bloody nuisance. I forgot all about it. I can’t put Wyndham off now, he’s fixed it with everyone else, and anyway, I’m the only person who can sing. Oh God, what a bore. When did Hugh say he’d be coming?”

“He said he hoped he’d get here on the train that gets in just before seven.”

“Oh well then, that’s not too bad,” said David, thinking of a solution, “he can come along to Wyndham’s with me for the evening. Wyndham won’t mind, he’s a very sociable chap, is Wyndham. Then you won’t even have to bother getting supper for us, will you? We can get a pie at the pub or something.”

“I thought you invited Neville and Viola.”

“Oh yes, so I did. Never mind, I’ll put them off, shall I?”

“Yes, I suppose so.”

“You don’t mind, do you, Emma?”

“No, I don’t mind.”

“You don’t like Hugh much anyway do you?”

“No. I mean yes. Yes, I do quite like Hugh.”

“Oh well, never mind, he can come again some other time,” David said, and just as I was trying to work up the energy to think of some cold remark like “And what am I expected to do for the evening?” Viola appeared and said that Selwyn was looking for David and wanted to run through the corridor scene again.

“Bloody hell,” moaned David, thrusting Flora back into my arms, “that’s the fifteenth bloody time this morning, and it’s exactly the same as when we started.”