Cold all over and for the moment lost to the tango she thought: ‘Ronald!’ then returned her eyes to her partner’s dispassionate face and slid her long step sideways across him; they both swung half round and balanced again at the conclusion of the bar. The floor was emptier; all but a few couples had been driven off it by the unnatural music; the remaining few were visible from every part of the room, and were reflected in the twirling mirror. Ronald was watching her, and before the end of the dance she excused herself to her partner and crossed the room to speak to him.

‘I beg your pardon – aren’t you Mr Kerr?’

‘I am,’ said Ronald gloomily.

‘Surely you have come early? Mrs Kerr was not expecting you ——’

‘Oh, thanks, but I happen to know my mother is expecting me.’

‘ – not expecting you before half-past eleven,’ said Sydney, finishing her sentence imperturbably. ‘The Paris train ——’

‘Excuse me, but I didn’t come from Paris. I’ve come from Genoa.’

‘Really? You see you never said how you were coming, so we rather assumed ——’

Ronald’s long stare plainly inquired what right she had had to have ‘rather assumed’; and more, what she could know about his mother’s assumptions! It was diverted from Sydney by the arrival of Mr Lee-Mittison, who hurried towards them, skidding slightly in his eagerness on the polished floor. ‘Can I do anything for you, my boy?’ said Mr Lee-Mittison.

‘Well, yes,’ said Ronald, turning towards him. ‘I am looking for Mrs Kerr, who happens to be my mother. Perhaps you will be able to tell me where ——’

‘Mr Lee-Mittison will certainly be able to help you,’ said Sydney. She and Ronald bowed to one another and she walked away. ‘To the knife,’ she thought, surrendering herself to her next partner, the gingery captain, who had waited meanwhile in the offing. In the succession of broken glimpses she had of him subsequently she saw Ronald being led round the edge of the room by Mr Lee-Mittison, who had laid a hand on his shoulder, with bowed head, but with every sign of complaisance to being Mr Lee-Mittison’s boy. After a few minutes’ conversation they left the lounge together. Their exit was watched with an equal interest by James Milton, who thought: ‘So that’s what Ronald is going to be like.’