Even so, One could not help regretting that it had been necessary to have a Committee at all. Eventually resolutions had to be recorded, and however carefully framed they were so as not to commit One to anything unfortunate, they were always rich material for misunderstanding for those who wished to misunderstand them. Riddle and others had a habit of interpreting the Committee’s resolutions with an extraordinarily primitive literalism. Riddle in particular seemed to believe that when the Committee had declared it was in favour of an informal occasion without excessive protocol or handshaking, it meant that the staff would stand around with their hands in their pockets, and greet the Queen with a curt nod! And when the Committee had resolved to give the Queen tea, it seemed that some people had thought it meant just that – handing her a plastic Tea Room cup of cooling Tea Room tea!

‘My dear Riddle,’ said Mrs. Plushkov with unending patience, ‘when the Committee mentioned informality One can be perfectly certain that it did not mean downright rudeness.’

‘Look, old cock, no one’s suggested being rude . . .’

‘Similarly, my dear Riddle, when it resolved to offer her tea I think One can be fairly sure it did not exclude the possibility that she would like a biscuit or a slice of cake to go with it.’

‘Or a slice of smoked salmon? Or a caviare sandwich?’

‘Possibly. The exact range of the refreshments has not yet been decided on.’

‘For all you know, it might include roast peacock and stuffed boar’s head?’

‘I don’t think the Catering Sub-Committee is likely to want to include anything as heavy as that.’

‘Oh, there’s a Catering Sub-Committee now, is there? As well as the Refreshments Committee? Look, old cock, this thing’s getting out of hand.’

For a moment Mrs. Plushkov’s smile disappeared. Riddle had touched on a sensitive spot. The annoying thing was that the proliferation of committees was something One had started Oneself. To avoid unseemly outbursts from Riddle in the Organising Committee, One had referred all questions which might have provoked them – which was to say, all questions – to special sub-committees which did not include Riddle. Of course, the thing had to be done discreetly, without arousing the suspicions of Riddle’s potential allies – Goldwasser, Macintosh, Rowe, and others – so that as a smoke-screen a number of extra sub-committees had to be set up which included Riddle. The sting was taken out of these by requiring them to report back to a Joint Advisory Council, on which Riddle was not represented. By a deft manoeuvre Riddle got herself appointed to a Procedure Committee to coordinate the work of all those sub-committees on which she did not sit. Mrs. Plushkov replied by setting up a Co-ordinating Committee, without Riddle, to co-ordinate the work of the Joint Advisory Council and the Procedure Committee, which then set up Working Parties to study the implementation of the proposals put forward by the various subcommittees.