He said, 'As you wish.' But she could see he was confident that his wishes would override hers. 'By the way, I invited your friend Mrs Kelly to join us for supper,' he said casually. 'Margaret? Where did you run into her? At the shops?' 'No„ I called on her at her flat.' 'Really? Why?' she asked, thinking—To pump her about me, I suppose. 'I needed to know the name of the school where you teach, so that I could ring up and check the dates when this term ends and the next one begins before booking your flight. Mrs Kelly is a nice woman. You're lucky to have her to help you.' 'I know. Very lucky,' she agreed. 'You don't like this champagne?' he asked, reminding her that she had taken only one small sip of it. Christie drank a little more. 'It's delicious, but I'm not used to drinking. It may go to my head if I drink it too fast. Is it true that champagne is the only drink which doesn't give people hangovers?' 'I wouldn't know, never having had an excess of it.I suspect that a split of champagne would do most people more good—and cost the Health Service less—than all the tranquillisers and sleeping pills which Mrs Kelly tells me are prescribed far too freely over here.
