ALAS, no great ringings round, for who was there left to call? ‘Etho? Yes, soundo. I don’t know, I was a dud last night, I couldn’t go on any more; I took a lot of stuff and quietly passed out. I was a bit hopped anyway, well, but natch, at a party.’ ‘I’ve already rung Sofy. No hope. She says to be kind, say she’s not furious any more but she just won’t come back. So it’s you and me, Rufie; but there’s still precious Phin—and if he can take her away out of all this, well she can begin again and maybe with the atmosphere a bit more straightened out...?’ ‘What do you think?’ ‘Essentially very sound. To us he’s a bit stuffed but it’s the other side of the coin and it could be right for her, after all. She’ll soon shake out enough of the stuffing and, you know Sari, she can get away with anything. She’ll have Harley Street painting its faces in stripes and practising witch-doctoring before you know it, everyone simply loving it. And he’s mad about her, it’s pretty real this time.
