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please, Isis,’ said Colin, helping a toad out of the hole and himself to a finger of Welsh rarebit pie and a Bombay duck’s egg.
    â€˜You should have taken some,’ he said to Chloe. ‘They’re very good.’
    And then he coughed because he had swallowed by mistake a hedgehog quill that was hidden in one of the delicacies.
    Chloe laughed, and her pretty teeth glistened.
    â€˜What is it?’
    He had to turn his back on her to finish choking and, in the end, he managed to stop. Chloe came back with two glasses.
    â€˜Drink this,’ she said, ‘it’ll make you feel better.’
    â€˜Thanks,’ said Colin. ‘Is it champagne?’
    â€˜It’s a kind of cocktail.’
    He swallowed the whole glass and choked again. Chloecouldn’t stop laughing. Chick and Alyssum came up. ‘What’s the matter?’ asked Chick.
    â€˜He doesn’t know how to drink!’ said Chloe.
    Alyssum tapped him gently on the back and the echo sounded like a Balinese gong. Everybody immediately stopped dancing and went in to dinner.
    â€˜There we are,’ said Chick. ‘Now we’re all quiet. How about putting on something really good? …’
    He winked at Colin.
    â€˜Let’s do the Squint!’ suggested Alyssum.
    Chick dug through the pile of records near the record-player.
    â€˜Dance with me, Chick,’ Alyssum said to him.
    â€˜I’ve found something,’ said Chick. ‘Let’s put it on.’
    It was a boogie-woogie.
    Chloe was waiting.
    â€˜You’re not going to do the Squint to that, are you? …’ said Colin, horrified.
    â€˜Why not? …’ asked Chick.
    â€˜Don’t look at them,’ Colin said to Chloe.
    He bent down his head and kissed her between the ear and shoulder. She trembled, but did not take her head away.
    Colin did not take away his lips either.
    Alyssum and Chick, however, gave themselves up, body and soul, to an outstanding display of the Squint – the way the coloured kids do it.
    The record soon came to an end. Alyssum broke loose and looked for something to play next, while Chick dropped flat on to the divan in front of Colin and Chloe. He grabbed them by the legs and brought them tumbling down beside him.
    â€˜Well, my lambs,’ he said, ‘having fun?’
    Colin sat up and Chloe snuggled up comfortably beside him.
    â€˜She’s a lovely kid, isn’t she?’ said Chick.
    Chloe smiled. Colin said nothing, but put his arm round Chloe’s shoulders and absent-mindedly began to play with the top button of her dress – which opened down the front.
    Alyssum came back.
    â€˜Move along, Chick. I want to sit between you and Colin.’
    Her choice of record was highly appropriate. It was ‘Chloe’, arranged by Duke Ellington. Colin nibbled a corner of Chloe’s hair just behind her ear. And murmured, ‘It’s you. It’s you!’
    And before Chloe could say anything, all the others came back to dance, having realized that it wasn’t time for dinner after all.
    â€˜Oh! …’ said Chloe. ‘What a pity! …’

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    â€˜Well, are you going to see her again?’ asked Chick.
    They were sitting down to Nicholas’s latest creation – pumpkin and walnuts.
    â€˜I don’t know,’ said Colin. ‘I don’t know what to do. She’s such a nice girl … Last time, when we were out with Isis, she drank an awful lot of champagne …’
    â€˜And it suited her marvellously,’ said Chick. ‘She’s extremely pretty. Don’t look so miserable! … Guess what I found today? A copy of Heartre’s
Choice Before Eructation
printed on an unperforated toilet roll.’
    â€˜Fine. But where d’you get all the money from?’ said Colin.
    It was Chick’s turn to look glum.
    â€˜It did cost me a lot, but I can’t do without it,’ he said. ‘I need Heartre. I’m