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lightened the moment for me. In fact, I had to hide a smile. Alan is as free of prejudice as anyone I know, but at odd moments a Rule Britannia streak shows up. The English, even perhaps the Welsh, could be counted upon to behave themselves in a crisis and do as they were told. Denizens of other nations were unpredictable. Such was the faith that underlay his remark. I thought briefly about football riots, in contradiction of his theory, and then about the orderly throng that made its sedate way up the Mall after the wedding of William and Catherine, held back only by a few policemen, and decided that just perhaps he had a point.
    Was it a pressing crowd of ‘foreigners’ that forced the poor soul out of the boat to his or her death?
    The lighter moment passed. Who had fallen?
    It must have been someone who was travelling alone, or a companion would be prostrated, and looking around, I saw no sign of that. Distress, of course. It was a terrible thing to witness. Some of the women were crying, and the men were sober, but I could see no evidence of personal grief. In fact, if I were to be uncharitable, some passengers seemed to be more upset by the ruination of their pleasant afternoon than the loss of someone’s life.
    The wait for the police seemed endless. We tried to make conversation, the four of us, but no one was in the mood for small talk. I did ask Nigel what effect, if any, this tragedy was going to have on the festival schedule. A trivial matter by comparison, but it was something to say.
    â€˜Probably none. We can hardly cancel at this late date, and really, there’s no reason to. It’s as if . . . as if we had seen a frightful road smash, with someone killed. Dreadful, but . . .’
    â€˜Yes, of course.’
    â€˜And rehearsals won’t be interrupted if we can get back at some reasonable time this afternoon, or even this evening,’ he went on. ‘Sir John may have to spend a bit of time tomorrow calming everyone down. Musicians don’t have the most tranquil of personalities, and as I said, a good number of the singers are on this boat.’
    â€˜And you also said, or implied, that there are problems already.’
    â€˜Yes, but nothing I can put my finger on. There’s a feeling. For one thing, the mezzo hasn’t shown up yet, so we’ve had to juggle the schedule. Small disagreements flare up into tempers. No one has actually stomped out of a rehearsal or thrown anything, but there was a moment or two when I thought it might happen.’ He made a frustrated gesture. ‘It’s probably just my imagination.’
    At that point a small group of people strode down the footpath that bordered the canal. They were in plain clothes, but were quite obviously official.
    â€˜I believe,’ I said to nobody in particular, ‘that Her Majesty’s Constabulary have arrived.’
    After that things proceeded in fairly good order, if slowly. Every passenger’s name had to be taken, along with address and other contact information. Everyone was questioned briefly about the accident. No one knew anything of importance, except those in the group that had gathered so disastrously around the door. And from the little I overheard of their responses, they were so confused and garbled as to be virtually useless. Summarized, they amounted to: ‘We were trying to get a good look/good picture, but everyone was pushing, and then . . .’
    We were among the last to speak to the police. Alan discreetly pulled out his warrant card and introduced himself. ‘I’ve been retired for quite some time, of course, and I’m here on holiday and entirely as a private citizen. But if I can be of any help, of course I’ll do what I can.’
    â€˜Thank you, sir. We’ll bear that in mind,’ said the officer who seemed to be in charge. It was apparent from his tone of voice that he had no intention of calling on Alan for anything whatsoever. Alan