Michael had prepared for the evening by sending for Alfonso, his London chef, who had excelled himself.
Cream of asparagus soup was followed by salmon with Sauce Hollandaise, roast chicken, ham, cucumber sauce, chocolate mousse, pastries, ice cream, and coffee.
With every course there was a different wine in a different glass, – chambertin, champagne, sauterne and sherry.
Brooks was ecstatic, serving such a feast and supervising the new servants who had been hired, and who treated him with a flattering deference that he had almost forgotten existed.
“Just like the old days,” he kept saying to anyone who would listen. “Just like the old days.”
For Bettina the dinner was less of an ordeal than she had feared. With her father on one side and Katherine on the other she was partly shielded
