When they drew up outside the Contessa’s house, there were linkmen with their lights.
The moment Lord Mere saw the great pillars outside the building and the exquisitely inlaid marble floors and painted ceilings within it, he knew that he was going to enjoy himself.
Throughout his life he had been deeply affected by beauty, although it was something that had been suppressed when he was at school and seldom talked about even to his closest friends.
It was impossible to explain to men, who were obsessed by horses and by the current toast of the Clubs, that he could find a picture or a sculpture more emotionally moving and more uplifting than what they worshipped.
He thought now a little cynically that the Contessa’s possessions would be to him more interesting than her guests.
He knew,
