…and found Dora Venn in a mood to gossip. It turns out that she is no Londoner at all but was brought up from Sussex to enter service with Lady Billingham. She met her Charlie walking out in Green Park and took pity on him for his lack of inches and incurable ability to look on the bright side of every question . When she asked him what he was doing in the Park , his irresistible answer was ‘ looking for you .’ She was seventeen and, as she put it , a bit on the bony side , as well as being as innocent as a daffodil . But it was love at first sight ,etc. ‘ Well of course we don’t have love at first sight in our class of people but I did go home very thoughtful . When we was married , a full twelvemonth later , and he saw me naked for the first time , the dear boy near enough fainted away .Nothing in the Gospel had prepared him for the shock of that .’ I asked if it had been a happy marriage. ‘Better than I deserved,’ Dora said , blinking back the tears . We toasted his memory in sherry that would otherwise have gone into Philip’s Sunday afternoon trifle.