The million pound banknote

I said that in the gossip column I came before all dukes who were not relatives of the king. Therefore I should go first on this occasion. The question couldn't be settled, of course, no matter how much we argued about it - and we did argue. So we all went back to the drawing-room again and ate lunch - for lunch you get a plate of sardines and a strawberry, and you stand together and eat that.

For lunch the question of who goes first is not so difficult. The two most important people toss a coin. The one that wins is the first to start eating his strawberry, and the loser gets the shilling. The next two toss a coin, then the next two, and so on. After lunch, card tables were brought out, and we all played cribbage. We bet sixpence a game. The English never play any game for amusement. They won't play if they can't win something or lose something, but they don't care if they win or lose.

We had a lovely time. Certainly two of us had a lovely time - and those two were Miss Langham and I. I was so bewitched by her that I couldn't keep score if the points went too high. When I won a game I never noticed and just started again. I would have lost every game, only the girl was the same. You see she was in just as bewitched as I. So neither of us ever completed a game. But we didn't bother to wonder why we didn't; we just knew we were happy, and didn't want to know anything else, and didn't want to be interrupted.