Jane was thinking too much about Constance and the book, Jessie about Fabian, and Fabian himself about the oppressive presence of three not particularly attractive women at his table, and also about Jessie’s strange behaviour earlier in the afternoon. He hoped she wasn’t going to become a nuisance in any way. They still had a little more sorting out to do, but he decided against offering them sherry when they had finished. It might go to their heads, he decided, and then they might all behave foolishly. He could easily make it understood that he was really too much upset to prolong the painful
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