gathered there to pool news of the latest atrocities. Robert Bernays, a recently elected Liberal MP, at first thought the conspiratorial atmosphere of the Taverne faintly absurd until he realised that the correspondents really were in danger, not least from trumped-up charges of espionage. They did not, however, impress Tweedy – ‘a rather grumpy, messy lot reminding me of Bloomsbury at its worst’.
