In my capacity as editor of a highly respected food magazine, I was used to travel and curt manners, but her rudeness seemed over the top. Taking a breath, I said, “Look, I’ve been traveling for nearly twenty-four hours, and stairs are a challenge for me at the moment.” Follow conciliatory with steel: that was my motto. “Do you have a room I can reach more easily, or shall I call my driver back and have him take me somewhere else?” For a moment, she stared at me. Hostile. Furious, even. What the hell?
