‘No, one doesn’t have much need of a dinner jacket in Florence. Not even for Tommy’s party at Palazzo Vecchio, but there were, then, all those dreary little professor types present. London, of course, is quite a different matter. There, it is not uncommon for one to be obliged to wear white tie and decoration.’
‘Actually,’ John said, ‘I’m invited to a party next week to which I have to wear a dinner jacket.’
‘Really?’ Sir Christopher asked, curious.
‘Yes. An old friend of mine from Newport,’ he said, inventing as he went along, ‘a childhood friend, has invited me to a party her parents are giving at the Excelsior, where they’re staying. And it says black tie on the invitation. I wouldn’t normally have accepted, but, as it is the same night when you are out to dine with Baba Braccio, I d
