‘I thought you would want a little drink before we go off,’ he said agitatedly.
‘I do think we will need a nip of vodka to fortify ourselves if we are to endure another of Alice’s dinners.’
‘Yes, exactly. I’ll put the tray in the drawing room, but first let me go and call Peter,’ he said and hurried off.
‘We thought,’ John said, as he tapped on the open door of the study, ‘we might have a drink before going off to Alice’s.’
‘Just what the doctor ordered,’ Peter Mason said as he looked up smilingly from the keyboard.
‘I hope that I didn’t interrupt you,’ John said, stepping behind Peter to look over his shoulder at the score.
‘Oh no, I was just pounding away.’
On the right-hand page John read the heading Prélude IX. La sérénade interrompue. As Peter had just that moment finished, Joh
