Tydvil had found in Elsie Wilson an entertaining friend. It was a friendship which to Nicholas's cynical amusement he kept on a strictly platonic basis. He recognised, however, that few of Basil Williams's friends accepted it at its face value.
One day, as Basil Williams, he kept a luncheon appointment with Elsie with intent to spend the afternoon at the Moonee Valley. When they met in Collins Street, Tydvil noticed that she was even more lighthearted and entertaining than usual. He was not to know that Elsie had already absorbed more joy-producing fluids than discretion warranted. The bottle of wine they shared at lunch, preceded by a cocktail, completely unleashed Elsie's not tightly bound inhibitions.
Unfortunately, Tydvil did not rightly diagnose the cause of her spontaneous gaiety u
