JK was away so DB chaired the meeting in her place. Instead of discussing business, however, we all sat at the table writing our Christmas cards. After a few minutes of addressing envelopes EH mentioned that perhaps this was something that we should do in our own time at home. The others agreed and they all left the meeting.

I was obliged to wait a while longer in DB’s room. Unlike the others I’d been using a fountain pen for my Christmas greetings. I couldn’t leave until the ink had dried on all my envelopes. I waved them one by one in front of the open fire in an attempt to speed up the process.