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affectation. Even an audience of the least discerning would receive a little bit of Diana Porter unique to the occasion. The tension needed to prepare for that offering had to be created and controlled by touchstones of established ceremony. And one of them was a few moments’ inconsequential talk just before the start.
    “ How do you think they’re going to take it?” she asked, checking her appearance finally in the mirror.
    “ They will certainly not be bored,” he replied. “And don’t worry about the quality out there. Vercaster is a fairly cultivated place within the ambience of London. What peasantry there may be will have been put off by the price of the tickets.”
    “ Did my fee horrify them?”
    “ It raised the eyebrows but I soon explained the facts of life to them. Anyway, it’s an absolute sell-out so they’ve covered their costs and made a profit to boot. Right.” He glanced at his watch. “Theatre in the round here you come. Just wait here for a moment.”
    Maltravers went and checked with the ushers that the audience was seated then told them to close the Chapter House door. He returned to Diana and together they walked through the slype until they reached the door through which the murmur of polite voices could be heard. He took Diana’s hand and looked inquiringly at her. She nodded briefly, then he opened the door and walked along the aisle left between the seats and stepped on to the stage. The voices were mixed with hesitant applause, which he stilled by beginning to speak.
    “ My Lord Bishop, Dean, your Worship, Lord Verta, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,” he said briskly. “It is my great pleasure to present the first event in the reborn Vercaster Festival. Will you please welcome into this beautiful building, in a special one-woman performance…Miss Diana Porter.”
    As he finished speaking, his eyes turned back towards the open door through which Diana walked towards him, smiling brilliantly. The applause echoing round the walls, he took her hand as she mounted the dais, then stepped back to resume his seat. Diana, her wheat-coloured hair swirling against her high-necked loose evening dress of black raw silk, with a ruby brooch at her throat, walked in a swift circle round her stage before sitting on a tall stool set in the centre. She clasped her hands in her lap and lowered her head as the applause faded to a silence that centred on her still figure.
    “ Has it ever occurred to you where Woman came in God’s list of priorities?” she asked in a quiet voice that still carried like a bell to the peak of the ceiling. “First there was Heaven and Earth, then Night and Day, then He divided the waters and made the land and the sea, then grass and herbs and trees yielding fruit.” She ticked the items off on eloquent fingers. “Then the sun, moon and stars, great whales and cattle, then all the creepy crawlies. Then along comes Adam, but of course he’s busy for a while because God wants him to give everything a name.”
    Her voice suddenly deepened into that of a male adult losing patience with a child. “No, Adam, you can’t call that a hippopotamus, we’ve already got one of those. How about calling it a toad? No? You don’t like that? All right, have it your way, we’ll call it a giraffe. Now what about this spotted thing with the long neck? No, that’s silly, it just doesn’t look like a hedgehog. And you can’t just say that ‘bird’ will do for all that lot with feathers…now come on and concentrate.”
    Diana ’s normal voice returned. “Heaven knows how long it took to sort it all out. And then what? Adam has absolutely nothing to do except wander round the Garden of Eden, keeping his sticky little fingers off the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and has dominion over every living thing. And what does God decide? He needs a helpmeet.” She stared in amazement. “What on earth for? Anyway, God decides he’s going to have one and at last