Hugh felt dazzled, not just by the lights but by the possibilities. All around him were girls who had come here for the sole purpose of flirting! Some were with boyfriends but others had come alone, intending to dance with total strangers. And they were all dressed up to the nines, in evening gowns with bustles, many of them cut very low at the neckline, and the most amazing hats. But he noticed that on the dance floor they all modestly wore their cloaks. And Micky and Edward had assured him that they were not prostitutes but ordinary girls, shop assistants and parlormaids and dressmakers.
"How do you meet them?" Hugh asked. "Surely you don't just accost them like streetwalkers?"
Edward answered him by pointing to a tall, distinguished-looking man in white tie and tails, who wore some kind of badge and appeared to be supervising the dancing. "That's the master of ceremonies. He'll effect an introduction, if you tip him."
The atmosphere was a curious but exciting mixture of respectability and license, Hugh found.
The polka ended and some of the dancers returned to their tables. Edward pointed and cried: "Well, I'm damned, there's Fatty Greenbourne!"
Hugh followed his finger and saw their old schoolmate, bigger than ever, bulging out of his white waistcoat. On his arm was a stunningly beautiful girl. Fatty and the girl sat down at a table, and Micky said quietly: "Why don't we join them for a while?"
Hugh was keen for a closer look at the girl, and he assented readily. The three young men threaded their way through the tables. "Good evening, Fatty!" Edward said cheerily.
"Hullo, you lot," he replied. "People call me Solly nowadays," he added amiably.
Hugh had seen Solly now and again in the City, London's financial district. For some years Solly had been working at the head office of his family bank, just around the corner from Pilasters. Unlike Hugh, Edward had only been working in the City for a few weeks, which was why he had not previously run into Solly.
"We thought we'd join you," Edward said casually, and looked an inquiry at the girl.
Solly turned to his companion. "Miss Robinson, may I present some old school friends: Edward Pilaster, Hugh Pilaster, and Micky Miranda."
Miss Robinson's reaction was startling. She went pale beneath her rouge and said: "Pilaster? Not the same family as Tobias Pilaster?"
"My father was Tobias Pilaster," said Hugh. "How do you know the name?"
