‘Joe! Ready to come up and tackle the spooks? Piers told me to fetch you.’ She flicked her head sideways. ‘And you, of course, Tenn.’

My earlier resentment was not completely gone. There was no reason why I shouldn’t, if I wished, invite someone myself. Rupert was watching Lulu, his lips compressed in a dubious expression that was probably no more than boredom.

I said: ‘What about you, Rupert? Won’t you add another facet to your experience by pursuing the paranormal? There’s plenty of room round the table.’

He shook his head slowly, a personal gesture, barely, reluctantly, conveying information to the trivial outside world. It was very final, but I pursued him.

‘I thought you never refused experience?’

‘Two kinds I refuse,’ he said. ‘The kind that seems useless and the kind for which I have no aptitude. Have a nice time, though. Mind if I stay here?’

He wandered over to my bookshelves and began hunting through the poetry. Lulu watched him for a second or two, shaking her head in wonder. She turned.

‘I’m going up, anyway. You two coming?’