She made a movement of the head appropriate to someone who doesn't demean herself by noticing someone else's concern about whether he's on the same wavelength or not .sx " Three old friends , " I said .sx " Enough for your purpose ?sx " She smiled .sx Enough for my next biography , she meant .sx My first essay in the genre , published a little over six months ago , had met with considerable success .sx She was right .sx I definitely ought to be settling on the subject for my second - actually more desirably from my point of view a subject in the plural , i.e. subjects ; and for my preference , a circle of them .sx During a pause in the conversation I made a start on eating my plateful of cold cherry soup .sx Randa was giving me lunch at The Gay Hussar , a small Hungarian restaurant in Soho , first opened ( I had asked the manager ) in 1954 , and even now - we were in 1982 - still keeping up a sort of reputation for left-wing chic , not totally 'In' but not totally 'Out' .sx Randa was very fond of their cold cherry soup , especially on a warm summer's day :sx it was not for me to say I was rather un-fond of it , for my taste a somewhat wishy-washy red liquid .sx A dissentient view on my part was not the thing .sx Why not ?sx Because I had a hunch that her invitation sprang from having it in mind to offer me something to my advantage .sx The Horsfall Circus as a subject for me - Was this that something ?sx Thinking that she had been Horsfall's lawyer for the best part of his lifetime , and that Gotham was still with her , I presumed that she must know what she was talking about .sx I kept my head down for a while , more to give myself a chance to think than to concentrate on consuming this ruby-red liquid .sx My stock of ideas about the Horsfall Circus flurried through my mind .sx A little group of men , from the same school somewhere on the Welsh borders , who made a mark when they fetched up at Oxford , all of fifty years ago .sx Their ringmaster , so designated by the Eye for his superlative combination of Celtic ambition and guile , was Cledwyn Horsfall , famous economist , famous writer and finally famous publicist - well , famous up to a point .sx He had died some time in the New Year , leaving quite a large fortune .sx ( The other two old friends were very much alive .sx ) .sx The Eye had made the occasion of Horsfall's death an opportunity for reviving their scandalous account of Celtic ambition and guile getting him into a top stratum of the Honours List under a previous Government - that notorious Resignation Honours List , inscribed on a certain lady's shell-pink writing-paper , which ( so it was said ) led the Queen , when she was shown the List , to ask :sx " Are you sure it's the Prime Minister's ?sx " .sx It was the Prime Minister's .sx Thereafter Horsfall , a big rotund fellow singularly gifted with intelligence and hwyl , had been in a position to give full rein to that intelligence and hwyl from the eminence of the House of Lords .sx Randa was concentrating on her cold cherry soup .sx I exerted myself to give the impression that I was doing likewise .sx I remembered scanning Horsfall's obituary in The Times through interest in him as writer rather than as economist or publicist .sx Unfortunately I hadn't studied it ; so my present knowledge of his career and its chronology was somewhat patchy .sx The story was that while at Oxford he first sighted fame and distinction for a major contribution he claimed to have made to something called The Beveridge Report , which had come out in the middle of the War , been turned into a couple of White Papers towards the end of it , and then widely received with such acclaim that the post-War Labour Government declared its intention of implementing it .sx ( A national health service was one of its assumptions .sx ) .sx When the implementation of the Report was firmly under way , Horsfall was thought to be an obvious man to be drawn into the Civil Service to work on it .sx I hadn't noted which department he went into ; but from College gossip in my own time I knew that he had ended up in an influential , if rather mysterious , post in the Cabinet Office .sx So far so good .sx However , after a long and arduous - and successful - stint in the Civil Service , Horsfall had caused no surprise by announcing that he'd had enough .sx He wanted to return to academic life .sx The College welcomed his return , of course .sx But it lasted for an unexpectedly short time .sx In less than a year he'd been tempted back to official life .sx By the offer of an appointment - what man of ambition ( or guile !sx ) could have refused it ?sx - as Economic Adviser to the Prime Minister ; housed in No 10 Downing Street .sx At No 10 Horsfall had stayed - apart from four years' tactful retirement to Oxford while a different Government was in power - till the next impressive step forward in his eventful history .sx 1976 , and that Resignation Honours List .sx Reading the obituary I couldn't help feeling that elevation must nevertheless have foreshadowed an end to his effective life in high economics .sx In 1976 there was a new Prime Minister , for one thing .sx For another , high economics was now in a state of high turmoil over the conflict in theoretical circles between neo-Keynesianism and Friedmanite monetarism .sx High economics was in a state of high turmoil and as a consequence high politics as well .sx The new Prime Minister was said to be moving towards monetarism .sx Horsfall was at heart a Keynesian .sx Ergo .sx .. 1976 must have seen for him a summary switch from the frenzied activity of No 10 to the subdued existing of the House of Lords .sx In compensation , though , the subdued existing of the House of Lords must have offered him prospects of time to devote to other things .sx For Horsfall , I understood , there were plenty of other things , well ahead of all of them being writing .sx Throughout the length of his career , it seemed , he had sustained an overriding desire to write novels - he had even published a first novel while he was still completing his D Phil in Economics .sx That novel , at least , I'd already read :sx it was about intrigues and conflicts , in a small Welsh town , between Methodists ( very powerful ) and those whom they called 'the big people' ( also very powerful) .sx I had liked it well enough to read two or three more - I imagined , now , that I could face reading the whole of his oeuvre , if necessary .sx Since his death I'd heard animated discussions among the other dons at High Table about whether he was a major novelist - he had apparently thought he was .sx Needless to say they didn't concur !sx .sx Lastly as a publicist .sx I'd noticed his activities as a public figure reported with increasing frequency in the media - if only , I thought now , I'd paid more attention !sx Independent , freelance activities in the cause of world peace .sx I did remember having seen him on television making a powerful speech in favour of what amounted to universal d e tente , and saying what he himself was in the process of doing about it .sx ( Quite impressive - was there more to him than mere Celtic ambition and guile ?sx ) By the time he died it was clear that had got himself an international reputation .sx Plenty of work ahead of me if I took the assignment on .sx Plenty of varied work , in much of which I should be starting form Square 1 .sx Meanwhile not much more work was required of me on the cold cherry soup - not many spoonsful still lay in my plate .sx I lifted my head to find Randa watching me .sx Not that that was anything new :sx Randa had been keeping an eye on me , in the metaphorical sense , for years .sx The situation was this .sx Randa's firm , currently recognised as the foremost libel lawyers in London , was called Goslett&Goslett ; and Randa ( short for Miranda ) and her sister , Jess ( short for Jessica ) , were two of its three senior partners .sx The third , their matriarchal mother , Mabel , known as Mabsie , was the boss , punctiliously given credit in public for ruling the firm , although she didn't - Randa and Jess did .sx I was a cousin of Miranda and Jessica , my paternal grandfather having married one of Mabsie's sisters ; so Randa and Jess were a generation older than me - they were in their early fifties , I in my early thirties .sx Superficially we were all on good terms with each other .sx Au fond I never felt at ease with them .sx Randa's metaphorical keeping an eye on me had consisted of recurrently taking steps since I was adolescent to 'keep me in the family' .sx At that time I hadn't understood why .sx It was when I was an undergraduate reading English Literature that she started to ask my literary advice - free of charge - on manuscripts of new books that had come in to be vetted for libel .sx In return she was ready to vouchsafe me - free of charge - her moral advice .sx Nowadays she was paying me for my professional advice , of course ; and in my opinion she was getting value for money .sx I didn't know what she thought of my attitude towards her moral advice :sx since I was getting it free of charge I didn't feel any obligation to take it .sx Randa had finished her soup .sx While attacking the last of mine , I reactivated the conversation .sx " The animosity of old friends .sx .. " I murmured reflectively .sx " You could find it rewarding .sx " Pause .sx " Very rewarding .sx " Another pause .sx " You know ?sx .sx .. " .sx " It's an intriguing thought .sx .. " I looked her in the eye .sx " As you act for two out of the three , you should know .sx " .sx Instantly Randa's eyelids half-closed .sx She lifted her shoulders a little and said softly :sx " What can I say to that , James ?sx " .sx Professional discretion !sx A beautifully bogus spectacle .sx ( Here I must remark that as well as being clever and literate , Randa was a beautiful woman .sx ) I said facetiously :sx " Randa , you're a temptress !sx " .sx Instantly her eyelids lifted again and her tone of voice changed from the seductive to the imperative .sx " No , James !sx " .sx Randa was a strong feminist .sx Discovered as a male chauvinist , I dived my spoon into the last ruby-red shallows .sx Unease in her presence was no excuse for such a gaffe ; and protesting that I had not intended it would only discover me in her eyes as the more abject a male chauvinist .sx Randa was the strongest feminist in my acquaintance , where she was closely followed by Jess , with dear old Mabsie , as in most other things , some distance behind both of them .sx In Private Eye the firm of Goslett&Goslett was routinely referred to as 'the Virago Sisters' ( not to be confused with the Virago Press , of course ) , but that was the least of the Eye's offences .sx " So-and-So firm of publishers , " it would say , " are presently being mis-advised by the Virago Sisters .sx " Routinely it cast its typical aspersions on their competence :sx that passed .sx Then last year it had cast its typical aspersions on their probity .sx That did not pass !sx Not for a moment .sx The Eye had had to pay up - out of court to the tune of pounds20,000 , it was rumoured .sx " No , James !sx " This time even more emphatically if anything .sx " Never let me hear you make that kind of remark again !sx " .sx I didn't lift my glance .sx Had she thought the temptress I had in mind was Eve ?sx Actually it was the third party in the Garden of Eden .sx .. " OK , " I said .sx Refusing to give up the good fight for undergraduate facetiousness , I added :sx " If I make it to any other woman , I'll try to be sure you're out of earshot .sx " .sx Randa made it clear that she didn't find the remark in the least funny , which didn't surprise me .sx Even my relatively short Life's Experience had taught me that people who were in the grip of an 'ism' - Feminism , Monetarism , Communism , Leavisism , to name just a few - never found jokes about it in the least funny .sx If they let themselves laugh , I thought , the grip might slip ?sx .sx ..