A PEN Luncheon

Abstract

Paul Morand was in London that week, and PEN gave a luncheon for him at the Café Royal.1 We asked E. M. Forster to take the chair, and I found that I should have to sit between him and the First Secretary of the French Embassy [Monsieur de Charbonnières]. Never had I felt less sure of being able to entertain either of these distinguished men. … His neighbour on the other side spoke to him, and I turned to E. M. Forster. I admired him so much that what confidence I had froze again into timidity, and I could not think of anything fit to say. He helped me by asking about Monsieur de Charbonnières.