Social Studies

On Friday I found myself in a rather grand country house hotel, lunching with a widowed duchess. countess. This was the sort of place where, if you’re cold, you put on another rope of pearls, made even more enjoyable because I was taken there by a noted environmentalist. The countess and I were both, in fact, guests of James Lovelock and at one stage the conversation moved away from Gaia. The countess had only that week found the perfect present for her niece — a Gucci bag, on eBay. I think that represents some kind of upper limit of market penetration.