“Miss Goering invited Miss Gamelon to dine with her. She found her soothing and agreeable to be with. Miss Gamelon was very much impressed with the fact that Miss Goering was so nervous. Just as they were about to sit down, Miss Goering said that she couldn’t face eating in the dining-room and she asked the servant to lay the table in the parlor instead. She spent a great deal of time switching the lights off and on.

‘I know how you feel,’ Miss Gamelon said to her.

‘I don’t particularly enjoy it,’ said Miss Goering, ‘but I expect in the future to be under control.’ ”

(Jane Bowles, Two Serious Ladies, p. 11.)