Sefton Hamilton was not a very nice man. The first time I met him was last year, when my wife and I were dining with Henry and Susan Kennedy at their home in Warwick Square. I didn’t like Hamilton at first 32 ____ .

Hamilton was one of those unfortunate men who inherited immense wealth but not a lot more. He was able to convince us that he had little time to read and no time to attend the theatre or opera. Actually, he was not 33 ____ in anything but himself. 34 ____, this did not prevent him from holding opinions on every subject from Shaw to Pavarotti, from Gorbachev to Picasso. He couldn’t understand, for instance, why the unemployed were so unhappy when their welfare check was just a little less than what he was currently paying the workers on his estate.

The other dinner guest that night was Freddie Barker, the President of the Wine Society, who sat opposite my wife. Unlike Hamilton, he 35 ____ uttered a word. Henry had assured me over the phone that Barker was considered to be a leading authority on his subject and he had 36 ____ to get the Society back on to a proper financial footing. I looked forward to picking up useful bits of inside information. 37 ____ Barker was allowed to get a word in, he showed enough knowledge of the topic under discussion to convince me that he would be fascinating if only Hamilton would 38 ____ silent long enough for him to speak. But it was impossible to stop Hamilton.