One pleasant summer’s evening Julian and I decided to go out to eat. We got in the car and drove to a pub a few miles away which was well-known for its food. We walked in, sat at a table, ordered and ate. When we had finished, we got up , left the pub and drove home. It was only when we had gone inside the house that we realised that we hadn’t paid!

Thankfully, the phone number was in the phone book and we rang and apologised profusely, promising to return the following day to pay – which we did.

Far more interesting were the few times we (my sisters, mother and I) broke the law on the cross-channel ferry. We used to visit our au pair’s family in Le Touquet and my mother was always keen to take them a bottle of spirits. Patty (mother) would worry that she would have to pay duty on the spirit so she had the bright idea of slitting open Jennie’s teddy bear and inserting the bottle inside it. As Jennie was small for her age (she was 11 or 12) she could get away with carrying a teddy. The trouble was, the teddy made a gurgling sound when it was moved around or a clunk sound when put on a wooden bench which was where one sat on those ferries. Luckily, anyone who heard these suspicious noises didn’t go and report us so M. and Mme. _______ were always able to enjoy a whiskey or gin before dinner when we visited.