Curvaceous companions, arranged by the volume of the evening

Danielle, 170 cm, black-haired, with a low and measured way of speaking, prefers a banquette in a mews brasserie and a conversation about classic cinema and poetry that never needs to rise above the cutlery. Bianka, 165 cm, hazel-eyed, light brown hair paler at the ends, cooks Italian food with a patience most chefs would envy and treats a wine list as a discussion with the sommelier.

Thea, 165 cm, caramel blonde and green-eyed, belongs here on most evenings, happiest at a counter where each course arrives small and exact and she can tell you what it is before the chef does.

Michelle, 173 cm and dark-haired, a natural conversationalist with a hostess's instincts, can warm a stiff business table within one course. Nancy, 170 cm, golden blonde with blue eyes, brings a holiday temper to an ordinary Wednesday. Rosa, 160 cm, chestnut curls, is the guest waiters take under their wing; her laugh is low, generous and early. Luna, 171 cm, dark auburn red, enjoys a busy room and a spirited disagreement, particularly about a vintage.

Molly, 164 cm, her dark hair a mass of waves, loves soulful late-night house and knows which DJs justify a taxi across town. Roxi, 168 cm and black-haired, boxes in the morning and will have turned a pub quiz into a tournament by nine at night. Milena, 175 cm, lacquer-black hair, wants the centre table in a restaurant that never stops talking, and she enjoys a straight answer as much as she enjoys giving one.

These are tendencies rather than rules. Few of the ten keep to one volume all night, and Cressida knows which can move between them: a quiet dinner that turns into a late bar, or a loud one that ends in a hush on the walk back across the square. Tell her the setting, a private dining room, a busy grill, a dinner date of four unhurried hours, and she will match the companion to it.

A client dinner for six in a private room above a Mayfair restaurant: Michelle, who will know every name at the table before the starters arrive. A late Friday that ought to finish somewhere with a DJ: Molly. A Sunday supper at a counter, early, with a walk afterwards through quiet streets: Thea. Cressida works this way for every booking, and she will always say why she has chosen whom she has.

Nancy and Thea are two of the four blondes, and Luna's colouring puts her on the auburn and red page. Black hair belongs to Danielle, Milena and Roxi, so the raven haired page lists all three. Height puts Michelle and Milena among the statuesque, while Rosa is the single petite member. By stage of life, half the ten are in their late twenties, four in their early twenties, and Nancy in her thirties.