Thirties and beyond: four companions, four manners

Sonya, 162 cm, athletic, hazel-eyed, begins every day with meditation and has loved ballet all her life. She suits the guest who wants the day to fall away: a corner sofa in a gilded lounge, tea giving way to champagne, a conversation that never glances at the clock. She listens more than most people and asks better questions than almost anyone.

Margo, 166 cm, slim, dark-haired, wears nothing that is not old and nothing that is not perfect, and people near her tend to speak a little more softly without knowing why. Contemporary art is her serious interest and the piano her daily practice. An evening with her begins in front of one canvas in Mason's Yard and ends at a candlelit table nearby, the bottle decided before you sit down.

Nancy has the sunniest temperament on the roster: golden hair, blue eyes, 170 cm, and a swim outdoors most days whatever the season. She brings the mood of a long holiday to a wet midweek evening. She likes a counter seat facing the cooks, a stroll towards the park afterwards and, whenever the calendar permits, a road trip with the radio on and the route undecided. Sushi she treats as a serious subject, and she is content to let a good chef choose everything.

Violetta, 178 cm, slender, with sleek black hair, dresses in sand and gold and says little until the moment is right. Then she delivers the one line that has the whole table laughing, and goes back to her drink as though nothing had happened. She swims long distances in cold water and loves the darker, cleverer kind of stand-up, and she rarely leaves a bookshop empty-handed.

Ease with the longer arrangements, above all. A companion in her thirties is often the natural choice when an evening is meant to carry on well past midnight, through a late supper to the breakfast tray, or when dinner is followed by a formal occasion where poise counts for more than sparkle. Each has spent enough evenings in grand rooms to be quite unimpressed by them, which tends to make the rooms more enjoyable. None of the four needs a script, and none of them will hurry you.

Because each of the four has so clear a manner, the most useful thing to tell Cressida is the mood you want rather than a name: calm, private, sunny or sharp. She will suggest one, give her reason and leave the choice with you. The date, the hour and the hotel complete the message.

Nancy is one of the four blondes. Sonya belongs to the petite and the athletic characters. Margo and Violetta both stand with the slim and slender, and Violetta, the tallest woman on the roster, heads the statuesque. For the stage just before this one, the fourteen companions of the late twenties are a natural next page.