Ernest considered her statement and then let out a low groan. He'd wanted to win the point, and a moment ago he had been determined to hold his ground no matter what, but how could he argue with that? He knew how his wife liked to spend money; it was enough validation for her to say it went to charity, and that was the end of the conversation. Did she remember exactly which charity, or what the cause was for? Unless it was one of her pet causes that she was involved in, he doubted it.

"All right, all right," he relented. "I'll give you that. What have we decided on, then? French colonies in the tropics range of the south-east coast of Africa?" The hosts would have come up with a much snappier title for their event than that, of course. It was rather unwieldy to say it all, and presumably those colonies did have names, though Ernest didn't know what they were and he doubted that his conversation partner did either.

"Someone has to go look to see if we were close," he said, nodding vaguely at the direction of the entryway, where the introductory plaque had been put out. "And I nominate you. But while you're gone, I'll fetch a drink for your trouble," he offered amiably.