"Talk turned to current affairs. When the Bush-Gore election came up, Michael noted, "We discovered that to the credit of Gore he said his favourite book was Le Rouge et Le Noir." Stendhal was one of Michael's all-time favourites. "That settled things for Michael," I said. "Yes," he quickly agreed. "How's Plymouth Argyle doing Michael?" Peter asked. "It's dreadful. We've had the worst beginning of a season for years," Michael replied, dropping his voice in disgust. "So we don't need to press that subject." We all laughed. Michael started to rise with his usual stagger. "Are you all right, Michael?" Emma asked. "Just let people help you," Celine suggested. "I know," Michael said. "You must do it," Celine insisted. "You've always been independent, but it's not in your best interests." Celine was the only one of Michael's friends who was quite this direct with him. While in Bermuda, Celine and Peter had provided a wheelchair for Michael, so that he could get around more quickly. Celine pressed her case in a jolly way, nearly always punctuating her remarks with laughter. A former centrefold, she was short and zaftig. She recommended that Michael find a nice girl with long hair to give him a massage. "It might work," Michael agreed. He kept saying his legs had been getting better in Dubrovnik. I saw no sign of that, but I did marvel at how he negotiated the three sets of stairs from the kitchen to the living room (at street level) and then up another flight to where Jill's study and his library are and then yet another all the way up to his bedroom. It was a very long haul that he laboriously"