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around the room, bringing out clashing points of view and amusing asides.  It certainly was enlightening for me, although I thought I had learned a little about Europe from my travels there.  It was very little indeed, I discovered.

To please me, Pat agreed that we should give some parties.  We took a larger apartment in the same building and I redecorated it myself.  We began having small gatherings, mainly composed of men in government, embassy officials, prominent newspapermen.  One dinner, I recall, became almost too interesting.  Two men nearly came to blows in an argument over politics, one an ardent holdover from the New Deal, the other an arch conservative.  It became a trifle embarrassing but at the same time I admired them both for the depth of their convictions.

We constantly saw our friends, the Kings-