After crossing his palm with a donation, I felt entitled at least to ask where he was from.

There were passing moments when it threatened to be a difficult night and, with the game goalless at half-time, the stadium announcer sounded almost apologetic when he relayed the news that Ukraine, kicking off an hour earlier, had gone to the top of the group by beating Poland.

He doesn't realize that I know, Lord Callan said, "but it's been pretty obvious that most of his catting about London's darker alleys has been a search for his origins.

The rumors about his serial philandering had been out there for years, but a friendly liberal press had not tried very hard to confirm the allegations, and the missus was apparently resigned to the role of a stoic cuckquean.