Hide and Seek

The Australians amongst us were complaining since time memorial that, with most events being aimed at Europe and the US, they had to be put on a coffee diet in order to attend one. The remark is justified of course, but I then returned the sally by explaining that Lady Bella and I weren't going to be caffeinated either , in order to organize an event in another timeslot. For a long time this ended in an unproductive stalemate and nothing happened.
But finally, with the arrival of more ladies akin to the Aussie timezone, boldness increased and a suggestion was made for an event. I was pleased to see that it was an original idea and not a "second session" of an event that already took place in the Atlantic timeslot. Not that that would have been a bad thing, but it is always best not to worry whether things are done "the right way".
And so the ladies Shashasha and Tania, with the staunch support and guidance of our maid Kington, embarked on a terra incognita, and found two gentlemen more than eager to join them.
The rules were simple : the ladies would hide on the premises of the Pearl and the gentlemen would strain themselves to find them. Once found, the lady had to shed a piece of her dress.
After that : rinse and repeat.
Because of its repetitive nature, I was a bit concerned that the partaking gentlemen would get bored, especially with Victorian dress code in the way of nature's glories. This did not turn out to be so, as evidenced by the substratum of cloth I discovered when I came in later that day. Learning that the entire exfoliation took place in less than an hour, until there was nothing more to shed, I had to conclude that both gentlemen -one hampered by a rubber duck , it seems- were enthusiasts indeed. In a moment of vicious glee I wanted to jumble up the wardrobe items and watch the ladies milling about, but it appeared that such a thing was unnecessary; the company had set up a nice illustration of the Erlang distribution (maybe Chi Square, didn't check too thoroughly). I don't know how the ladies managed, but the clothes were effectively reclaimed soon afterwards.
Judging from the empy bottles and broken glassware, the event was also sufficiently lubricated. it was a miracle, but none of the shards had the distinct red coloration that would suggest an unfortunate mishap, so i guess it is true that there is a special (and very sober) angel for the inebriated. I understood that Lady Pearl had the ladies lined up for questioning, as could be expected after a possible breach of the behaviour code, but a wisper in her ear set things soon to right.