The men walked bareheaded, waistcoatless, fanning themselves with straw hats.

Here and there, as they turned into Shaftesbury Avenue, an immaculately turned-out young man in evening dress passed along the baked pavements and dived into one of the theatres.

Notwithstanding the heat, there seemed to be a sort of voluptuous atmosphere brooding over the crowded streets.

The sky over Piccadilly Circus was almost violet and the luminous, unneeded lamps had a festive effect.

The strain of a long day had passed.