... Steven Runciman, whom Paddy had met in Sofia in 1934 and who was now the British Council's Representative. Tall , fastidious and a brilliant linguist, Runciman was then working on the History of the Crusades that made his name; but his chief recreation was collecting scandals and stories. 'Royal gossip is very good,' he once said, 'and political gossip is even better; but my dear, nothing beats Vatican gossip.'
A. Cooper, Patrick Leigh Fermor: an adventure (2013), 206
