Two companions, one evening, two separate fees
One commissionA duo is two women booked for the same hours. It is arranged most often for a dinner where there are two guests, for a table that wants four people rather than two, or for an evening where one of the party is a colleague who would otherwise be sitting on his own. It is a straightforward booking and it is priced straightforwardly: each woman is on the ladder in full, so two hours is £500 for each of them and a four hour dinner is £900 each.
Both women are asked before anything is held, and both have to say yes. They are asked separately, and either may decline without giving a reason. Chelsea and Sloane Street see most of these, usually around a table. Every pairing on The Hang is possible in principle, though some work considerably better than others and Tamsin will say which.
Suited to duo bookings
What is being booked
Two adults' time and company for the same evening, and nothing beyond that. The fee is for hours and companionship, exactly as it is for one woman, and the presence of a second changes the arithmetic and nothing else. No part of this commission is an arrangement between the two companions, and any message suggesting otherwise is answered once and not pursued.
It is worth being plain about this because the word is used differently elsewhere. Here it means two names on one evening, two fees, two journeys home.
Choosing a pair
The best pairings are the ones where the two women are unalike. Two quiet companions make a quiet table; two talkers make a loud one and leave the guests spectating. What generally works is one who opens a room and one who steadies it, which is the combination the house suggests unless you have two names of your own in mind.
If you do have two names, send both and let Tamsin check the diaries before you settle on the date. Two free evenings are harder to find than one, which is the real reason a duo wants a day or two of notice.
How the evening runs
They arrive together where that is sensible and separately where it is not. At a table they take the seats that make the conversation work rather than the ones nearest their own guest, which they sort out between them without being asked. The hours are counted the same way for both, from the agreed arrival, and both leave at the same time.
Four who pair well
Michelle and Molly are the easy answer: both warm, both quick to read a mood, and neither of them competitive about a room. Lucy brings an opinion about whatever is on the stage and keeps small talk short, which balances a companion who is happy to do the opening. Cindy is unhurried and mildly amused by most things, and she steadies a loud table without ever taking it over. Others who pair well are marked on their own pages and across the cabinet.
Four hours, as they usually fall
They meet on the corner at twenty past seven so that they come in together at half past. The first hour is drinks and introductions, which is where a second companion earns her place: two conversations are running instead of one, and nobody at the table is left out of both. Dinner takes the middle two hours. The last is a walk or a nightcap somewhere quieter, and at the written hour the evening ends for all four of you at once.
Where these evenings are held
Chelsea and Sloane Street, as above, because the restaurants there have tables for four that are not pushed against a wall. Mayfair suits a business dinner with two guests on your side of it. Knightsbridge suits a hotel dining room where a party of four draws no attention at all, which is usually the aim.
Arranging one
Write with the date, the hours, the address and either two names or a description of the evening. Both women are asked, and confirmation comes back with two names, one arrival time and two figures. Each fee goes to the woman it belongs to, in person, as she comes in. Nothing is held until all of it has been agreed, and the rates page shows the ladder each of them is on.
Two pages of the long view on this commission
Questions on this commission
Yes, if the evening needs it: one for the dinner, the other for the dinner and the late part. Each is on the ladder separately, and Tamsin writes both figures into the confirmation.
Tamsin tells you straight away and suggests a replacement she thinks will suit, which you may accept or decline. If you decline, the other booking stands or drops as you prefer, and nothing is owed for either.
It helps. Where they have not met before, they exchange a message the afternoon before, so that the first meeting is not on the pavement outside the restaurant.