I’ve recently been reading Daphne du Maurier’s novel Rebecca to my children, and while it’s every bit as enjoyable as I remember, I’ve been bristling with embarrassment at the unflattering references to bridge in the first few chapters. The narrator is a paid companion to the grotesquely snobby Mrs van Hopper, who, we are told several times, loves nothing more than passing her evenings with her equally snobby circle of friends playing — well, your and my favourite game.