There was another side to this generosity. Shirley’s sociability, the alacrity with which she shared her learning and her enthusiasms, could turn at times to intractability, particularly about the UN. And there was the matter of her tendency to monologue, noted by many, and even for good friends sometimes a problem. Annabel heard before she met Shirley of her capacity to monopolise and found that conversation generally involved “finding a moment when you could interrupt.” Most people really did not mind. Benjamin Taylor memorably described her as “more cataract than woman once she got going, and everything she has to say is of interest.” Ann Goldstein, impressed with Shirley’s range of reference, also felt she had “this very hard intellect” that involved speaking her opinions but not listening. After attempting at first to present alternative views, “I realised there was no point. So I was content just to listen to her.” Michael Mallon felt that “what she had to say was so much more interesting than what most other people have to say that I was happy to let her discourse.” People felt that it wasn’t about Shirley wanting to dominate. It had, Alison West said, “nothing to do with pride. Just the tidal waves of knowledge that she had stored up and that she was eager to share.” And it was of a piece with the authority of her bearing. Evan Cornog made the point that Shirley “wouldn’t let stuff pass if she thought it was intellectually or in character shoddy in some way. She would call people out on it. Not in a throw down the gauntlet way but you’d know it had been noticed.” Alec Wilkinson felt that this quality made her something of “an assassin.” She was “not judging so much as measuring, observing,” and this was part of her sharp focus on the world: “She was paying attention. Ferociously. It was her habit of mind to pay attention.” Francis carried similar authority, although he tended to defer socially to her. In company, many friends observed, “it would be Shirley being vivacious and lively, doing most of the talking, protecting Francis. He was always quieter, she much more the dazzling one.” Akeel Bilgrami recalled one dinner at the Steegmullers’ apartment with Edward Said, an occasion both guests felt to have been “marred” by Shirley dominating the conversation, talking endlessly about the UN. “She wouldn’t give Francis a chance to talk because she was so incensed—about Waldheim, about bureaucracy, about everything to do with the UN.” At the same time, Bilgrami found that one-on-one she was notably less garrulous, was indeed an attentive conversationalist, completely charming, “keen on probing what you thought.”