Ruffled Feathers: inside Truman Capote’s cold-blooded betrayal of his society swans

Babe’s life was a magnificent performance. When Truman had lunch with her at La Côte Basque or Le Pavillon, her entrance was the grand moment. Although flawlessly polite, her manner was slightly imperious, and she looked neither right nor left. Truman believed that if a woman like Babe faltered by showing some sign that she was aware of the excitement her presence created, it would be ‘as though, attending a banquet, one had the misfortune to glimpse the kitchen’.