His dinner parties were icy affairs where nothing but platitudes were served and everyone, as Stilwell remarked, sat stiffly waiting to be addressed from the throne.

Nudges and winks and whispers traversed the room, but Tom sat still, with his arms upon the long, low desk before him, and seemed to study his book.

Research at the University of Waterloo sponsored by Keilhauer, a Toronto-based company, shows there are fundamental differences between the way men and women sit: women perch and men slump.