Q. I work part-time with a lovely girl (aged 27) in a tiny office. She is very nice and not too woke. But she wears cheap scent that has a ghastly, acrid smell and I feel like I’m ingesting poison. Mary, what do I do?

– Name and address withheld

A. Why not borrow a friend’s asthma inhaler and bring it to the office? Make a show of using this and splutter that ‘I was just about to ask you what that divine scent is, but now I fear it may be triggering my allergy…’.

Q. I was widowed last year and I am missing female company very much. In my leisure activities I have many superficial exchanges with ladies of my own age and, from time to time, I feel that I would like to take the acquaintance a little bit further, e.g. theatre, cinema, concert. Can you suggest a subtle way to establish from such an acquaintance whether she is married or otherwise spoken for?

– R.R., address withheld

A. Say that you would like to put the favoured acquaintance in your phone contacts for a party you may be giving. Ask as you do so: ‘And is there a Mr who I should invite as well?’ If single status is confirmed, you can gauge by the enthusiasm with which she announces it whether an overture might be welcome.

Q. As you say, memorial services are an excellent way for the elderly to socialise (Dear Mary, 25 February) – but a gatecrasher runs the risk that the various cohorts will gather cliquishly over the tea and biscuits afterwards. To the correspondent who asked how their 87-year-old mother could make new friends: why not try bridge? Join a club and she will have potential friends and an absorbing interest.

– R.J.O., Sittingbourne, Kent

A. Thank you for this tip, but in the case of a society memorial service there would be at least a handful of familiar faces with whom a relationship could be refreshed. However, a bridge club is an equally good idea. The participant would start by taking lessons along with other novices.

Q. My sister (70) brought a very recently acquired boyfriend to a family celebration, expecting me to both meet and engage with him socially. I wanted to share the event with my family, rather than putting a stranger at ease. My sister has expressed her annoyance at my lack of interest. Mary, I don’t often have an opportunity to be with my family and wonder if I should have handled this differently?

– M.K., London N2

A. Better to have invited the sister and boyfriend to arrive one hour after other guests. In this way the family would have been able to bask in the intimacy of their shared references and interests before the arrival of the stranger. Having got this under your belt, you might even have genuinely welcomed his arrival.