Dear Mary: Your problems solved
Q. During lockdown I made good friends with a neighbour who I would never have met otherwise. This man lives…
Dear Mary
Q. On a train journey the other day I sat opposite someone I found immensely attractive. We struck up a…
Dear Mary: Your problems solved
Q. An acquaintance suggested organising a celebratory dinner in honour of some mutual friends. He asked my husband and me,…
Dear Mary: Your problems solved
Q. I have recently become a widow. Since my son is away at university, I had the idea of charging…
Dear Mary: Your problems solved
Q. I never lie about my age but I try not to think — or talk — about it. Now…
Dear Mary: Your problems solved
Q. I recently attended a wedding which was (for me) quite ‘grand’, with a church ceremony followed by a reception.…
Dear Mary
Q. My granddaughter Jane has been asked on a date to the Wolseley by George (both pseudonyms). Although she finds…
Dear Mary: Your problems solved
Q. We have had some rather rich Argentines to stay. No one was able to come in to help before…
Dear Mary: Your problems solved
Q. What is the best seating plan when you have a supper party where you are hoping to matchmake two…
Dear Mary: Your problems solved
Q. We have two very longstanding and generous-hearted (female) friends. Both have always been overweight, but since Covid they have…
Dear Mary
Q. A very old friend has rented a holiday house and invited my husband and me to stay. The property…
Dear Mary
Q. I’ve just completed a six-month paid internship for a hedge fund manager. I was mostly in his private office…
Dear Mary
Q. Passing Buckingham Palace in a taxi the other day, I saw the ceremonial wing of the Household Division prancing…
Dear Mary
Q. My beloved wife has been studying Chinese metaphysics for 18 months. Our house and garden have been badly neglected…
Dear Mary
Q. I have been double-vaccinated but am especially at risk and, since I know of at least four double-vaccinated people…
Dear Mary
Q. I live in a row of town houses with a communal strip of garden in front. Three of the…
Dear Mary
Q. The other night, while hosting a house party, I was one of only three people still chatting by the…
Dear Mary
Q. We have old friends who live in the northern hinterlands and have a property in Provence where they normally…
Dear Mary
Q. Last night I went to dinner with people I had never met before. Because the host was a friend…
Dear Mary
Your problems solved
Dear Mary
Q. At a lunch party, I was getting on so well with someone I had not met before. She knew…
Dear Mary
Q. Once restrictions are lifted, our annual walking group has planned a week’s walk with after-walk gatherings in a different…
Dear Mary
Q. We have been invited to a virtual wedding. Is it correct form to send a present?— P.F., Barrow Street,…
Dear Mary
Q. I’ve recently been approached by a very good friend who — with genuinely admirable candour and tact — pointed…
Dear Mary
Q. I am placed in a social dilemma due to a proposed visit on the last weekend of June by…
