16 APRIL 1988, Page 27

Begging a word

Sir: I am deaf. This may explain the misunderstanding embodied in Taki's account of cornering me at the Badminton Ball (9 April). He apparently thinks he asked me, in general terms, my views on life and that I misconstrued this as a question on what he terms 'foreplay' whatever that may be. To this I am quoted as replying, 'Thirty minutes of begging'.

What I thought Taki had asked me was for my reflections on life as a recently retired head of an underendowed Oxford college. To this I replied 'Thirty years of begging'.

Is Taki deaf too?

Raymond Carr

Burch, North Molton, South Molton, North Devon