Q. This coming weekend I had planned to go and
stay with some friends at their home in Provence. Subsequently I received what is known in some circles as a considerably better invitation, to stay with mutual friends who live a short distance away from the first friends. I do not need to be told that chucking one invitation for another is not on, but I do need your advice as to how I can extricate myself from the first invitation in favour of the second with as much discretion and ingenuity as possible.
J.M., London SW11 A. The social order will collapse altogether if people start chucking in favour of 'better' invitations. In theory you must stick to Plan A. However, it is worth considering the following method, which was once used by one of my acquaintances. Telephoning Hostess A, she announced the coincidence of the invitation to Hostess B but billed it as a social opportunity for Hostess A rather than herself 'I mean, I'd obviously far rather stay with you, but if you feel it would be more fun for your party to use me as a sort of Trojan horse to get all of you lot invited over there so you can all meet Jeremy Paxrnan, Paddy Leigh Fermor and Joe and Leonie Gibbs (to pluck some desirable names out of a hat), then I'll make the supreme sacrifice and go there instead. I can always come to you some other time.' Hostess A fell for it.
Previous page
