Q. I have recently married into the English aristocracy and
wonder if you can explain the following incident. Walking into my grandmother-in-law's drawing-room, I found her snapping shut a book. 'Oh dear, how embarrassing,' she said. 'You caught me reading a novel in the drawing-room.' I cannot see how reading a novel as tame as Dusty Answer could possibly be embarrassing. Can you enlighten me?
J.S., London SW12
A. There is a quaint but valid etiquette that novels should not be read in the drawingroom because, unlike coffee-table books or magazines, they are so engrossing that someone reading one might not wish to put it down in order to engage in conversation with another member of a house-party who enters the room. This could cause discomfort to the latter, and a gentleman/woman never knowingly causes discomfort to another. For this reason, novels should be read in the bedroom.
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