6 DECEMBER 2003, Page 87

Q. I am engaged in a friendly dispute with a

peer, on which hangs a case of champagne. It concerns dinner table etiquette. To whom should a man talk for the first part of a dinner party? I maintain that he should talk to the woman on his left. My friend, who outranks me, insists that the man should talk to the woman on his right, particularly if he is the host and the woman has been placed on his right as the most important female guest. Which of us is correct?

M.S.D., Oxfordshire A. The man should first talk to the female on his right.