Dear Mary | 2 August 2008

Q. I am sorry this is anonymous, but I volunteered to write on behalf of a good friend — call her Anna Finch — who is terrified at the prospect of being identified in the small conservative village where she has lived for a dozen years. Here is the problem: when A.F. moved to the village and looked for a char she was advised to engage a treasure who had lived in the village all her life, was related to most of the inhabitants and had an encyclopaedic knowledge of all the local tradesmen. The arrangement has lasted ever since, but the treasure has gradually become a passenger and now appears to regard her position as one of permanent confidante and adviser. Virtually no work is being done. This is not a matter of increasing age or illness but simply an assumption of perceived rights. What can A.F. do to bring an end to the employment without causing her name to be blackened in the village and surrounding countryside and so losing the goodwill of all the local people?

Name and address withheld

A.