Q. Was I right to feel aggrieved when, having contributed a bottle of fine champagne to a small supper party, I clocked the host stashing it away, only to serve something far inferior? Commenting would have been naff, but had I known that was this gentleman’s style, I wouldn’t have taken such a nice bottle. What is the correct form?
— M.R., Tibenham, Norfolk
A. Grander hosts do not welcome contributions of alcohol but, at such an intimate event in Norfolk, your host should have served the champagne. (I assume you arrived with it chilled.) Perhaps he felt you were upstaging him by bringing something of higher quality than he had proposed offering. One way to outwit such perversity is to say: ‘I’ve brought this champagne as a contribution, but I won’t be offended if you say no, as I’ve got someone else I could bring it to next week if you’ve got something else in mind.’
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