Q. Flowers have arrived, allegedly from my boyfriend — but the bunch includes begonias and gloxinias, foliage tonged into ringlets, sheaths of cellophane and a large acetate ribbon. I am fairly certain the culprit is his new personal assistant. As they are in my country house, he won’t see them, so how can I, without seeming ungrateful or sour, convey the message that he should not trust this important chore again to someone with such poor judgment?
— Name and address withheld
A. Quickly take a snap of the bouquet on your mobile and email it to your boyfriend, along with a blandly affectionate message of thanks. Let the image speak for itself.
Q. How can one find out a woman’s maiden name quickly, without looking like Lady Bracknell? I was recently at a Sunday lunch where a woman about 12 years younger than me stubbornly kept saying just her Christian name.
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