Sir John Ellerman, who was Britain’s richest businessman back in the 1920s, would order “a pot of tea for one, please, with two cups” when he took his wife out to a hotel for afternoon tea. Obviously not a true story. A really careful person, such as I, would also order a pot of hot water.
Paul Getty installed a pay phone at his stately home for his guests to use, which I think is eminently sensible. I wish I’d done it when my children were young, or when we used to have foreign friends staying.
There was one American relation, who did an annual tour of our Scottish relatives and was on the phone the minute she came in the front door. She would