First listen and then answer the question: Was Mrs. Rumbold a good companion at dinner?
Last week at a dinner party, the hostess asked me to sit next to Mrs. Rumbold.
Mrs. Rumbold was a large, unsmiling lady in a tight black dress.
She did not even look up when I took my seat beside her.
Her eyes were fixed on her plate and in a short time, she was busy eating.
I tried to make conversation.
"A new play is coming to 'The Globe' soon," I said. "Will you be seeing it?"
"No," she answered.
"Will you be spending your holidays abroad this year?" I asked.
"No," she answered.
"Will you be staying in England?" I asked.
"No," she answered.
In despair, I asked her whether she was enjoying her dinner.
"Young man," she answered, "if you ate more and talked less, we would both enjoy our dinner!"