The only guests who remained silent were the bishop and the woman sitting next to him, a writer in her sixties who watched the scene as if through a microscope. Lady Thurlow couldn't tell if she was nearsighted or making mental notes for her new book.
"Julieta, any guesses?" Lady Thurlow asked kindly, hoping the writer would get it right. But the woman took her time answering, putting out her cigarette in her untouched plate of food so slowly that she seemed to be in slow motion. For a few seconds, the image of a sloth coming down from a tree flashed through the hostess's mind.
The writer lit another cigarette and flicked out the match. Everyone was quiet and looked at her expectantly, watching the two columns of smoke coming out of her nostrils.
"Do any of you hear these voices?" she asked, her eyes following the flight of an imaginary fly. The question immediately stunned everyone.
"Julieta, dear," Lady Thurlow's patience sounded restrained, "Any guesses?"
"Yes,it's a letter. Plain as the nose in your face," she claimed, puffing away on her cigarette.
"A letter? That doesn't make sense..." the senator said, shaking his head in disbelief.
"What, you think I’m wrong?" she asked, tapping the cigarette on her plate.
Lady Thurlow was the only one who knew that wasn't the right answer. But the writer's was close enough to accept as correct, so she could finally get rid of them all and go to bed. What she hadn't expected was the senator's reaction.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa... Hold up. Are you telling me that one letter resonates through thick and thin? No matter how you slice it, Julieta, it's a flatulence! Here or even up at the North Pole!"
"What?" she asked in amazement. "You've got to be kidding me... Does a flatulence also bring laughter, joy, and trust so deep..."
"I think the senator has a point...." the bishop admitted.
"Father Murray," the writer replied in annoyance, "are you telling me that a flatulence is a bond that knows no bounds?"
"Well, sometimes one simply can't hold it in..."
(To be continued)
QUESTION: Were they really at the North Pole? Or is this a British idiom that I have never heard of?
No, it's a way of saying "The statement is true regardless of the location"
I'd say: (be it) here or at the North Pole.
I can't believe you have two bars for English — it flies in the face of logic.
We've talked about this many times. Let's not start the same discussion again.
That was meant as a compliment. And I think anyone who reads your posts will agree 😉
Yah. I agree. You got more bars than me in English in my book, and I am both brilliant and a native English speaker.
...and humble 😅
Coral having two bars is like Chairman Mao declaring himself the Mickey Mouse 😵💫
Hi, @Nemvagok! I'm not sure what you mean. Are you saying you've written a book? : )
“In my book“ means in my opinion.