Countesses Count Esses

by christopher taylor

KNOWSLEY, MERSEYSIDE, UK--Countess of Shrewsbury Deborah Hutchinson, after visiting a Beatles-related curio shop in Liverpool, dropped in on Countess of Derby Caroline Neville at her home, Knowsley Hall, for tea.

"These social visits are getting odder and odder," Knowsley Hall maid Charlotte Axelrod said. "This time they were giggling like a couple of school girls, counting off all the things in the room that began with an 'S.' "

Hutchinson later related that, including the "saucer shards" that resulted when Axelrod tripped on a stray dog, she and Neville had counted one hundred eighty-nine "esses."