Delayed

I must keep my poor father, and you, waiting, while my attentions are occupied by that most troublesome pest, the house-guest, made all the more annoying by the fact that they are the dearest of friends whom I have much missed, and yet I grudge them the time I lose in telling my tale, ungracious hostess that I am! Well, at least I shall seize the opportunity to enjoy an intemperate week's end, and to carpet the floor in wine corks, in celebration of the New Year of the Ox, and to distract my thoughts from my Georgian table reduced to impatient shavings from Osprey's penknife.