Oil on Linen

Tea, Gossip and Trouble

A polite tea table starts to wobble. Cups tilt, voices drop, and a small comment quickly turns sharp. Faces change, hands wave, and secrets spill faster than the tea is poured. What begins as good manners soon slips into mischief,proof that gossip always brings trouble close behind. Observed by Reille during afternoon tea at Claridge’s, London, where elegance never quite keeps human nature in check.