I have inherited from my dear father, Auberon Waugh, a very acute sense of smell. It is one of those attributes that, although not often very useful, can bring a great deal of joy to life. It can also, on occasion, be very disconcerting. The smell of a sneeze in a car drives me to distraction. My passengers understand that, even if they themselves cannot smell anything, all windows have to be left open for a few freezing minutes to mitigate the olfactory effects. Please understand that this has nothing to do with germs, but everything to do with smell. By the same token, I hate the smell of thumb-suckers. Imagine my horror then, when my Child Catcher’s twitching nose was suddenly assaulted mid-lesson by the smell of a thumb-sucker. These children are upwards of 11, after all. If thumb-sucking should be done at all, it should be quietly at...
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