REBECCA ROOD'S MAILBAG........................................................

• Dear Rebecca, My husband and I play bridge as a regular partnership, but we don't do well. In fact. most of our scores border on the abysmal. Why just the other day we notched up our worse score ever......a humiliating and highly embarrassing 18%. I was gutted, devastated and traumatised by the whole wretched experience. My husband god bless him knows he is a terrible player, and has accepted that he carries nearly all the blame. Since then he has steadfastly refused to pick up a hand of cards, vowing never to go back to the club. Should I quit the game or carry on without him? Yours in a quandary, Martha
• Dear Martha, I can't help recalling the case of the John Bennett murder where his wife, Myrtle, shot him for playing a hand like a cretin. Obviously, you've seen your husband play thousands of hands with the same degree of clueless ineptitude. On my reckoning if you were to shoot your husband now, there's an excellent chance you could get the murder charge reduced to involuntary manslaughter, on the grounds of diminished responsibility. But I suspect you care for him enough not to take such a drastic course of action. However, what you have said about his wretched play certainly adds up to irrefutable, rock-solid evidence of " unreasonable behaviour ".................which paves the way for an easy divorce. If that idea doesn't inspire you, then I suggest you carry on playing bridge without him. If he's a decent sort, I'm sure he won't mind. You must seize the opportunity with both hands to free yourself from the restrictive shackles, a marital partnership creates. Use his current phobia of cards to start afresh, and carve out a bridge career that offers real hope of better things to come. So what's wrong with leaving him at home with a book, a hot cup of cocoa and a packet of crisps. Nothing at all. Yours always putting bridge first, Rebecca