Like one of the legion of cantankerous, eccentric hosts we meet across this generous terrain, Hensher knows how to lay on a grand spread.
Maybe the hotel will lay on a nice complimentary spread of lasagne on Monday night to make up for the inconvenience.
"I once painted mushrooms in the misty rain, lying on a shower curtain spread over the ground with a friend holding an umbrella over my head," he said.
Christa Théret's Andrée does what Renoir asks, lying on a couch or outdoors, spreading herself out with just a cloth draped over her midsection, happy to be looked at and lusted after.
After just more than four hours, Nadal lay on his back, spread-eagled, while his teammates rushed onto the court to celebrate a 1-6, 6-1, 6-1, 7-6 (0) victory that had seemed highly unlikely after the opening set.
Out to brunch Most restaurants and hotels lay on lavish brunch spreads every Friday, the start of the weekend.
Though drum sets with different numbers of pieces will naturally take up different amounts of space, a good rule of thumb is that a given area of floor is big enough for your kit if you can lay on the ground spread-eagle without touching anything.
Indeed, when Dransfield first appears in the book, Keogh portrays him as Christ-like, lying on a tree branch with his arms spread, as if being crucified.
He has made some charming and resonant combines: a woman's skirt is displayed on part of a bedspread; affixed to the skirt is a photograph of the woman from waist to thigh, lying on the spread while wearing the skirt, and on her crotch lies a photograph of her naked pubis.
