Ihate to ask such a question of Spectator readers, but we must all move with the times. What, I ask, does a girl do if she's been dumped after a one-night stand? To whom does she turn for sound advice and shining example?

Luckily, Debrett's, the publisher of those thumping great red-and-gold hardback directories of the Peerage and Baronetage (the DNA of the British aristocracy in 3,000 pages), can help here.

Yes, Debrett's. Clearly, there is some marketing convulsion under way within the 18th-century formerly Piccadilly-based publisher. For rather than punctilious entries pertaining to Collateral Branches, Predecessors, and Courtesy Titles, Debrett's is now proffering tips on drunk dialling, bikini waxes and speed-dating.

In its new book, Debrett's Etiquette for Girls, there is also advice on how to comport yourself with dignity during office flings with married men, something called espresso sex, visits to planet celebrity, and Festival chic. It is all done with great wit and good sense, and there are fruity photographs of scantily clad young beauties on every page.

But still. The whole endeavour is undeniably racy for such a traditional publisher. The (soft) cover shows an ample-bosomed pouter spilling out of her frock and supping an oyster, for starters.