Drawing upon her rich experience of life, Prudence (Prudie to her friends) responds to questions about manners, personal relations, politics, and other subjects. Please send your questions for publication to prudence@slate.com. Queries should not exceed 200 words in length. Please indicate how you wish your letter to be signed, preferably including your location.

Dear Prudie,

My wife and I have been married 11 years. Everything about our relationship is great, except for one very minor problem: We sleep in a king-size bed, and I feel we both might sleep better in two double beds. (I would for sure.) I am thinking of a setup like the one in I Love Lucy, where they slept in the same bedroom but in separate beds. We both move around a lot in our sleep, and I really don't like it when a toenail pokes me somewhere unpleasant just as I am drifting off. I hesitate to bring it up with my wife, because I don't want to hurt her feelings and have her think I don't want to be near her, and I don't want friends and family to think we are even weirder than they already believe we are (married 11 years, no kids). I would appreciate any suggestions.

--FSR in Fort Walton Beach, Fla.

Dear F,

Prudie can relate, having been socked a time or two by the beloved when he's dead to the world. A good night's sleep, however, should be your paramount concern, and not everyone is a neat sleeper.

A single bed is no barometer of a relationship. Prudie suggests you tell your wife (and not friends and family) that you are as crazy about her as ever but think two beds might improve sleep for both of you. And don't forget to point out that "visiting" can certainly spice up the nighttime situation.

--Prudie, conjugally

Dear Prudence,

I wake up in the middle of the night with a terrible thought that leaves me so ashamed I feel I should be sent to the moral equivalent of a re-education camp. For a long time I've wondered why the president, who once promised to tell us the whole truth about l'affaire Lewinsky, is so silent while his staff is active at the meanest level in riling a sizable portion of the public with stonewalling tactics. Truly, I believe the country is in the best of hands, but how do I rid myself of these impure thoughts?