if she doesn't, then I'll feel obliged to not be in that room while the fire's burning for my health
The smoke goes out the chimney, then back inside through any openings. There's not much reason to assume that the room with the fireplace has a higher concentration of smoke than anywhere else in the house while the fire is hot. However, if the fire is left to burn down to embers, there may not be enough heat to force all of the smoke through the chimney.
So if you're going there anyway, you might as well enjoy the fire, at least until it starts to die down.
Ah. So I want to avoid rooms with drafts, when fires are aglow. Noted.
Sam Harris, in his recent article called The Fireplace Delusion, tries to make you feel what it's like to react to a cached belief being irreparably destroyed. Just incase you forgot what your apostasy (if you had one, of course) was like in its early stages.
What are some of the Fireplace Delusions you've come across in your days?
EDIT: WOODSMOKE HEALTH EFFECTS