'Oh no, your aunt said she couldn't hear of it. But if you're good children, I'll take you down that way this afternoon, and you can peep in and see the pretty flowers. James says it is lovely, and he has sent a lot of flowers himself.'
Roland and Olive went downstairs to greet their aunts in great excitement. They were to have breakfast in the dining-room for a treat, and when they caught sight of the glittering glass and silver, with great bowls and vases of golden daffodils in the centre of the table, Olive exclaimed,—
'It's going to be a lovely day, Roland, from the very beginning! I wish our breakfast table in the nursery was like this!'
'Olive looks very well in that little serge frock,' remarked Miss Amabel presently, looking across at her little niece with approval in her eyes; 'she is getting quite a pink colour in her cheeks, and has lost that pinched, peaky look. I really think the measles did them both good!'
'And does Roland look nice too?' asked Olive quietly, being quite accustomed to personal remarks from her aunts, 'because he has got a new tie on. It's a pretty blue one.'
'Does everybody wear something new on Easter Sunday?' Roland asked quickly.
'It's an old superstition, dear; no, everybody does not.'
'Why ought we to wear new things?' demanded Olive.
'Why, Olive, of course it's because it's the proper time,' answered Roland. 'Easter is when people get their new bodies, and the flowers are all new.'