"Oh, I only meant without a tree or anything specially Christmassy——"
"Alwynne," said Elsbeth, with scrupulous patience, "it was you who suggested not having one."
"I know, I know, I know, I know!" cried Alwynne, in a fever.
Elsbeth sighed.
Alwynne repented.
"Elsbeth darling, I didn't mean to be rude; I'm a beast. And I didn't mean it wasn't nice last year. I only meant—it would be—be a change to have some one—because of the turkey—and I thought, perhaps Clare——"
"Can't you exist for a day without seeing Clare Hartill?" asked Elsbeth, with a wry smile.
Alwynne dimpled.
"Not very well," she said.
Elsbeth stared at her plate. Alwynne edged her chair along the table, till she sat at Elsbeth's elbow. She slid an arm round her neck.