"Nothing. Does one ever hear anything interesting in Marshington? What was the trouble downstairs, Auntie?"
"Trouble, dear? What trouble do you mean?"
Muriel picked up her dress and pushed it over her head. When she emerged from her temporary eclipse she said "Father and Mother."
"Oh—er—nothing, dear."
Muriel fastened an amethyst brooch carefully into her dress. She was thinking, "I really can't stand this feeling of secret exasperation in the house. I can't stand not talking to someone." Aloud she asked:
"Auntie, have you noticed—Father and Mother seem to get on each other's nerves now, like they never used to do?"
"Oh—I shouldn't say that, you know, Muriel."
"Oh, Auntie, you must have noticed it. What was it now about the income tax?"
"Oh, well, your father wants to invest some money in your name, to save super tax—just as a business investment, you know, and your mother——"
"Thinks that she ought to have it?"