fa. "I must say your looks don't pity you. You look as if you had
been enjoying yourself all right. That kettle's boiling! I'm dying for
a cup of tea! Let's have it at once, and talk comfortably." She seated
herself by the table, and helped herself to a buttered scone. "What did
you do on Christmas Day?"

"The Willoughbys asked me. I went to church with them, and stayed until
eleven."

"Anything going on, or just the ordinary family frumps?"

Claire laughed.

"Nobody but relations and my fascinating self; but you needn't be so
blighting. I enjoyed every moment, and they were angelically kind.
Janet was like an old friend."

"Did she give you a present?"

"Yes, she did. Half a dozen pairs of gloves."

"The wrong size, of course! They always are!"

"No, my pessimist, they were not! She had diagnosed me as a six and a
half, and six and a half I am, so all was peace and joy. I put on a new
pair the next day when I went out for a constitutional. It was quite a
tonic. Gloves are much cheaper abroad, and I never wore a shabby pair
in my life until this winter. It's been one of the things I've hated
most."

"Six pairs will soon go," said Cecil; "I prefer to have things that
last. Oh, by the way, you addressed a parcel. How did it come? Was it
left at the door?"

Instinctively Claire busied herself over the tea-tray. She had a
feeling that Cecil would rather be unobserved; she was also afraid that
her own expression might betray too much.

"Oh no, he called. When I came in after morning church on Sunday,
Lizzie said that a gentleman was waiting. It was Major Carew. He asked
me if I would address the parcel and send it on."

Silence. Claire bent over the tea-tray, but she knew without looking
that Cecil's face had fallen into the cold set lines which she had seen
times and again, when things had gone wrong; she knew that when she
spoke again the coldness would be in her voice, but her own conscience
was clear. She had done nothing to offend.

"Really! That's curious. _Waiting_, you say? You didn't ask him in?
What did he say?"

"He said, `Miss Gifford, I presume. I have called to ask if you will be
kind enough to address a small parcel for Miss Rhodes.' I said,
`Wouldn't it be better if I gave you her address?' He said, `I should
prefer if you wrote it yourself.' I said, `I will do so with pleasure.
Good morning.' He said, `Good morning.' He then took up his hat and
departed.