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780brooch from Douglas, and she gave him a ruby-studded tiepin and a number of books, mostly pictorial, showing the works of famous painters and sculptors.The girls' presents ranged through hats, dresses, skin coats, slippers, and lingerie and lots of accessories; but Henrietta's seemed to fall within the latter category only, and this did not please her, so that she showed how she was feeling when Bertha opened her present from Joseph and in delight held up a winter coat, fur hat and gloves to match: she retreated to a corner where she sat sulking.When Jonathan unpacked the long box to discover a much used violin case with a violin inside, his eyes filled with tears. He had already shown promise of becoming an exceptionally good instrumentalist, and although this was not, of course, a Stradivarius, he knew instantly it was of great value, and before he even picked it up he went and threw his arms around first Bridget, and then Douglas.Towards the end of the present-giving, however, it was noted that the twins had had no exceptional gift, no gold watches, no tie-i781pins; socks, ties, and handkerchiefs, yes, but nothing exciting.It was when there had come a slight lull on the gathering that Douglas, looking at his grandsons, said, 'Well, you two, your presents are outside.

You wouldn't expect us to bring them in, would you?'At this there was a stir: although the twins remained quiet while looking questioningly at their parents and then at their grandparents, the girls were already running down the drawing-room, crying, 'What are they? What are they?'A minute later all the youngsters were outside, with the elders gathering around the doorway and the servants at the long windows, there to see Malcolm standing beside a two-seater car, while William stood gazing at the horse that John, with a wide grin on his face, was holding.As if of one mind they both turned towards the house now and slowly shook their heads from side to side. It was in this movement that they showed, as they seldom did, that they were from the same seed, for their actions were simultaneous; even the expres-782sion on their faces held the same look of surprise and gratitude.The girls were now shouting to each of them in turn, 'Get in!' or 'Get on it!' And in answer, William put his foot in the stirrup and hoisted himself onto the saddle, while Malcolm jumped into the car; but when he switched on the ignition, the roar of the engine made the horse toss its head nervously and stamp forward and William to swing round on the saddle, crying, Turn that damn thing off, you idiot!'When order was restored the twins, again as if of one mind, left their respective Christmas boxes and hurried towards the groups standing in the doorway and, as if the car and the horse were of the same sex, expressed their thanks: 'Oh, thank you, thank you, Grandpa. She's wonderful. She's wonderful!' only for Douglas to say, 'Don't thank me, it was your father.''Really! Oh, Dad!'When they both grabbed his hand, Joseph shouted, 'Watch out! you pair of idiots, you'll have me on my back again.'And so ended the Christmas present-giving.

783There was more chaffing when Malcolm, pushing his brother, exclaimed, 'You go and put your nag in the stable; I want to try out my baby,' and the diversion created by their pushing at each other and running from the hall seemed itself to create a new one, for Henrietta, who was now standing to the side of Joseph, exclaimed in her loudest form of articulation, 'I ... would . . . like . . . a ... car!' And when, amid soothing remarks from Bridget and laughing exclamations from the girls, she happened to look towards Bertha, who too was laughing, and she read her lips as she said to Kitty, 'As you say, lass, that would be the day, Henrietta in a car,' her body seemed to leap past Bridget, and when she grabbed the little woman by the shoulders she almost lifted her from the floor as she screeched, 'Yes! Me ... in• . . a .

• . car ... in . * . a . . . car! l could . . . You old ha ... ha ... hag/As Douglas grabbed hold of Henrietta's arms, Joseph's hand came out and slapped her face so hard that the force of it sent her staggering back, her body jangling and a hand clasping at her cheek like a child who had been chastised.

784There was a momentary silence before Joseph, turning his back on Henrietta, put out his arm and guided the definitely startled old woman towards the drawing-room, to be followed by the rest, except Bridget who, standing in front of Henrietta, said quietly, 'Come upstairs and rest. The excitement's been too much for you.''No! No!fBridget's voice and expression now changing, she said emphatically, 'Yesf Yes! And this minute!'Again like a chastised child, Henrietta did as she was bidden, but definitely under protest, for her arms, legs and head were now all in a highly agitated state.In the drawing room Alice was saying to Bertha, 'Did she hurt you?''No, no, lass; and it was my own fault, I should have watched my tongue.*'What did you say?'Before she could answer Kitty said, 'She only repeated what I said: That'll be the day when she drives a car.''Is that all? And that's why she went for you?'

785'Now, now, Alice,' said Douglas. 'Let's forget about her.''That'll take some doing.* It was the first comment Amy had made, and Douglas turned and looked at his daughter, and agreed solemnly, saying,

'Yes, dear, you're right. But it's Christmas Day; come on, come on, all of you. By! weren't the boys amazed. I've never seen such genuine pleasure on anyone's face for a long time.''Oh! Grandpa; then you didn't look at rny face when I saw my violin.' Jonathan sounded so disappointed. 'Of all the things in the world I've hoped for, that's always been the top, a good violin. Not that'-he was nodding now towards his father-'the one that you bought me wasn't good, but . . . well, you know what I mean.''Yes. Yes, indeed, Jonathan, I know what you mean. You mean that the one I bought you didn't cost a quarter as much as that one.' Joseph now nodded to where the violin case lay on a side table.'Oh! Dad.''Never mind oh dadding me.' Joseph made a gesture of flapping his son aside; but then smiled at him and said,

'Well, you want

786to get some practice in for the jig tonight. And you, too, Alice, get at that piano. How many are coming?' and he turned questioningly towards Amy; and she, after thinking a moment, said, 'Well, there'll be Malcolm's two friends,' which brought a quick retort from Jonathan who, lifting his chin as far as it would go, said, 'The sons of Sir Arnold and Lady Fordyce, Masters James and Percy.''They're not half as stuck up as you are.''Now, now, Kitty,' said Amy; then went on, 'Then there's William's friends, the Robsons, Arthur and Hazel. And yours, Alice, Winnie and her two brothers.''Oh, yes, don't forget the Barnett brothers,' put in Jonathan now.'No!' Alice retaliated sharply to her brother; 'nor your friends Sam McBane and his Irish cousin begorra, Patrick.''Well, there's one thing to be said for begorra Patrick,'

Joseph said, trying to calm the situation, 'if anybody can get you laughing it's him. In the end he'll likely turn out to be a Catholic priest, because he's always laughing at himself and his religion.*'Anyway,' said Kitty now, 'with the Rob-787sons, to my reckoning that's seven males and three females, and counting us there's an extra male.

Well, that's as it should be, I suppose.'Joseph had quietly gone to Bertha, and he asked her, 'How you feeling?'Tm all right, fine.''Would you like to go and lie down?''Lie down? No! of course not. Anyway I'm looking forward to that dance tonight.* She now looked past him and spoke to the girls, saying, Til dance you off your legs, you'll see. I can still do the clog dance, you know. I had a real dancing pair of feet for it at one time. You'll see, you'll have to look out for your lads else you'll lose 'em.5Almost as though it were an invitation, William approached Bertha, made a deep obeisance towards her and in a high-toned voice said, 'May I have the pleasure of this dance, Miss Bertha?' only for her to come back at him, she, too, adopting a high-falutin' voice, saying, 'No, sir; I'm afraid you can't; me programme's full.'

And she held out her hand as if presenting the programme to him. 'What's more, I understand that you are in the band providing the music, and I

788have always made it a point never to dance with bandsmen. They can never be trusted; they're worse than sailors.'Amid the general laughter Amy rose and went from the room unnoticed, except apparently by Joseph. That was another thing that irked him: she could never stand or appreciate Bertha's humour.

She had never really taken to her right from the beginning. He felt he knew why, and it didn't come into the heading of possessiveness.The partition between the drawing-room and dining-room had been pushed back and Alice at the piano and Jonathan on his violin had provided music for a number of dances. At first, the visiting guests had shown decorum by their politeness, but after a couple of games of musical chairs and winkey, the decorum seemed to have been pushed into the background, and when Bertha actually demonstrated that she could still do the clog dance, even in a pair of soft leather shoes, she was applauded uproariously.It was now time for refreshments and the old and the young were scattered about the room, plates on their knees, cups and glasses 789held carefully away from their dresses or suits. A couple sitting at the end of the conservatory on a slatted form had lain their plates and wine glasses to the side of them, and Alice, nibbling politely on a sandwich, gazed at her partner, while her heart was pumping at more than its usual rate, the exertion being not due to her dancing but to the effect that this young man was having on her. It was not a new effect, for she had first experienced it nearly a year ago at a school friend's birthday party.He was saying to her, 'You have left school for good? I mean, you are not going on to another?''No. No . . . well, not to school as such; I'm going to study under a very good music teacher.''You play beautifully.''Thank you.'The young man looked along the length of the conservatory, then glanced sidewards through the open doors into the drawingroom and said, 'This is a beautiful house.''Yes. Yes, it is; and . . . and you know something? This seat here'-she patted it'it was really here, right just here, that my 790grandparents first met. There used to be a big palm tree'-she pointed-'cutting off the view of the drawing-room, and two men were quarrelling behind the palm and it almost fell on grandmother , . . And what happened that night was to set off a train of events'-she shook her head-'which you certainly wouldn't believe.'*Oh yes, I would. I ... I know quite a bit about the history of your family.'Her face became straight, her tone a little defensive now as she said, 'Well, then, I . , . I suppose you were shocked.''Shocked?' He laughed. 'Shocked, because you had a rake of a grandfather? I'll tell you something.' He leant towards her and looked into her eyes as he said, 'You and I are close in more ways than one. Well, what I mean is, we are associated through our family because my grandmother, Daisy, was the mistress of your notorious grandfather. Their association, I understand, went on for a long time, years, ten years or more,''Really?' She was biting on her lip now, her face wide with suppressed laughter, and when he nodded at her and said, 'Yes, really. They were very naughty, a disgrace to both 791families. But if your grandfather was a bit of a roue, my grandmother was a devious woman, if all tales were true. In fact she even played the dirty on her lover. I'm the youngest of a family of ten; I'm what you might call an overspill. It was never intended that I should be born, and my father always became enraged, I understand, when , . . the disgrace was mentioned. But from my eldest brother, who was eighteen years older than me, right down to my sister, who was seven years my senior, and there are twins in our family, too, well, we all enjoyed the story and-' He paused now and, taking her hand and in a low voice, he said, 'When I first met you, Alice, I thought how strange, how very strange that I should fall in love with the granddaughter of that man.' And now there was a plea in his voice: 'Alice, tell me: Do you like me?' She could only mutter, 'Oh! Oh! Roger, more than like, more than like . . .'Just as years before a couple had been distracted by the noise and gaiety from the ballroom, so now the scraping of a chair, likely the very one that Bridget had vacated all those years ago for the seat behind the palm, 792was also blotted out; but not Kitty's face, as she appeared in the doorway and grinned at them before turning away.Kitty now looked around the room and sighting her father hobbling past the partition that divided the rooms, she ran towards him and, taking his arm and her face full of glee, she said,

'Daddy! Daddy! You'll never guess. Roger . . . Roger Barnett is making love to Alice in the conservatory. And you know what he said, and who he is?'She was surprised when he suddenly growled at her, 'Shut up! Come this way.' He now caught hold of her arm and, hobbling, he drew her to the far end of the corridor to his study and pushed her in, saying, 'Well, now you may spill the rest.''Oh, Daddy.

Well, I didn't mean . . .''Never mind what you meant, just tell me what you were going to say.''Well . . .

well ... I didn't mean to listen.''You're always listening, Kitty; but that's no fault, except when you repeat what you hear. In this case though, repeat it to me exactly.''Well, he said that his father, I mean his 793grandmother, was the mistress of our grandfather.'Barnett? Barnett? Daisy Barnett? Yes, he knew all about Daisy Barnett.'Had our grandfather a mistress? or was he making it up or . . . ?'He limped forward to his seat behind the desk, then beckoned her to him, and when she was standing by his knee he took her hand and said, 'Now, on no account, do you hear me? on no account, must you repeat this to anybody. There has been a great deal of scandal in this family. You know nothing about it yet. Your grandmother has gone through a great deal of trouble, as have I, and one day you will likely hear the whole story from the horse's mouth, and that will be mine, or if not mine, your grandfather's. Your grandmother's version might be biased, and she would certainly be biased in this case if she knew Alice was becoming involved with a young man whose grandmother had caused her beloved cousin, Victoria, that is, or was, Henrietta's mother, a great deal of grief. Now you understand what I mean? I know it's puzzling you, but listen: I want you to promise me you'll say 794nothing about what you overheard tonight passing between Alice and that young man. Now, your solemn promise?''Yes, Daddy. I'm . . . and I'm sorry. I just . . , well I thought it was , . . funny, especially about the woman being the mistress . , .''Do you know what a mistress in that sense means?'She stared at him blankly for a moment; then, a small smile on her face, she said, 'Well, it doesn't mean a schoolmistress, it means a woman who is wicked and entices a gentleman from his wife and family.*'Yes, I suppose that's what it means; but the woman need not be wicked, and in some cases neither is the man.