"I was exactly the same as I am now, but no one would notice me till I
came into the estate--except you and Merle!" he said once rather bitterly
to Mavis. "I sometimes feel their friendship is hardly worth having!"
"It's the way of the world, and you have to take people just as they
are," she replied. "It's no use keeping up ill-feeling, Bevis. If they
hold out the olive branch, it's more gracious to accept it, isn't it?"
"Oh, I'll behave myself! But all the same, I discriminate between my old
friends and my new acquaintances; I'd rather not call them by the name of
friends!"
There were great preparations next day at The Warren. The furniture was
carried out of the drawing-room, the parquet floor was polished, and
Chinese lanterns were hung up in the conservatory, and the cook was busy
preparing light refreshments. It was a pretty house for a dance, and
looked very gay and festive with its Christmas decorations of holly and
ivy, and its blazing fire of logs in the hall.
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