(12/20) No Holly for Miss Quinn by Miss Read

lap billowed the great black mass of Lovell's cassock.
    "Must have caught my heel in the hem," he said apologetically, as he handed it over. "Do you mind?"
    She now stitched languidly, thinking yet again how many varied tasks fell to the lot of a married woman.
    "I wish I could have found someone else to do it—and to help you in the house," said Lovell. "But everyone's so busy at Christmas time. Looking back, I realize how lucky we were at home to have dear old Euphrosyne and her like, coping in the kitchen. It meant mother had the energy needed to cope with parish affairs."
    "From what I hear," said Miriam, snipping black cotton, "Eileen does very well."
    "She has to do far too much," sighed Lovell. "How did she look today?"
    "Ravishing as ever," said Miriam, and told him about her visit, and Sister's kindness, and her remark about his own.
    Lovell looked surprised.
    "Really? I did nothing you know. Just called now and again."
    "And she also said that Eileen was a marvelous patient and a great help in the ward."
    His face softened.
    "She's the bravest person I know. She's been so sweet with that poor woman in the next bed. A terminal case, they call it. She wasn't expected to live through the night."
    Miriam remembered her niece's query, her own horror, and Eileen's courageous laughter. There was certainly more to this sister-in-law of hers than she had ever imagined.
    "Well, there you are," she said, shaking out the cassock. "I shall wait up for you, and we'll have the fun of filling the pillowcases together."
    "You shouldn't. You look whacked, so don't stay up just for me."
    He shrugged into the cassock, threw his coat over his shoulders and made for the door.
    "I shall be back soon after midnight," he shouted above the wind, waved, and was gone.
    Miriam was about to return to the fireside when she remembered that she had intended to stuff the turkey and prepare some of the vegetables for the morrow.
    Should she go into the kitchen and tackle these chores? Or should she give way to temptation and collapse into the arm chair?
    Bravely, she made her way towards the larder, followed by Copper, ever-anxious for a meal.
    "And to think," she told the dog, "that I'm known as a working woman. I wonder what Eileen is?"

Chapter 8
    CHRISTMAS DAY
    T HE DAY BEGAN , in pitch darkness, at five-thirty.
    Miriam's door opened, and Hazel and Jenny entered dragging their spoils behind them.
    "You said we could come," beamed Hazel.
    "And you said we could do anything we liked on Christmas Day, so here we are!"
    Miriam sat up and switched on the bedside lamp. Her head was heavy with sleep, her eyes felt as though they were full of biscuit crumbs. But this was Christmas morning, and although it had come far too soon for comfort, then Christian feelings must predominate.
    "Happy Christmas, darlings," she said, between yawns. "Switch on the electric fire, Hazel, and both come into bed. You must be frozen."
    They joyously flung their laden pillowcases onto their aunt's stomach, partially winding her. Their bare feet were like four ice-blocks pressed against her own warm legs. Their hands, diving for their treasures, were mottled with the cold.
    "Where's Robin?" asked Miriam.
    "Still asleep. So's Daddy. Shall we go and fetch them?"
    "No, no. They'll come along later. Let's see all these gorgeous things."
    She duly admired books, jigsaw puzzles, and a complicated board game which she feared would be beyond her when the time came for it to be played.
    There were recorders, played with more enthusiasm than harmony, dolls and their clothes—remarkably sophisticated to Miriam's eye. No doll of hers ever had ski clothes, bathing dresses, or evening cloaks. These beauties even had handbags to match their different outfits. The girls were enchanted.
    Miriam had given Hazel a toy sewing machine, and Jenny a little cooking stove. She was relieved to see how ecstatically these were received, and promised to help them when they started to use them.
    "I shall