PART SEVEN DECEMBER 28TH
Lydia Lee said
Pilar, I think you had better stay with us until we can arrange something definite for you.
Pilar said meekly
You are very good, Lydia. You are nice. You forgive people quite easily without making a
fuss about it.
Lydia said, smiling
I still call you Pilar, though I suppose your name is something else.
Yes, I am really Conchita Lopez.
Conchita is a pretty name too.
You are really almost too nice, Lydia. But you don’t need to be bothered by me. I am going
to marry Stephen, and we are going to South Africa.
Lydia said, smiling
Well, that rounds off things very nicely.
Pilar said timidly
Since you have been so kind, do you think, Lydia, that one day we might come back and
stay with you—perhaps for Christmas—and then we could have the crackers and the burning
raisins and those shiny things on a tree and the little snowmen
Certainly, you shall come and have a real English Christmas.
That will be lovely. You see, Lydia, I feel that this year it was not a nice Christmas at all.
Lydia caught her breath. She said
No, it was not a nice Christmas. . . .
