"Oh, not at all well, Ralph, dear," sighed the lady, as she settled herself in her chair and spread her snowy napkin across her knees. "What have you there, Alison, dear? Yes, I'll take one. Coffee, please, Isabel dear. It's very chilly this morning." "Very," said Mr Elthorne sarcastically. "You should have a fire in your bedroom." "Well, really, Ralph, I think I will. It is so cold getting up." She sneezed sharply. There was a faint click, and a tiny splash in her cup. "Oh, dear me, look at that!" cried the lady. "Isabel, my dear, will you pass me the sugar tongs. Thanks." Alison burst into a fit of laughter as his aunt began solemnly to fish in her coffee cup for _her pince-nez_. "You shouldn't laugh, my dear." "Enough to make a donkey laugh," said Mr Elthorne grimly. "Did you mean that term for me, sir?" said Alison sharply. "No, Al, no," said his father coolly. "If it had been meant for you I should have called you an ass." "Thank you," said the young man. "Quite welcome, Al. You are one sometimes." Alison frowned, but his annoyance passed off as he saw success attend his aunt's diving apparatus, for she made a successful plunge, brought out the dripping glasses, and began placidly to wipe them upon her napkin. "The springs of these glasses do get so terribly weak," she said, and then paused to raise her head, throw it back, and gaze plaintively up at a corner of the ceiling. "Er--er--er--er--" "What's the matter, Auntie?" said Alison mockingly. "Tchischew!--er--tischew!" she sneezed. "Oh, dear me, what a cold I have caught!" "Be careful, then, not to put on damp spectacles, or you may make it worse," said Mr Elthorne, smiling. "You don't think so, do you, Ralph?" "No, Auntie; papa's making fun of you." "You shouldn't, Ralph; it really is too bad, and before the children, too. But I'm afraid I'm going to have a very bad cold. I wish Neil would make haste and come down." "What for?" said Mr Elthorne. "He seems to understand my constitution better than anyone I have ever been to." "Bah!" ejaculated her brother. "He is only an apprentice to his trade. Mark my words: he'll poison you one of these days by making experiments upon you." "Really, my dear, you shouldn't. I'm sure Neil has too much respect for his aunt to be so wicked," said the lady, going on with her breakfast very composedly. "I hope he will soon cure Maria, though, and send her back. I do miss her sadly." "Humph!" grumbled Mr Elthorne; "that's why you were so late, I suppose." "No, Ralph. Alison, my dear, give me a bit of that toast that is soaked in gravy; thank you, my dear. I do not say that; I know I am late this morning, but I do miss her very much. But I thought you people were going out riding." "So we are," said Alison. Aunt Anne turned to her niece. "Oh, I can soon put on my riding habit, Auntie. A little more sugar?"