Chapter 53

Lucy frankly proclaimed her relief when the family party went away. She sank down on to a sofa, fanned herself, and said “Ouf!” She said she could not have endured another day of Geoffrey’s anecdotes, or of her mother-in-law’s carping and barking, or of Lady John’s crochet. Thank goodness, she said, they need never be invited all in a bunch again until Sebastian married. “Or Viola,” said Sebastian, pulling at Sarah’s ears. Lucy, in an access of dejection, said that she sometimes thought Viola would never marry. She…