leave except Vermillion, Simone, Kevin, and the two innocents Lucy and Boswell?
What a Night Before Christmas!
Come Dancer, Come Prancer,
For God's sake, Come Donder und Blitzen!
"My goodness, cheer up, you look as if you're at a funeral," said Lucy.
"I am, my dear, I am," he replied lugubriously.
"Your friend Mrs. Cornwallis asked Ranna and me to dance at some charity ball she's giving but I'm not going to, I don't like her."
"Why not? I believe you'd enjoy knowing her better. She can be most useful. You should never consider your personal likes or dislikes in the furtherance of your career."
She kissed him on the cheek and chirruped a line from a five-yearold song: "Daddy, you've been a mother to me."
"I hope," he said severely, "you are not as flighty as you act."
Clarissa van Horn in vivid red blew in bringing into the room a touch of snow.
"Merry Christmas, Raymond. We finally managed to get away from the family. Lyle drove like a lunatic. We skidded most of the way leaving a trail of dead things. We'd have been here sooner if some idiot hadn't decided to walk on the turnpike." She laughed, shaking her hair free of flakes.
"This is Lucy Claudel, Clarissa—Clarissa van Horn, Lucy."
"How do you do." She did not wait for a response from Lyle's big-eyed dancer in the pearl chiffon dress, but clasped her throat. "My pearl string broke, they are still rattling around in Lyle's car. Did you find more?" she asked as Lyle came up.
"How are you, Figente? Hello, Lucy. I've a few in my pocket."
Clarissa looked at him sharply, hearing only the almost imperceptible falter as he spoke Lucy's name. What made him seem rather silly was the cool manner in which the girl returned his greeting and turned away.
Lucy glanced about to choose someone to join. Simone and Kevin were laughing at something Vermillion was saying. It was the only group seeming to have a good time and she had started toward them when Tessie Soler stopped her. "By the way, wasn't that Ben Grein of Biggens Pictures backstage tonight?"
"Yes. He wanted to know if I was interested in acting in Hollywood. I said I was a dancer, not an actress."
