The silence in the little room grew unendurable. Hubert was regarding the Fishers and the Sullivans with angry eyes. At last he said, "Did you people all go out together somewhere last night?"
None of the four answered. Lillian said, "What's the matter, Hubert? We don't own them. Aren't they allowed to go out?"
"Well, I think it was a lousy trick," Hubert said. "You knew Lillian was going to be here alone."
"She wasn't alone," Anna replied.
"But you didn't know she wasn't going to be."
"Don't forget you left her alone, big boy," Billy put in.
"Oh, that's all right," Louise said in mocking tones. "He's Hubert."
"I had to go home to my mother on Christmas Eve," Anna said, "just the same as you had to go home to your wife. And I invited Billy and Louise to go with me."
"You could have taken Lillian, too, couldn't you?" Hubert challenged.
"Oh, Hubert," Lillian begged.
Cliff said, "Look, Scotty, we all know the way things stand. Anna's mother is old-fashioned, you know what I mean. She wouldn't understand about Lillian and—you."
"If it hadn't been for that I'd have asked her in a minute," Anna shouted, exultantly.
"Of course," said Billy.
"Of course," echoed Louise.
