“Of course. What a question to ask a visitor! And give me cream too; you always give one such filthy stuff by way of tea, and with a name day party in the house!”

“What, you believe in keeping name days too!” the girl-student laughed suddenly. “We were just talking of that.”

“That’s stale,” muttered the schoolboy at the other end of the table.

“What’s stale? To disregard conventions, even the most innocent is not stale; on the contrary, to the disgrace of everyone, so far it’s a novelty,” the girl-student answered instantly, darting forward on her chair. “Besides, there are no innocent conventions,” she added with intensity.