THE MISTLETOE BOUGH


by Anthony Trollope




"Let the boys have it if they like it," said Mrs. Garrow, pleading
to her only daughter on behalf of her two sons.

"Pray don't, mamma," said Elizabeth Garrow. "It only means romping.
To me all that is detestable, and I am sure it is not the sort of
thing that Miss Holmes would like."

"We always had it at Christmas when we were young."

"But, mamma, the world is so changed."

The point in dispute was one very delicate in its nature, hardly to
be discussed in all its bearings, even in fiction, and the very
mention of which between mother and daughter showed a great amount
of close confidence between them. It was no less than this. Should
that branch of mistletoe which Frank Garrow had brought home with
him out of the Lowther woods be hung up on Christmas Eve in the
dining-room at Thwaite Hall, according to his wishes; or should
permission for such hanging be positively refused? It was clearly a
thing not to be done after such a discussion, and therefore the
decision given by Mrs. Garrow was against it.