They made a long call, and Mrs.
Anderson entertained them with tea in her pink-and-gold china cups, with cream in the little family silver cream-jug, and with slices of pound-cake.

It was an old custom of Mrs.Anderson's which she had copied all through her married life from Madam Anderson, Randolph's grandmother, the widow of old Dr.Anderson, the clergyman.
"I always make it a custom, my dear, to keep pound-cake on hand, and have some of the best green tea in the caddy, and then when callers come of an afternoon I can offer them some refreshment," she had said when her son's wife first came to live with her.

So Mrs.Anderson had antedated the modern fashion in Banbridge, but she did not keep a little, ornate tea-table in her parlor.

The cake and tea were brought in by the one maid on a tray covered with a polka-dotted damask.
This afternoon the callers had their cake and tea, and lingered long afterwards.

Now and then Mrs.Anderson glanced imperceptibly at the window, thinking her son might pass.