Children of no Man's Land by G.B. Stern

I

-"And would it be indelicate to ask," said Gillian, "_why_ I'm suddenly invited to take tea with you, on these lawns of sheer respectability? I'm touched, Deb, really I am; I even left some jolly little fellows from the trenches to look after themselves, while I toddled off here; and I bought a new hat on the way-d'you like it?"