"The poor devil won't have the chance of a snowball in hell of escaping parson's mousetrap with a parcel of determined females setting mistletoe for him all over the house," protested Alexander Logan, Lord Blakely, over the remains of an excellent breakfast, as his wife busied herself with a pretty profusion of red velvet ribbons, waxy white berries with small green leaves, red apples, candles, and slender wire at the other end of the dining room table.