When King Meriadoc had gone, the two girls looked at each other over the rims of their teacups - Eden with interest, Lucy with frank hostility.

"You don't look very ill," said Lucy disdainfully.

"Why should I?" asked Eden.

"Your father said you couldn't come to supper because you were ill in bed."

Eden grinned. "Oh, is that what he told you? I wasn't ill, I was out night fishing, and said I wasn't going to come in and meet some stuck-up southern princess."

"I thought you were a sickly invalid," Lucy said with dignity. "I was going to play quiet indoor games with you, and read to you."

"Read to me? I'm not illiterate!" said Eden in a temper. "I can read for myself, even when I am ill in bed. I know French, and Latin, and Greek, as well as all the languages of The Isles."

"I know Latin, and French, and Russian, and Norse, and German, and Castilian," said Lucy smugly. "And I was only going to read to you to spare your weak eyes."

"Weak eyes yourself," retorted Eden. "How old are you, anyway?"

"I was thirteen in December," Lucy informed her.

"I turned fourteen last month," said Eden.

"So we're both fourteen this year," said Lucy. "I wondered why you weren't much taller than me."

"I haven't grown since I was twelve," Eden said. "The people of Westmoreland tend to be small, and you'll overtake me in a year or so. My mother was shorter than I am now, and you've already seen that Father isn't a tall man."

"He's a very nice man, anyway," said Lucy. "I like him a lot."

"Not as much as I do," said Eden jealously.

"Well, obviously," said Lucy with impatience. "That was a nasty trick you played on me at the lake, by the way. I really thought you were going to kidnap me."

"I was just having a game with you," smiled Eden. "Don't you ever play pretend games?"

"It's only a game if both people know it's a game," said Lucy severely, "otherwise it's playing a prank. Didn't anyone ever teach you that?"

"Anyway, you didn't rat on me," said Eden, "so you can't be that much of a muff."

"I thought if I said there was a bandit around, I wouldn't be allowed out to play by the lake any more," admitted Lucy, "and it's so pretty. Like something from a fairy tale."

"Do you like boats?" asked Eden.

"Yes – I've gone on the royal barge right down the Tayo, almost as far as the sea," Lucy said. "It's lovely, you see swans swimming alongside, and once there were porpoises."

"I mean real boats," said Eden. "Boats you have to row and sail yourself."

Lucy shook her head. "I don't know anything about them."

"Then come on, Lucy," said Eden, getting up from the table, and holding out her thin brown hand again. "I've got a lot to teach you. Only, let's stop at the kitchens first, and get a picnic basket, so we won't need to come in for hours and hours."

Notes

"Muff" is dated British slang meaning a fool, or a socially awkward or clueless person.