Betsy, the youngest, opened her mouth, but Thera forestalled her.
"We are not on Earth," she said firmly, in her soft, mellow voice. "We don't have to follow terrestrial customs, and we shouldn't. There's only one solution that will keep everybody happy—all of us and the man."
"And that is...?" asked Marguerite drily.
"Polygamy, of course. He must belong to us all."
Betsy shuddered but, surprisingly, she nodded.
"That's well and good," agreed Marguerite, "but we have to agree that no one of us will be favored above the others. He has to understand that from the start."
"That's fair," said Alice, pursing her lips. "Yes, that's fair. But I agree with Marguerite: he must be divided equally among the four of us."
Chattering over the details, the hard competitiveness vanished from their tones, the four left the sickroom to prepare supper.
After supper they went back in.