She laughed secretly, and pressed her face against his shoulder. “Oh, you! You were, just the same as you were jealous of Bones.”
“Bones was a dog. How silly you are, Princess.”
“Not silly.” Her voice sounded far away and elfin. “You want me to like only you. You wish he hadn’t come; now don’t you?”
It was Teddy’s turn to laugh. Was it true? He didn’t know. “It is nicer, isn’t it, to be just by our two selves?”
“Heaps nicer,” she whispered. “But, oh, I am hungry. Let’s talk to make me forget.”
“You talk,” he said. “Tell me about your mother. She must be very good to have a little girl like you.”
“My beautiful mother!” She clasped her hands against her throat.
From across misty fields came a low whistle. A stumpy dwarf-like figure crawled through the hedge and darted forward, crouching beneath the twilight and glancing back for an enemy in the most approved penny-dreadful manner. Rabbits, nibbling at the cool wet turf, sat up and stared before they scattered, mistaking him at first for an enlarged edition of themselves.
“My eye,” he panted, “but they’re looking for you.”
“Really or just pretence?” asked Teddy.