She went out through the next room, and he heard her pause to wind the music-box and set it playing. “There,” she called back to him, “you’ll have the music to keep you company,” and then she went on down-stairs.
After she had gone Teddy lay fingering the books and not caring to open them, he knew them so well. “Oh dear!” he sighed, “I wish the Counterpane Fairy was here!”
“Oh dear, dear, dear! How steep this hill is!” said a little voice just back of his knees. “Don’t break, me little staff, or down I’ll go, head over heels to the bottom.” Teddy knew the voice well, and his heart gave a leap of pleasure. There was the pointed cap and the withered face of the Counterpane Fairy just appearing above the counterpane hill.
“Oh, Mrs. Fairy, I’m so glad you came, and I have the loveliest square picked out!” cried Teddy. “I hadn’t seen it before, because it was the other side of my knees. It’s that white one with the silver leaves on it, and my mamma says it was a scrap left from her wedding dress.”
“Wait, wait,” said the fairy, “till a body gets her breath. Now which one is it?”
“It’s that one,” said Teddy. “Will you tell me about it?”
“Why, yes,” said the fairy, “if that’s the one you want. Now fix your eyes on it while I count.”
Then the Counterpane Fairy began to count. He heard her voice going on and on and on. “FORTY-NINE!” she cried.
When Teddy looked about him he saw that he was standing in a long hall of white marble veined with silver. There were arches and pillars of silver and all the walls were carved with lilies.