TYLTYL

(In dismay.) But ma'am, I didn't know....

THE FAIRY

That will do.... (Recovering her temper as suddenly as she lost it.) By the way, how old are you?

TYLTYL

I shall be sixteen a fortnight after Epiphany.

THE FAIRY

(Growing angry again.) A fortnight after Epiphany!... What a way of reckoning!... And here am I without my almanack, having left it with Destiny last time I called on him, fifty years ago!... I don't know where I stand.... However, never mind: I'll make the calculation when we see him, for we shall have to get it exactly right.... And what have you been doing these seven years since we met?

TYLTYL

I have been working in the forest with daddy.