âHeâs got that chestnut we saw at the Show last year.â
    âDonât fiddle with the cactus,â said Edwina. âThe leaves break off.â
    Velvet folded her hands in her lap. âSir Pericles,â said Velvet. âHe was called Sir Pericles, that chestnut. Won the noviceâs jumping.â
    âIâll go with the steak,â said Meredith. âIâd love to. Iâll go just as early as I wake, Iâll creep out and get MissAda. Mother could leave the steak on the table overnight.â
    âWhy couldnât we take it this evening?â
    âThen they think itâs to-dayâs meat.â
    âBut it will be, anyway!â
    âYes, but they think itâs fresher if it comes tomorrow.â
    âThere!â Mally took her muslin dress and held it up by the puff sleeves.
    It was stiff and fresh with ironing and almost stood by itself.
    âItâs like a paper bag,â said Velvet. âSeems a pity to wear it. Dâyou want to start, Edwina, or shall I start mine?â
    âIâm only wearing the top of mine. Iâve cut it off.â
    âGosh! You
have?
Youâve been anâ cut it?â
    All the three heads were raised towards Edwina as she took this step into the future. They contemplated her for a second, then accepted her. Velvet got up and began to unroll her frock and lay it out.
    âAy . . . Merry. Look out! Whatâs that . . . itâs blood!â
    Meredith shot one hand to her face. âItâs my nose,â she cried from under her hand.
    âItâs dropped on the muslin. Get me a rag!â
    âHereâs the ironing duster! Hold your head off the dresses! Lie down on the cold scullery floor. Itâs brick.â
    Donald appeared in the doorway from the street andwatched Meredith as she ran into the scullery holding the duster to her face.
    âShe hurt herself?â he asked.
    âHer nose is bleeding,â said Velvet.
    âI laugh when my nose bleeds,â said Donald.
    âYour nose hasnât ever bled,â said Velvet briefly.
    âI would laugh if it did,â said Donald, and went.
    âMerry marked her muslin?â said Mrs. Brown, coming in from the scullery.
    âGreat drop,â said Mally.
    âPut it under cold water,â said Mrs. Brown. âNot a touch of soap anâ no hot. It sets it. Itâs Africaâs made her nose bleed.â
    âIâll go with the steak to-morrow then,â said Velvet. âThereâs the Fair anâ all. She better keep still.â
    âWhat steakâs that?â
    âFather said Mr. Cellini wanted a steak before breakfast.â
    âFunny time,â said Mrs. Brown.
    âIâd like to go anyway,â said Velvet. âI might see the chestnut.â
    That night, before the Fair, they went to bed early.
    âAfrica!â said Meredith, wildly and suddenly in the middle of the night. And slept again.
CHAPTER V
V ELVETâS dreams were blowing about the bed. They were made of cloud but had the shapes of horses. Sometimes she dreamt of bits as women dream of jewellery. Snaffles and straights and pelhams and twisted pelhams were hanging, jointed and still in the shadows of a stable, and above them went up the straight, damp, oiled lines of leathers and cheek straps. The weight of a shining bit and the delicacy of the leathery above it was