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did not push you into the water.”
    “Yes, you did,” Hugh said.
    “No, I did not.”
    “Yes, you did.”
    “It doesn’t matter now,” Olympia said quickly. “Go upstairs and make yourselves presentable. When you come back down I shall introduce you properly to Mr. Chillhurst.”
    “Ah, Aunt Olympia,” Ethan said in the obnoxious whining tone he had recently perfected. “Don’t be such a killjoy. First tell us who this cove is.”
    Olympia wondered where Ethan had picked up the cant. “I shall explain everything later. It is really quite exciting. But you are both very muddy and you really must go upstairs first. You know how annoyed Mrs. Bird gets when she finds mud on the carpet.”
    “The devil with Mrs. Bird,” Hugh said.
    “Hugh,”
Olympia gasped.
    “Well, she’s always complaining about something, Aunt Olympia. You know that.” He looked at Chillhurst. “Are you a pirate?”
    Chillhurst did not reply. Most likely because there was yet another crashing noise from the hall. Two spaniels bounded into the room. They barked joyously toannounce their arrival and dashed about wildly. Then they rushed across the library to see what the matter was with Minotaur, who was still sitting politely at Chillhurst’s feet.
    “Aunt Olympia? What’s going on? There’s a strange carriage in the drive. Who’s here?” Robert, two years older than the twins, appeared in the doorway. His hair was darker than his brothers’ but his eyes were the same vivid shade of blue. He was not soaking wet but his boots were caked in mud and there was a great deal of dirt on his face and hands.
    He had a large kite tucked under one arm. The long, dirty tail dragged on the floor behind him. Three small fish dangled from a line he was holding in his other hand. He stopped short when he saw Chillhurst. His eyes widened.
    “Hello there,” Robert said. “I say, who are you, sir? Is that your carriage outside?”
    Chillhurst ignored the bouncing spaniels and gazed meditatively at the three expectant youngsters. “I’m Chillhurst,” he said finally. “Your uncle sent me.”
    “Really?” Hugh asked. “How do you come to know Uncle Artemis?”
    “We met recently.” Chillhurst said. “He knew I was traveling to England and he asked me to stop here in Upper Tudway.”
    Robert beamed. “That means he probably sent presents to us. Are they in your carriage?”
    “Uncle Artemis always sends presents,” Hugh explained.
    “That’s right,” Ethan chimed in. “Where are our presents?”
    “Ethan,” Olympia said, “it is extremely impolite to demand one’s gifts from a guest before he has even had a chance to freshen up from his journey.”
    “It’s quite all right, Miss Wingfield,” Chillhurst saidsoftly. He turned to Ethan. “Among other things, your uncle sent me.”
    “You.”
Ethan was thunderstruck. “Why would he send you?”
    “I am to be your new tutor,” Chillhurst said.
    A stunned silence gripped the library. Olympia watched as the expressions on the faces of her three young nephews changed from eager expectation to horror. They stared, aghast, at Chillhurst.
    “Bloody hell,” Hugh breathed.
    “We don’t want another tutor.” Ethan wrinkled his nose. “The last one was a great bore. He was forever droning on in Latin and Greek.”
    “We don’t need a tutor,” Hugh assured Chillhurst. “Ain’t that right, Robert?”
    “Right,” Robert agreed quickly. “Aunt Olympia can teach us whatever we need to know. Tell him we don’t want a tutor, Aunt Olympia.”
    “I do not understand, Mr. Chillhurst.” Olympia stared at the pirate standing in her library. “Surely my uncle would not have hired a tutor for my nephews without first consulting me.”
    Chillhurst turned to her with an odd glittering expression in his silvery gaze. “But that is just what he has done, Miss Wingfield. I hope that does not present a problem. I’ve come all this way on the promise of a position. I trust you will find me