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it was a useless effort.
    "Stay, boy. Stay," Olympia said without much hope. "Please sit. Please."
    Minotaur yelped, sensing victory. His dirty paws began their inevitable descent toward the front of
    Olympia's clean gown.
    "That's quite enough," Chillhurst said. "I have never liked having unschooled dogs about the place."
    Out of the corner of her eye, Olympia saw him move. He took a single, gliding stride toward Minotaur,
    grabbed the animal's leather collar, and tugged him firmly downward until all four wet paws were once
    more on the floor.
    "Stay," Chillhurst said to the dog. "Sit."
    Minotaur looked up at him with an expression of canine astonishment. For a moment dog and man eyed
    each other. Then, to Olympia's everlasting surprise, Minotaur obediently sat back on his haunches.
    "That was quite amazing," Olympia said. "How on earth did you manage that, Mr. Chillhurst? Minotaur
    never obeys commands."
    "He simply needs a firm hand."
    "Aunt Olympia? Are you in the library?" Ethan came barrelling around the door, his eight-year-old face
    alight with excitement. His sandy brown hair was plastered to his head. His clothes were as wet and
    muddy as Minotaur's fur. "There's a strange carriage in the drive. It's ever so big and it looks like it's
    packed with trunks. Has Uncle Artemis come to visit again?"
    "No." Olympia frowned at his dripping attire and started to ask why he had gone swimming in his
    clothes.
    Before she could speak, Ethan's twin, Hugh, charged into the room. He was as covered in mud as his
    brother. In addition, his shirt was torn.
    "I say, Aunt Olympia, have we got visitors?" Hugh asked eagerly. His blue eyes gleamed with
    enthusiasm.
    Both boys skidded to a halt as they caught sight of Chillhurst. They stared at him while water and mud
    dripped onto the carpet at their feet.
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    "Who are you?" Hugh asked bluntly.
    "Are you from London?" Ethan asked eagerly. "What have you got packed away in your carriage?"
    "What happened to your eye?" Hugh demanded.
    "Hugh, Ethan, have you both forgotten your manners?" Olympia gave each boy a gently admonishing
    look. "That is no way to greet a guest. Please run along upstairs and change your clothes. You both look
    as though you fell into the stream."
    "Ethan pushed me in, so I pushed him in," Hugh explained briefly. "And then Minotaur jumped into the
    water after us."
    Ethan was immediately outraged. "I 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 to announce 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