“It is a ridiculous, tumbled-down old barn, isn’t it?” he said. “But every one of us is as nice as we can be. We are perfect Turkish Delights. It’s laughing that does it. Would you like to come down the ladder and see what a jolly, shabby old hole the place is?” “Oh! do take me,” said Lady Patsy. So he helped her down the ladder and took her under the armchair and into Racketty-Packetty House and Meg and Peg and Kilmanskeg and Ridiklis and Gustibus all crowded round her and gave little screams of joy at the sight of her. They were afraid to kiss her at first, even though she was engaged to Peter Piper. She was so pretty and her frock had so much lace on it that they were afraid their old rags might spoil her. But she did not care about her lace and flew at them and kissed and hugged them every one. “I have so wanted to come here,” she said. “It’s so dull at the Castle I had to break my leg just to get a change. The Duchess sits reading near the fire with her gold eye-glasses on her nose and Lady Gwendolen plays haughtily on the harp and Lady Muriel coldly listens to her, and Lady Doris is always laughing mockingly, and Lord Hubert reads the newspaper with a high-bred air, and Lord Francis writes letters to noblemen of his acquaintance, and Lord Rupert glances over his love letters from ladies of title, in an aristocratic manner--until I could _scream_. Just to see you dears dancing about in your rags and tags and laughing and inventing games as if you didn’t mind anything, is such a relief.” [Transcriber’s Note: See picture rupert.jpg] She nearly laughed her little curly head off when they all went round the house with her, and Peter Piper showed her the holes in the carpet and the stuffing coming out of the sofas, and the feathers out of the beds, and the legs tumbling off the chairs. She had never seen anything like it before. “At the Castle, nothing is funny at all,” she said. “And nothing ever sticks out or hangs down or tumbles off. It is so plain and new.” “But I think we ought to tell her, Duke,” Ridiklis said. “We may have our house burned over our heads any day.” She really stopped laughing for a whole minute when she heard that, but she was rather like Peter Piper in disposition and she said almost immediately. “Oh! they’ll never do it. They’ve forgotten you.” And Peter Piper said: “Don’t let’s think of it. Let’s all join hands and dance round and round and kick up our heels and laugh as hard as ever we can.”