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which was true enough, George; but my chief reason was that I hoped Emlyn would show me an easier route to the attic.
    As he did. At the back of the butler's pantry was a door to which I had never given the least attention. Emlyn opened it to reveal a helical staircase I had not known existed. He and Winkle went up the steep steps much faster than I--which gave me an opportunity to open a door on the second floor.
    The room beyond was large and dirty. A four-poster stood somewhere near the middle; it was surrounded by other furniture, whichappeared to be paying homage at a polite distance: chairs too many to count, small tables, chests, and wardrobes. A dead animal on the floor appeared to be a rabbit; another, sprawled over a chest, was clearly a large fox.
    "That's Ieuan's bedroom," the boy called. "I wouldn't go in there."
    I rejoined him in the attic, where he had stopped to wait for me.
    "Ieuan doesn't leave that door unlocked often. When it is, it's usually because he's hoping to catch something. You, for example."
    "I'll remember that."
    "You'd better. You're an intruder in my father's house, after all. If Ieuan were to slash your throat, nobody could breathe a word against him."
    (You always ridicule me for failing to get to the point, George, and I am about to hand you a capital opportunity; but I feel that this should be said, and I have no better place to say it. Ieuan--it is pronounced "
yai
-yan"--never seemed to me a particularly euphonious name; but it sounded positively sinister in that attic.)
    I said I hoped he would not and asked what had become of Winkle.
    "Oh, he went off that way." The boy waved vaguely. "He'll yell if he finds something, I'm sure."
    "We had better go after him," I said.
    "Good idea. Lead the way."
    "I should introduce myself." I offered my hand. "I'm George Dunn."
    (You will pardon the liberty, George, I feel certain. You will doubtless recall that we often did the same thing in school.)
    "My name's Emlyn."
    "It's a pleasure to meet you, Emlyn." I raised my voice. "Winkle! Come here, Winkle!"
    The boy stepped back and put his fingers in his ears. "Must you? You'll deafen me."
    "Hurry!"
    The boy turned and bolted down the stairs with Winkle in hot pursuit. I believe she sank her teeth into his calf once at least.
    "What's all this?" It was Emlyn.
    "Your brother was waiting for me at the top of the steps," I explained. "He pretended to be you, though I fear he has no future as a thespian."
    "Really?"
    I nodded. "Yes, really."
    Winkle favored me with a smile more attractive than I would have supposed any fox could manage. "Tho withe!"
    "No, not really. Emlyn has the triannulus. Ieuan did not. He could have put it down somewhere, of course, but that started me wondering, and there were other things.
    "What were they?" Emlyn asked.
    "He gave his name an ugly sort of emphasis I've never heard you use, for one thing. It sounded like a curse."
    Slowly, Emlyn nodded. "I don't imagine Ieuan likes himself much."
    "His shirt was a bit soiled, too. Yours looks as if you put it on fresh this morning. His looked as though he had worn it yesterday. I decided to test him, and said my name was George Dunn."
    "Your brother's name?"
    "Correct. He accepted that without a qualm, although you knew my name and had used it. At that point, I felt quite sure. I called for Winkle, fearing that he had done something to her."
    "He must have slipped in behind us on the stairs. You didn't hear him?"
    I shook my head. "I neglected to say that his face showed fading bruises. They were hard to see in this light, but they were there. Also, he assumed that Winkle was male, calling her 'he.' I noticed that, too. Why did he run when she appeared? Do you know?"
    "He knew she was female," Emlyn said. "He just didn't want you to know it. He ran because she'd have denounced him, of course."
    "I wouldn't have fought him, only asked why he broke my window."
    Emlyn sighed. "You don't understand him. He tried to deceive you and