Aaron Thatcher set his pen down and sighed.  "Nah, this will do.  It don't have
to be perfect.  At least I'm finished with this confounded translation of
Cicero."  He knew that he was a mediocre student at Harvard University; it didn't
matter much.  He spent more time on the atheletic field and in various societies
than at his desk.  Class attendance was optional for the most part, as long as he
finished his papers and made adequate grades.  He was the ideal C student.

As a Harvard Man, Aaron's future was assured.  It was 1955, the economy was
flourishing, the world was at peace for the moment, the United States dominated
the world economically and militarily -- well, there was the USSR and its
military and ideological goal of world dominance, but that was all the more
opportunity.

This was his last assignment before Easter Vacation.  He was leaving the very
next day with his friend and roommate William to visit his roommate's family in
Arcadia, an obscure place in southwestern Vermont.  His trunk was all packed and
ready for the vacation.

The next morning, he sat on his trunk with William just outside the gate to
Harvard Yard.  William had a trunk, too, a smaller one.  They waited for the
limoseone to Logan Airport.  William had reserved the limo several days ago, and
it arrived precisely on schedule.  The chauffeur opened the door and stepped out
from the driver's seat.  He tipped his hat, "Good morning, gentlemen."

The chauffeur opened the trunk and helped Aaron and William slide their trunks
inside.  They got in the back seat, and off they went to Logan Airport.  This was
a limosene, so it did not go the rapid clip that cabs went.  Nevertheless, they
made it to Logan [Boston International?] Airport in good time.

Aaron sat next to the window on the small propeller plane, and William sat next
to the isle.  He watched as the propellor turned around once, twice, thrice,
before spinning up into a roar.  He remembered when he was a young kid, during
World War II, a man standing up on a ladder, reaching up, and yanking the
propellor blade down, to start the aircraft.  He'd always imagined witht terror
the man getting caught up in the propellor as it turned on.  Did that ever
happen?  In any case, he was now relieved that airplain engines started
themselves up automatically.

The airplane zoomed down the runway and took off.  Aaron and William spent the
flight talking, and before they knew it, the plane was landing on a small
airfield.

William and Aaron stepped down the stairs of the plane.  William's parents were
waiting at the bottome of the stairs for them, and greeted them enthusiastically.
 William hugged his mother and father, before turning to Aaron.  "This is my
friend and roommate, Aaron Thatcher.  Aaron, I would like you to meet my
parents."

Aaron shook their hands and said, "I am pleased to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Bluth."

"All my pleasure, I'm sure," replied Mrs. Bluth.

Two airport men helped stow the trunks in the Bluths' huge car, and off they
went.  The Bluths had a chauffeur, so Mr. and Mrs. Bluth talked with Aaron and
William about life, the universe, and everything.  Aaron looked out at the
landscape as the car drove along a narrow windy road toward the Bluth estate.  He
opened the window.  The air was sweet and fresh, he thought, the woods clear and
peaceful, interspersed with brilliant green wide-open meadows.  The sky was bluer
and brighter than he'd ever seen before.  In the distance to the north, Aaron
could see on the horizon green mountains, a few with rock tips where the
mountains went above the tree line.

The scene was so pastoral, it reminded him of Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony. 
Perhaps this was the Green Meadow of the old Burgeous stories he'd read as a
youth, with Peter Rabbit, Jimmy Skunk, Johnny Chuck, and Reddy Fox.  What a place
to live, he thought.  It would be wonderful to get away from the hustle and
bustle of modern New York City and and the learned environment of Cambridge,
Massachusetts.

A small river or large brook wound its way through the meadow, in and out of the
woods at the edge.  At one point, they drove over a bridge crossing the river. 
The road led through a small village.  About five miles beyond, they entered
through a gate and drove up and stopped in front of a large Manor.  Two servants
emerged from the house and brought their trunks inside.  "Dinner is in two hours.
 William, you go and show Aaron around."

William first showed Aaron to his guest suite, just across the hall from his own
room.  Aaron's trunk was already in the room.  A bathroom, with running water,
was off his room.  Aaron was thankful for the modern facilities inside this
ancient mansion -- castle, almost.  It would be taking things just a bit too far
if there were no running water, electric lights, or other modern utilities.

At dinner, the family sat at one end of a long table.  Mrs. Bluth commented, "It
is so nice to have young faces around again.  It gets so lonely here, with only
servants around.  Why it almost seems like yesterday, when William and Adele were
just little ones, running around and getting into everything.  Now, Adele is off
and married, and William is off at Harvard University."  She turned to Aaron, and
asked. "Your father, he is Chairman and CEO of Monstro Holdings now, is he not?"
Aaron nodded. "Such a lofty position.  He must be extraordinarily busy."  Aaron's
father indeed had attained the highest corporate position he could.  The Board
had elected his father Chairman four years ago, upon the death of the former
Chairman, his grandfather. Aaron knew, of course, that was why Harvard had
accepted him despite his lackluster performance in Prep School.

After a wonderful dinner and a relaxing evening, Aaron slept wonderfully that
night.  The next morning, Mrs. Bluth was outside in the impeccably manicured
lawn, playing croquet.  William wasn't up yet, and Mr. Bluth had apparently
departed for New York City for the day.  "Do you play croquet?"  Mrs. Bluth
asked.

[Potential Sex Scene]

"Ma'am, I played sometimes as a young boy."  Aaron won the first two rounds.  The
third game, he deliberately missed one of the balls and let Mrs. Bluth win.

******** Purely First Draft Beyond Here *************

That afternoon, they all went to a horserace.  Before the race started, they
stood around socializing with other noble families. Aaron was introduced to many
noble families, and met a number of young ladies.  It seemed like some of the
families were deliberately directing his attentions toward their young daughters
--- eightteen years old, sixteen, even as young as thirteen.  He flirted with
them all, and left them giggling.

[DESCRIBE AN INTERACTION HERE]

The horserace was exciting, as it always was, but nothing new.  Some people were
betting on the horses, but he never did.  He could never figure out who was more
likely to win; he never understood the odds. In fact, he was never good at math,
any more than at any other academics.

That night, he went out for a walk in the meadow.  The moonlit meadow was as
gorgeous at night as it was in the day, but in a different sort of way.  The sky
was clear, the stars oh so bright, and there were oh so many of them up there. 
That white trail across the sky, going north-south --- so THAT must be the Milky
Way!  He knew about it from his readings, of course, but he had never seen it
himself.  In London where he grew up, the gaslights and the heavy smoky fog kept
him from seeing it.

He walked through the meadow, back and forth.  Funny, he thought, how the
moonbeams seemed to flicker and jump around him.  Almost, he thought, like a
young human form out of the corner of his eyes. Whenever he turned to look, it
always vanished.

Aaron returned to the Manor and retired for the night.

The next day, William and he went on a picnic.  They lugged heavy backpacks of
sandwiches and drink and other edibles into the woods. As they walked along the
trail, Aaron thought he saw someone behind a tree out the corner of his eye.  He
turned and looked, but saw nothing.  Forgetting it, he continued talking with
William.

Then he saw it again, out the corner of his eye.  It was very definitely a human
form, a young lady in white flowing garments.  It vanished as soon as he turned
his eye toward it.  Just a random vision, he thought.  It reminded him of the
effect of the moonlight last night.

William led him to a clearing.  They spread out a cloth, sat down, and passed out
the sandwiches.  Aaron was hungry after the walk.  He was in good shape from
college athletics, yet he had a good appetite.

The image came again.  And vanished again.  Definitely, next to a tree, he
thought.  This time bright shimmering green gown.  Long flowing black hair.  What
was going on?!?  William was saying something, Aaron wasn't following.  He asked,
"Did you see something?"

"Eh?  What do you mean?" replied William.

"I just thought I saw someone over there..."

"Nobody's out here.  Just you and me."

"But I'm sure I saw...  And a couple times earlier this morning---" just then
another flash, this time the opposite side, just out the corner of his eye. 
"There, I saw it again!"

"Just your imagination working overtime," replied William.  But then he continued
thoughtfully, "There have been rumors, stories...  People encountering things
like, well," he hesitated, then ejected it out with a contortion of his face,
"Fairies.  Poppycock."

Aaron agreed.  This was nineteenth century Great Britain, at the height of
British power and rationality.  Aaron had nothing to do with fairy tales; they
were girlish, only suitable for little girls. Daintiness, yechhh!  He recalled
thinking exactly that in his childhood days, when a girl wanted to play with him
once.

They finished eating, packed up, and returned to the Manor.

Suddenly, there it was again, a vision out the corner of his eye, this time, he
was sure.  A young naked girl, leaning against a tree, facing him.  He shook his
head, blushing, and the vision vanished.  Was it his imagination?  Or did he hear
a high-pitched giggling?  It echoed in his mind.

"You okay?" asked William.  "You're... blushing."

"No, just my imagination," answered Aaron, burning in embarrassment. What was his
mind doing to him?

That evening, after everyone went to bed, he went out for another midnight
stroll.  Just like last night, the sky was starry-bright and clear.  The moon
bright in the sky, moonlight shimmering, moonbeams dancing all around him.  The
light collesced into a moving, flitting form, dancing around all over the place. 
He could see it clearly now, the naked form of a young girl, about 15 or 16 years
old.  She flitted back and forth, side to side, long black hair flowing about
her.  He stared, blushing horribly in embarrassment, as she danced around.  He
could almost imagine her singing and giggling.

She flitted toward him, reached out and touched him on the forehead. "You like?" 
He blushed and fell backwards, into a muddy spot in the meadow.  He blinked and
looked up, but she was nowhere to be seen, but her giggle echoed through his
mind.

He stood up and looked down around his clothes.  How was he ever going to explain
this?  He told himself that he didn't have to explain anything; he could just
give his clothes to the servants to wash.  He walked home.

He went out again the next night, but nothing happened.  And the following night
as well, nothing happened.

But two days before he was due to return to Oxford, he wandered into the meadow
by himself.  He walked around, aimlessly, at the edge of the meadow, near the
first trees of the forest.  Then --- he saw her, leaning against a tree!  He
looked straight at her.  She was still there; she didn't vanish as soon as he
turned.  She was wearing bright green shimmering, translucent garments.  Her
pitch-black hair extended down to her waist.  Her skin was milky white, with just
a hint of yellow.  She wore soft green slippers on her feet.  He could just
barely make out the shape of her body through the layers of her garments.

He stared for a moment, then realized he was staring.  "Good Day, Milady."

The girl giggled and answered, "Good Day, Sir!"

Aaron tried his best to maintain his dignity.  "It's a lovely day out here, is it
not?"

"Yes, it's brilliant.  Even the fairies are attracted to this locale," replied
the girl.  She shook her head and her long black hair floated up in waves.

"Not at all like where I live.  Very different."

"Where do you come from?"

"My family's ancestral lands are in Cornwall, but I grew up in London. My father
was a judge in the Courts of Chancery and a member of the House of Peers.  Two
years ago, the Queen appointed him Lord Chancellor."  The girl listened avidly,
and he continued, "When I finish my studies at Oxford, I shall become a London
Barrister. Eventually, after a few years, if everything goes as planned, I shall
enter the Courts of Chancery myself, and follow in my Father's footsteps.  In
approximately twenty years, I shall enter the House of Peers in my own right."

"So, everything has been carefully planned and laid out," commented the girl.

"Precisely.  Everything in life must be precisely and impeccably scheduled."

"And nothing can happen which might upset those plans?"

Aaron paused, perplexed.  That idea had never occured to him. Certainly, no girl
he had ever flirted with at an afternoon Tea, or in one of the numerous Balls
they held at Oxford (where young ladies came from their seminaries, properly
escorted of course, to meet proper young noble men) had ever expressed any kind
of doubts.  He was nobleman, an Oxford Scholar, with an important Father, the
world at his feet.

But he finally regained his composure.  "No, nothing will change that. It's
utterly inconceivable."  He thought a moment.  "No, not even the Napoleonic wars
with France changed things.  The current problems we have in China won't change
anything."  He thought back earlier, "Well, I shall have to admit, some heads did
roll with the fiasco of the American Colonies.  But that was more than half a
century ago." he leaned toward her and whispered, "I was never supposed to hear
this, but I did overhear people talking.  King George at the time may have been,"
he paused and looked about.  "Insane."

The girl giggled and danced aside, her hair flying up in the breeze. He
suppressed a laugh.  "Milady, I assure you that is nothing to be amused about. 
It's a most serious thing when a reigning monarch of the British Empire becomes
insane -- highly irregular.  It cost us most of the American Colonies!"  The girl
laughed even more.  What was the matter with girls?  Couldn't they take anything
seriously?  He fumed.

The girl stopped and turned to him.  "Oh, I've perturbed you -- caused you
offense.  Ettiquette has never been my strong point.  We always flit about and
giggle at anything and everything.  It's difficult to take anything seriously
when ---" she stopped suddenly.

"When?" Aaron prompted.

"Oh, nevermind," she danced away giggled once more.  Aaron, forgetting himself
and his dignity, ran after her.  At Oxford, he ran track, rowed crew, and played
on the soccer team.  He could run devilishly fast, but not in the formal
day-to-day suit he was wearing.

He followed her into the woods, but immediately lost her.  After looking about
for a few minutes, he was about to give up and return to the Manor when a voice
called out, "Hey there!"  He saw her peering from behind a tree.  As he turned
toward her, she disappeared behind the tree.  She was no longer there when he
reached the tree.  But a voice came out again from another direction, "Hello!" 
Turning, he glimpsed her before she disappeared again into the trees.  He ran
toward where he saw her, but again she had gone.

He heard her giggle again.  This time, from way up above.  He looked up, and
there she was, directly above him on a tree branch 15 feet up, balanced on one
foot on the branch, her other leg pointing straight back.  His eyes focused on
her bare legs, and followed them up under her dress...  He flushed and turned his
head down.  No proper Lady would ever let a man see her legs or ankles.  Only an
actress or a lowlife would do anything like that.

Embarrassed and angry at himself for losing his dignity, he turned and left the
woods.  He returned to the Manor, and spent the rest of the day with William and
his family.  After awhile, he felt guilty about abandongin the girl in the woods.
 Who was she anyway?

The evening before he had to return to school, a ball was held in a neighboring
House.  An invitation arrived that very day, specifically addressed to Aaron
Thatcher.

[Describe an interaction here.  Read Celeste's comments.]

At the dance, every mother seemed to be urging him to dance with and talk to her
young daughter.  He danced with many; most of them girls over 16, but a couple
were as young as 12.  Once mother even urged him to take her 13-year-old daughter
out for a walk in the gardens.  What was going through the mother's mind, he
wondered?

After finishing one Waltz and releasing the girl to her mother, he walked around
for some refreshments.  Someone tapped his shoulder. Great, he thought.  Another
mother wanting to get him for her daughter.  But he turned and looked, it was a
young lady by herself. Where was her escort?  At a second look, he realized it
was that girl! What was she doing here?  She was dressed like the other girls
here, in a formal gown.

Wordlessly, she pulled him onto the dance floor.  They were starting another slow
dance.  As they danced, she said in a surprisingly serious tone, "I apologize for
teasing you and driving you off like that this afternoon."  Aaron mumbled
something, he wasn't sure what. In the dance, they naturally drifted toward the
large doors to the garden.

As the dance music stopped, the girl quietly led him outside.  Aaron barely
noticed exclamations behind him, "Who was that girl?  Ever seen her before?" 
They passed other couples standing and talking.  In some of the more hidden
recesses of the garden and surrounding places, couples were doing a bit more than
talking.  Music floated down arround them, most likely from the windows above,
Aaron thought.

They walked hand-in-hand through the garden, by the statues, and out around the
stone wall.  Oops, two people were there.  What was that girl DOING, laying down
like that, dress pulled partially up, letting a GUY stick his hand up her dress
between her legs like that?!?  How old was that girl, anyway?  Thirteen, perhaps?

They continued walking, the girl leading him, until they found a reasonably
private place.  The girl turned and faced him, reached up and put her hands
around his shoulders.  Slowly, he put his hands about her waist.

"So you're leaving tomorrow," she said.

"Yes, I go back to Oxford.  This really is only a short spring vacation."

"I will miss you."  She reached up and kissed him on the cheek.  He jumped,
startled, pulling away.  She looked sad, disappointed. "You're not offended, are
you?" she asked.

"No, uh.  No.  Not at all."  Gathering courage, he pulled back to her, leaned
down, and kissed her on the lips.  Gently at first, but then with growing
eagerness and excitement.  They pressed tightly against each other.

Then, they reluctantly pulled apart, gradually. They couldn't break contact
completely, so they pulled apart until their hands were on each other's
shoulders.  Then pulled apart further, sliding their hands down the other's arms,
until their fingers clasped each other.

Then they came together again.  They stayed like that for some time, then were
interrupted by a servant who informed them that the party was over now and
William and the Bluths were waiting for him.  The servant then left discreetly.

"Well, I guess it's goodbye now," he said.

"Yes...  Goodbye," replied the girl.  "Oh, I forgot.  I don't know your name."

"The name's Thatcher.  Aaron Thatcher.  And may I ask what your name may be?"

"Iolanthe," replied the girl.

"I-o-LAN-thee," echoed Aaron.  "Iolanthe...  Good-bye, Iolanthe." They separated
and the girl vanished into the dark.  Aaron returned to the remnants of the
party.

***********************************************************

Back at school, Aaron tried to concentrate on schoolwork, without success.  That
name, "Iolanthe", persistently echoed through his mind. That face was seared in
his vision.  The memories of how she hed appeared to him on numerous occasions,
kept replaying themselves through the day, through the night.  That view of her
at night; had that been a dream, or what?  He often found himself spontaneously
blushing at the memory.  Several nights, he dreamed all sorts of strange,
embarrassing dreams.  He woke up with slimy stains in his bedclothes, down at the
top of his legs.  How disgusting!  His roommate had to know, surely, he thought
with unbearable embarrassment.

The days were all so empty and listless.  He couldn't get anything done.  He
tried attending a couple formal parties on weekends, but they didn't help. 
Nothing did.

His advisor scolded him once, saying he was unable to believe how shiftless he
had become.  He was bad enough before, but now he wasn't doing {\em anything!!!} 
At least before, he managed to do half-way decent on his work.  But now...

Aaron froze up, embarrassed.  He couldn't say anything.  He resolved to improve,
but he slipped right back.

Finally, just before the end of the semester, on a spontaneous impulse, he packed
his trunk, drew out a certain amount of money from his account, called a Hansom
and took the train back to Arcadia.  A Hansom took him from the train station
there to the village in Arcadia.  He checked into the Inn.  He didn't really
think he should visit William's family this time.

He couldn't get to sleep that night.  The idea of actually encountering the girl,
Iolanthe, filled him with shivering excitement and dread.  He felt like he was
about to plunge into something deliciously forbidden.

Finally, unable to sleep, he went out for a walk in the night. Leaving the
village, he followed the road into the meadow, and walked along one of the
numerous trails.  As before, the moonlight and starlight were bright, almost
blinding.  For awhile, nothing happened. He continued walking along the trail.

He saw something out the corner of his eye, off to his right.  He looked, but saw
nothing.  He continued walking, heading toward the woods.  Another vision
appeared out the corner of his eye to his left, but again he saw nothing.  Then,
at the edge of the woods, he thought he saw a human form leaning against a tree. 
He approached, and squinted, looking as closely as possible.  Yes, it was that
girl.  She was wearing thin whispy white garments.

"Iolan--" he began, then, remembering his dignity, cleared his throat and
restarted.  "Good Day, Milady.  I trust you are in the enjoyment of good health."

Iolanthe burst out laughing.  Aaron, mortified momentarily, shortly joined in. 
They laughed for a few minutes.  The tension was relieved. Iolanthe jumped up and
embraced him, kissing him on the cheek.  He embraced her tightly.  Her long black
hair engulfed them both.

"I wondered if I would ever see you again!" exclaimed Aaron, after they
separated.

They walked together through the meadow, hand in hand, talking.  They headed in
the direction of the village.  Aaron mentioned that he was staying in the village
inn, and asked Iolanthe where she lived. Iolanthe answered cryptically, "Oh,
pretty much anywhere."  Aaron wondered at that, but suddenly realized how sleepy
he was.  They parted near the village entrance.  Before parting, Aaron asked if
he'd see her the next day.  Iolanthe answered, "Of course."

Back in bed at the Inn, Aaron lay in bed face down.  He shivered in excitement,
and imagined himself with Iolanthe doing all sorts of interesting things.  He saw
the shape of her body in his mind, and unconsciously thrust himself forward and
back on the bed.  He continued until something exploded in his mind, and
something else simultaneously squirted out down below.  He promptly fell asleep.

He woke up late the next morning, and noted with disgust the slimy gunky
bedclothes sticking to him.  Blast, he thought to himself.  He had done it again!
 He had better clean that up himself, before the servants arrived.  They would
know he had been very naughty that night.  He was also disgusted with himself for
imagining such degrading images of such a virtuous damsel as Iolanthe.

He had a soothing bath, then got dressed and went out.  Upon exiting the Inn and
closing the door behind him, he jumped as a voice giggled and called, "Aaron!" 
He turned; t'was She, right off to the side. She ran up to him and took his
hands.

"Iolanthe!  You weren't there waiting for me all this time, were you?"

Iolanthe said nothing.  She led him out of the village, through the meadow, and
toward the woods.  Aaron wondered what she was up to.  He looked around, and
froze as she put her arms around him from the rear, and kissed the back of his
neck.  She pulled herself up on him, put her legs around him, riding him piggy
back.  To his surprise, she felt virtually weightless --- light as a feather,
literally.  What was she, really?  That question came to his mind, not for the
first time.

She felt soft and smooth against his back.  He reached back and lifted her up
onto his shoulders.  He ran around, pretending to kick a football around the
meadow, feeling as excited playful as a young child.  Iolanthe rode for awhile,
humming to herself and laughing. Then she jumped up, and stood on his shoulders. 
Aaron stopped and stood still, thinking Iolanthe might fall, but her footing was
perfect.  He looked to the side at her bare feet, her bare ankles, followed her
bare legs up, blushing...  Where did all her clothes go?

"Iolanthe..." he started.  She jumped down and stood facing him, naked.

"What's wrong?  Don't you like me?" asked Iolanthe lightly.

"Yes, but--" she kissed his lips, and ran her hands down his front, back, and
sides.  He felt his clothes spontaneously loosening, then disappearing
altogether.  He felt her hand softly slide down him, then cup and hold him
between his legs.  He jumped back.  "Hey!  This isn't right!"

"You like it, I can tell," answered Iolanthe.

"But it's still not right."  He looked at her, his eyes drawn down between her
legs.  To his surprise, he saw she wasn't built like himself or other guys he
knew.  There was no hair at all down between her legs, and also that thing down
between his own legs that frequently caused him embarrassment was completely
absent on her. Just a slit separating a couple of smooth folds, going down
between her legs.  How strange! he wondered.

He reached out to touch it, but pulled back.  Never touch himself or anyone
there, he was told as a kid.  It was self-abuse to do it to himself, and far
worse to do it to another.  But she took his hand and led it to her.  "We
shouldn't...  We're not even married," he complained.  He had heard something
like that before.  Not that he knew what it meant to be married.  He wondered
about it.

Iolanthe asked, "Do you want to marry me?"

Aaron had not thought of it before, but he realized he did want to stay with
Iolanthe, live with her forever.  "Yes," he answered.

"Okay, we're married now."

"Bu-bu-bu-but, the ceremony!  The wedding!  The marriage license! Don't we have
to do that?"  He thought of all the weddings he attended while growing up. 
Aunts', cousins', his father's fellow nobles.  So many weddings, he'd sat
through.

"Oh, I'd forgotten," said Iolanthe.  "We fairies don't do all that. When we agree
to marry, we marry.  Just like that.  Not like the ceremonies of you mortals."

"Oh, you're a fairy?"

"Yes," she answered simply.  "I was meaning to tell you.  But I kept putting it
off.  But I see you're not really surprised."

"No.  I suspected something of the sort."

They walked around, holding hands.  She told him about her fairy life and family,
how they did little other than dance around and sing. Sometimes, they helped with
storms and other weather phenomena, but usually it was all play.  Downright
boring.

Aaron forgot his and Iolanthe's nakedness.  They talked the rest of the day.  By
the end, Iolanthe agreed to have a mortal wedding.

As they walked back toward the road leading to the city, Iolanthe said, "I almost
forgot."  She waved her hands, and they were instantly clothed again, the same
clothes they had worn earlier.

Aaron couldn't wait to get back to the Inn and send out letters announcing the
engagement, and preparing for the wedding.  He imagined it would be a fancy
wedding, Iolanthe wearing a long bright white wedding gown.  Back in his room he
got out his trusty quill and ink bottle, and started writing letters.  He first
wrote to William back at Oxford.  Then he wrote his father in London and his
family.  Then a few other boyhood friends.

He rushed to arrange other things, the wedding date, the church and the local
deacon, and so forth.  The wedding would be held here in the village.

The first reply was from his father, and came by express courier only a few days
later.  The letter warned him not to throw his life away, and told him to get
back to Oxford immediately.  If he married that girl, whoever she was, his father
would disown him.  He must wait until later, after he established himself in his
work, before marriage.  And then, he must marry only the most proper person, one
suited to his station in life.  Not some little nobody.

A letter from William next came.  William also expressed surprise and
disappointment.  Why had Aaron left school?  Everyone was wondering about him.

Nobody else replied.

The wedding was therefore a much smaller event than he had anticipated.  A few
guests from the village came.  To his surprise, with no prior warning, William
and his mother came to the wedding. Nevertheless, it was a most lovely ceremony. 
Aaron wore a brand-new black tuxedo, and Iolanthe was dressed up all in white,
just as he imagined her.

He talked briefly with William and William's mother after the wedding. They both
expressed concern, but wished him happiness.

Aaron and Iolanthe spent the wedding night and several days following at the Inn.
 Aaron discovered a whole new range of experiences, some he had never dreamed of,
others he had only dreamed of to his embarrassment and shame once he woke up. 
Iolanthe taught him that there was nothing degrading about those feelings.

Aaron received another letter, this time from his father's attorney. It confirmed
that he was disowned now, and no longer a member of his father's family.  Aaron
was past caring.  He had a new family now.

He bought a small plot of land just outside the village, and had builders build a
house.  That took up most of the remainder of Aaron's money, so he had to get a
job.  He worked as a clerk for the village. Iolanthe planted a garden.

Life was pure paradise for Aaron and Iolanthe the months following the wedding.

***********************************************************

Life continued for Aaron and Iolanthe.  Aaron worked daily as a village clerk. 
Iolanthe had her garden, and did whatever she did during the day.  Often, she
dropped in on Aaron at work.  Work was rather leisurely for Aaron; this being a
village, he did not have much to do.  But he had to be there.

The rest of the day they spent together at home, often in bed, often out of bed
exploring new and interesting things to do.  When they weren't together, Iolanthe
was always within hearing range, and came whenever he called.  They shared the
same bed at night --- something his parents never did.  Although sometimes he
woke up at night or in the morning and she wasn't in his bed.  However, she
always appeared when he called.

Until one day, she disappeared.  They had been together four months. Aaron
returned home from work to find her gone.  That in itself wasn't suspicious.  She
didn't respond to his call announcing he was home. That was suspicious.  No, that
was very unusual; unprecedented in fact.  What was up?  He called out for her,
but there was no response. He didn't stop to change clothes, but went out into
the meadow looking for her, calling out her name.  No response.

He went to bed alone, for the first time in four months.  He tossed and turned,
unable to get to sleep.  Got up, took a drink of wine, went back to bed, tossed
and turned, got up, took another drink of wine, went back to bed, tossed and
turned, got up, finished the bottle down, went back to bed, tossed and turned,
got up, reached the toilet just in time, vomited up all the wine he'd drunk as
well as everything else in his stomach, went back to bed, tossed and turned, etc.
 He did not get a wink of sleep that night.

Before the sun rose, he ran out and tried to find Iolanthe again.  No luck.  What
was the matter?  Had something happened to her?  Could she have been hurt in the
meadow?  In the forest?

He reported to work that day, and told everyone that Iolanthe had disappeared. 
He took the day off, to try to find her.  He first went to William's Manor, and
asked his family.  They didn't know anything. Taking the next few days off, he
tried every house in the village, then every other house within ten miles.  No
luck whatsoever.

As he looked farther and farther afield with no luck, he became more and more
desparate.  While actively looking, he managed to keep his sanity intact and the
horror and uncertainty blocked away.  At night, after the first couple of days,
the horror of possible death washed over him.  He cried bitterly to sleep.  He
screamed and shouted for God, against him, begging him, pleading, vicious
denunciations --- all unavailing.  She was gone.

His employer finally told him to face the facts.  She was dead or gone; he could
do nothing about it now.  The bitter, angry emotions, eventually settled into an
empty numbness.  He felt perpetually drugged.

Two months after Iolanthe's disappearance, Aaron packed everything into his
trunk.  Iolanthe's wedding gown, slippers, gloves, wilted flowers, and other
items from the wedding --- all that remained of Iolanthe --- were packed into the
bottom of the trunk before everything else.  He sold the house and plot, and
mounted a cab, determined to return to London and face his Father.

***********************************************************

Part II

Iolanthe silently watched the cab as the horses drew it over the bridge across
the creek off through the woods.  She was bound to the creek, limited to
underneath and just beside the bridge.  The air had been full of Aaron's cries,
his unending searches, his desparate weaping.  She'd wept, herself.  She wished
there were some way she could have called out to him, or otherwise let him know. 
But it was impossible; the binding did not allow it.  It would be her death if
she could.  She watched as the Hansom disappeared into the woods, then coughed
and blew a runny nose before diving to the bottom of the creek.  There was
nothing left for her up there, she thought bitterly to herself.  She should have
just taken the execution and gotten it over with.

She had never meant it to go this far.  It was death for a fairy to marry a
mortal; a capital crime.  She'd been totally bored with the life of three
centuries, singing, tripping, dancing all around with her fairy band.  The fairy
band had visited Arcadia to play around and have fun, sometimes teasing the
locals and gossiping about them. Fleta, another fairy, had pointed out that guy,
saying how cute he was.

Yes, Iolanthe thought; he definitely was cute.  Unbelievably so, especially for a
mortal.  He was a young nobleman, pompous and vain, but engagingly so.  She only
intended to have a little fun with him.

She occasionally flashed herself to him, in various guises.  She didn't let the
other young man, or that man's family see her; just the new boy.  She giggled at
his reaction whenever he glimpsed her, and sometimes let him hear her.  She could
always make him drop his pompous exterior.

When he came out at night, she knew she had him hooked.  Once, she appeared naked
to him.  She knew just how young mortal men reacted to the young naked female
form; she looked just like a 16-year-old female of their species.  It was only a
short time before she appeared and talked with him.  She was surprised at how
jealous she felt when he went to that ball, so she went there herself and took
him over.

But he --- Aaron was his name, she learned --- left and returned to Oxford, and
the following days were long and empty for Iolanthe.  She flitted from flower to
flower, danced on the dewdrops as usual, but felt no joy or excitement in it. 
She returned to fairyland and rejoined her band for a few weeks, but then
returned to Arcadia.  She was unable to get into the mischievous antics of her
fellow fairies.

She flitted from tree to tree in Arcadia, just as bored and lonely. "Very
unfairy-like" she wrily observed to herself.  He had probably forgotten her by
now; probably had a mortal girl back in Oxford.

But one night, she awoke and emerged from the morning glory she'd spent the night
in.  She had a sense, a presence.  Off in the distance, she saw a boy or man
walking about.  Was it he?  Yes, it was!

They dilly-dallied a number of days, and she tried to seduce him.  He wanted
marriage, and she was very happy.  A fairy married the instant they both agreed,
but Aaron insisted on having a mortal wedding. Iolanthe had never understood why
mortals insisted on formal weddings, but it was a wonderful experience.

Those four months following the wedding had been the happiest in her life so far.
 But she knew it couldn't last.  Eventually, she would be caught.  And sure
enough, one afternoon, the Fairy Queen had swooped down and caught her and
brought her to the fairy band.  In front of all the fairies, the Queen had
summarily judged her guilty of the crime of marying a mortal, and sentenced her
to death.  Then, to Iolanthe's surprise, she suspended the sentence of death to
eternal penal servitude, provided that she never contact her husband again.

The Queen let her choose where to serve her sentence, and suggested all sorts of
nice places.  To everyone's surprise, she chose the creek underneath the bridge
in Arcadia.  So she could be as close as possible to her husband and the place
where she knew so much happiness for a short while.

She sensed, and occasionally heard, Aaron's anguished calls for her, his
desparate searching, the panicked, bitter weaping at night.  SHe often dove down
to the bottom of the creek, hiding inside a plant's leaves, drowning her sorrows
away.  But always she came back up.

She was tempted several times to call out to Aaron, summons him.  But the bond
that kept her in the creek also prevented her from making any kind of mental
contact.

It was with hopeless resignation that she watched the horse and coach cross the
bridge, entering the woods, carrying Aaron away forever.

Now, she had nothing left to live for.

No, not quite nothing.  Something kicked in her stomach.  Something was growing
inside her.  A new life --- growing, forming, developing...

She continued working, sleeping, singing to herself, flitting to the limits of
the bond.  Finally, she gave birth to a son.  She called him Strephon, for he was
conceived of happiness, born of sorrow, and carried all her future hopes.

Even though, as a fairy, she never had anything to do with young babies, she
instinctively knew how to deal with and handle a baby. She could raise no more
than her head above the water, but the baby seemed to have no trouble being under
water, when she nursed or slept him.  Fortunately, fairy milk was very adequate
for him.  He was half-fairy --- a fairy down to the waist, but below the waist,
mortal.

Although Strephon easily survived for endless times underwater, the skin of his
mortal half got all wrinkly and peely after many hours underwater.  So Iolanthe
collected water lillies and reeds, and weaved a basket, padded it with grass, and
used her own endlessly generated fairy garments for blankets.  They were light,
very light, but they would have to do.  It was mid-winter now.  Snow covered the
ground.

So Iolanthe fed and nurtured the boy month in and month out.  Her preoccupation
with the boy and her regular work took up all available time, so she no longer
spent time endlessly bored and bemoaning her life and the life she missed.  She
missed Aaron.  She missed sharing Strephon with him.  She missed the flitting and
dancing and singing with the other fairies.  But only occasionally did she moan
and cry in misery.

Summer went by, then winter again.  A year passed, and young Strephon began
talking.  He learned to talk quite rapidly, once he started.

He also developed fairy instincts, but they generally did not jybe with his
mortal half.  He found that whenever he made himself invisible, his bottom half
remained exposed.  Furthermore, anyone in the vicinity could see the insides at
the top.  Iolanthe found it quite gross herself, and told Strephon never to do it
unless his lower half was hidden.

When he shrank to a tiny size, his lower half stayed large.  The stress on the
mortal side of the boundary was so intolerably painful, unless he was very
careful to keep the fairy part just at the boundary his mortal size.  It seldom
did him much good to shrink his top half, so he stopped doing it once it stopped
interesting him.

He learned to walk and to fly.  His fairy half had to do all the work, and hold
his mortal half up when he flew.

He discovered pain early on.  While his fairy half never felt pain, hismortal
half did.  He learned to change the appearance of his upper half at will, and to
spontaneously generate clothes which covered his lower half as well.

Travelers often walked, rode, or drove over the bridge.  Iolanthe cautioned him
to hide whenever anyone came.

So the years passed, and Strephon very slowly got bigger.  Iolanthe lost track of
the years, and Strephon never counted them.  But there came a time...

***********************************************************

Interlude

Numb and all drained out, Aaron returned to London.  He felt drained, drugged,
powerless, and hopeless.  He was prepared to face his father, the Lord
Chancellor.  He didn't care any more.

His father was a stern man, but fair.  He graciously accepted Aaron back into the
family.  Privately to himself, he even felt a twinge of sympathy for Aaron.  But
he could never let Aaron know.  He had to be tough now, and make Aaron get back
on his feet.

He immediately put Aaron to work as a clerk and a gofer.  He worked Aaron hard,
and Aaron worked hard.  He was a little surprised at that, and a bit more
surprise when told that Aaron had worked as a clerk in Arcadia.  But he didn't
reveal any of this.

Aaron put his mind to his work, and blotted out any thought or memory of
Iolanthe.  Only at night, in his nightmares, did he remember. Sometimes, he
dreamed a happy dream, he was with Iolanthe.  But he woke up in tears and
loneliness.

He reentered Oxford University the following Fall semester, after about a year of
work.  His Father had to make a major sacrifice, but he never knew.  Nobody ever
knew.  Aaron redid his junior year.  He threw himself into his schoolwork and
studies.  No more parties, no more athletics.  That summer, Aaron worked for his
father again.

He graduated suma cum lauda from Oxford and joined a law firm, was admitted to
the bar, and worked his way up.  He learned all the rules, and abided strictly by
them.  In addition, he vowwed he would never take unfair advantage of anyone, be
they clients, dimwitted judges, or opponents.

He was appointed a judge in the Courts of Chancery.  In his decisions, he made
sure he knew everything about a case there was to know, and was strictly fair. 
He often worked long hours on the most minor point, to insure a just result.  He
rarely drafted a new writ; when he did, the courts of law almost always accepted
it.  He sometimes drafted legislation for Parliament, in his position as equity
judge, to rectify an existing or prospective injustice.

His Father retired as Lord Chancellor, and a few years later, retired from the
House of Peers and returned to the ancestral lands to live out his days.  Aaron,
now Lord Thatcher in his own right, entered the House of Peers.  Finally, 35
years after his temporary astrayal as he thought of it now, he was appointed Lord
Chancellor, head of the Courts of Equity, and the Queen's Conscience.

And always, the trunk with Iolanthe's things at the bottom remained in the attic
of his father's home.  Once every decade or so, after a rare emotional dream, he
went into the attic and looked at the trunk.  He never opened it.  It was all in
the past; it never happened.  It was just a fling, a folly, a hallucination.

His father eventually died, after being bedridden many months.  His mother begged
him to come home and occasionally visit, but Aaron never did.  Too busy, he told
himself.  He attended the funeral, but only briefly stayed to talk with his
mother.  His mother obviously wanted him to stay home longer, and just talk, or
for simple companionship, but he just couldn't.  He had his work to do.

***********************************************************

Part III

Iolanthe and Strephon had long ago lost track of the years, but in fact about ten
years had gone by since Strephon was born.  Strephon was now a rambunctious
little kid, taken to running and flying everywhere.  It was only a matter of time
before someone from the village saw him.

Actually, he had been spotted numerous times before, the past five years or so. 
His spottings only added a notch to the rumors of fairies or cherubs around the
area.

Iolanthe tried to keep him under wraps during the day, letting him go out only at
night so he wouldn't be spotted.  But the past two years, she couldn't keep him
down.  He visited all the farms.  He visited the village.  He visited the various
estates about Arcadia.  He saw many people from the distance, and was exceedingly
curious about them. They came in all sizes and shapes, although most were far
bigger than him.

Often, he'd find some crevice or bush to stand in, hiding his bottom half.  He'd
then make his top half invisible and watch everyone.  It seemed like nobody else
could fly or make himself invisible.

One summer afternoon, a family came out into the meadow for a picnic. Two big
tall persons, and three smaller persons, the smallest about Strephon's own size. 
Strephon found some tall grass to hide in, and watched the group.  After they
ate, the big persons lay down to rest, and the smaller ones ran about and threw a
ball.  They looked like they were having so much fun, that Strephon appeared and
joined them. They welcomed him, although the oldest expressed doubt about a
strange boy in the meadow.

The big persons woke up and called them over.  Strephon's new friends called them
Mom and Dad.  Perhaps they were their Mothers the way Iolanthe was his Mother,
Strephon thought.

Strephon followed them over.  One of the bigger ones asked, "Who's this?"

The oldest kid answered, "We found him out here, Mom.  He just joined us."

"Is that so?"  The Mom turned to Strephon and asked, "What is your name?" 
Strephon froze up and couldn't say anything.  The Mom continued, "Do you have any
parents?  A Mother?  A Father?"  Iolanthe was his Mother, but he didn't know what
a Father was.  Perhaps that unknown Aaron person his Mother sometimes spoke about
and often cried about?  He still didn't say anything.  "Poor thing," said the
Mom. "He's lost his parents.  I think we should take him with us, until his
parents come looking for him, make sure he's safe."

Take him with them?  He felt very unsure.  The Father took hold of his hand, the
Mother his other hand.  He resisted being pulled, until the youngest kid, the one
his own size, smiled winningly at him and said, "Come along!  It's okay!" 
Strephon smiled back and let himself go.

They went into the village, and into a house.  They played outside some more,
then as it was getting dark they had to go inside.  Things were very new and
different to Strephon.  They ate in a strange way, using things called knife and
fork.  Strephon followed the best he could, silently.  The food was very
different and strange. Afterwords, they did chores.  Finally they had to take
baths and go to bed.

The older kid complained about no longer being able to bathe by himself.  Before,
the middle kid bathed with the younger, but now he would have to bathe with the
middle kid and the younger bathe with the new kid.  "But," explained the mother,
"Since we have a new child now, everyone has to double up.  We don't have enough
water."

So Strephon and the youngest kid went first.  Father took water from a barrol and
poured part of it into a tub in the bathroom, then left Strephon and the youngest
kid by themselves.  The youngest kid immediately undressed, and so Strephon
followed suit.  As they got into the tub, Strephon noticed something different
about the other kid.

He asked, "Why do you got no there?"  He pointed between the other kid's legs.

"Because I'm a girl.  You're a boy, so you got that," answered the girl, as she
took soap and lathered herself all over.  "Oh, you can talk?  I'm Wendy, what's
your name?"

"Name?"  Strephon was momentarily confused.  He took the soap from Wendy, and
lathered himself the way she'd lathered herself.

"Yeh, you know.  What do people call you?"

Strephon was still confused, then he realized shortly what she meant. His mother
always called him Strephon, so he answered, "Strephon."

"Strephon.  That's a strange name.  I'm Wendy.  My sisters are Tia and Carol. 
Tia, she's the oldest one."

"Oldest?"

"Yes.  She has more years than Carol and I."

"Years?"

Wendy herself looked confused, but answered, "I'm five years old. Carol is seven
years old, and Tia is eight years old."  Wendy threw water on herself, and got
rid of the lather.  So did Strephon.  They climbed out of the tub, and Strephon
was about to put on his clothes, when Wendy said, "No, silly.  Wear a nightgown."
 Wendy pulled one over her head, and threw another one to Strephon.

Wendy led Strephon into another room, containing what Wendy called a bed.  Wendy
slid into bed, and told Strephon to join her under the covers.  Strephon wondered
what would happen now.

"We sleep, silly!" answered Wendy.  Strephon puzzled over it. Sleeping inside a
building was strange for him, but it wasn't too different from the bedding
Iolanthe made for him next to the creek. But sleeping with another person?  That
was strange.

About half an hour later, the other two girls joined them in bed.  Tia expressed
initial annoyance at having a fourth person in bed, but settled in.  They
whispered awhile, and asked Strephon about him. Strephon didn't say anything.  He
was sure he didn't want to tell about Iolanthe, his mother.  Shortly Tia said
that they had to sleep. They had to get up early tomorrow to work.  Strephon lay
in bed a while, then finally fell asleep.

They worked all day next day, making brooms.  Mom and Dad went out from door to
door trying to sell them, and the kids stayed at home making more.  Strephon
joined them and, after some initial instruction, found that he was pretty good at
it.  He kept it secret that he never hurt his fairy top half, the way the other
girls scratched themselves often.

The life continued on that summer, with six days of work and one day of rest.  A
couple weeks after Strephon joined them, he thought he should return to his
mother by the creek.  So that night, after the other three appeared asleep, he
snuck to the window and flew out.

He landed next to the creek and called out, "Mother!"

Iolanthe's head emerged from the water, and she scolded him, "Where have you
been?!?  Gone for two weeks now!"  Humbled, Strephon couldn't answer for a
moment.  Iolanthe continued, "Well, what have you to say for yourself?"

Unable to say anything, he kept thinking of the family: the nice Mom and Dad, the
two bigger girls and the one his size.  Iolanthe picked up the pictures, and
responded worried, "So you've met some people.  I hope there won't be trouble."

"No, no, no!  They're all very nice!" protested Strephon, and talked about them.

They talked more, and Iolanthe resignedly said, "I can't keep you any longer.  I
guess since you are half mortal, you will have to learn to live in the world of
mortals."

So, after a tearful parting and a promise to visit, Strephon returned to the
family.  He flew into the window, and as silently as possible, slipped back into
the bed with the three girls.

The next day, Tia pulled Strephon aside and asked him, "Nice night out for
flying, wasn't it?"

Strephon froze, embarrassed.  After a moment, "What do you mean?"

"You flew out the window last night.  Where did you go?  What did you do?  And
what are you, a witch or something?"

"No, a fairy!" he exclaimed without thinking, then corrected himself. "Half a
fairy, actually."

"Oh!  Wait until I tell Mom and Dad!"

"No-no!  You mustn't!  Nobody must know!"

"So what did you do last night?"

"Uh,..."

"Should I tell Mom and Dad?  I'm sure they would love to know," warned Tia with a
mischievous smile.

"No!"

"What do I get for keeping your secret?  Come on, tell me."

"Okay, okay.  I went to see my mother."

"Your mother?  Who is she?  Where does she live?  And why are you staying with
us, then?"

***********************************************************

"Okay, I'll tell you.  But please, don't tell anyone.  My mother lives in the
creek."

"In the creek?!?  Why would anyone live in a creek?"

Strephon didn't know; he'd never thought about it before.  All he remembered was
that, while he could leave whenever he wanted, Iolanthe never left the creek.  "I
uh, I don't know."

They quickly got back to work.  Carol and Wendy might tell on them if they stayed
away too long.  Perhaps Mom or Dad might come home and find them not working. 
They would really be in for it then.

The summer continued, and Strephon visited his mother about once every week.  One
day, Tia said that she wanted to visit his mother. Strephon initially refused,
but Tia was adamant.  "You wouldn't want Mom and Dad to find out about you, would
you?"  Frightened, he agreed.

They went that very night.  They pretended to sleep, and waited until Carol and
Wendy were sound asleep.  Strephon slipped out of bed, hoping that perhaps Tia
was really asleep, but she slipped out and followed him.  Resigned, Strephon put
his hands tightly around her chest.  His fairy hands automatically adjusted to
fit all the way around her.  Then up and out the window they flew.

Strephon flew rather low; it was less likely they would be seen.  It was a bit
awkward carrying the girl, who let her legs dangle down and swung them back and
forth.  But he managed it.  They flew to the bridge over the creek, and landed
next to it.  Tia breathed in deeply when his arms let her go.

"Mother!" he called out.  Iolanthe raised her head above the water in delight,
but a look of surprise appeared on her face when she saw Tia.

"Strephon!  But who might this be?"

"Tia's with the family I live with.  She wanted to meet you."

Tia had her eyes fixed on Iolanthe, enraptured, but remembering her manners, she
curtseyed and said, "Pleased to meet you, Ma'am."  Was this a real, true, live
fairy?

Iolanthe suppressed a giggle of delight.  This was the first person beside
Strephon she had ever talked to since the time she was bound to the creek.  Of
course, she was a young one.  Probably younger than Strephon, although she was
much bigger.  She wasn't at all certain, but it seemed like Strephon aged alot
slower than mortal children did. "All mine, I'm sure."

"Tia found out about me, the first time I came to see you.  Tia is the oldest of
the three sisters."  Strephon said.  "She wanted to meet you herself.  She was
curious."

"Curiosity's a dangerous thing," said Iolanthe.  Tia looked momentarily worried,
so Iolanthe reasured her.  "No, I won't harm you. You are perfectly safe here
with me."  Iolanthe thought to herself and wondered how safe she was with
Strephon.  She wondered if she should have a little talk with Strephon.  He
seemed too young for that kind of stuff, but one never knew.

"Mrs., uh," Tia hesitated.

"Iolanthe," Iolanthe replied.

"Mrs. Iolanthe ---"

Iolanthe giggled, "No, just Iolanthe.  We don't have family names, and we don't
have titles the way mortals do."

"No Mrs. or anything like that?"

"No, although there we do have a Queen."

"Just like Queen Victoria!" exclaimed Tia.  Strephon wondered who Queen Victoria
was.

"Well, I don't know.  Similar, but not really the same, I don't think."

"Are you really a fairy?"

"Yes, dear.  I am a fairy.  But you should not tell anyone."

"Okay.  This is our secret."  Tia tried to suppress a yawn, but failed.

"Strephon," Iolanthe said.  "I think you should take your little girlfriend back
home now; she seems rather sleepy."

Tia asked quickly, "But Io--- I-o-lan-the, why do you live in a creek? It seems
like it would be so cold and wet."

"Well, yes, it is rather cold and wet.  But I'm stuck here.  I can't leave,"
sighed Iolanthe.

Strephon and Tia said goodbye, and Strephon lifted Tia up and flew back home.

"`Your little girlfriend,' really!" exclaimed Tia in midair.  Strephon flushed,
but said nothing.  "I will never be any boy's girlfriend!"

Strephon couldn't fly through the window carrying Tia.  Tia had to pull herself
in the window, while Strephon held her up.  Then he flew in, and they both
slipped back in the bed.  Wendy groaned and turned briefly, then went back to
sleep.

A few days later, as the kids lay in bed for the evening, Dad mentioned something
called "Education."  Carol groaned, and Strephon asked, "What is Education?" 
They tried to explain, but he didn't understand.  What was this reading and
writing and 'rithmetic all about?  Instead of working six days a week making
brooms, they spent several hours three days a week learning those things.  Carol
and Tia had already started learning; Wendy was going to start this year, and
since Strephon was a part of the family now, he would start as well. "This is
costing us good money," Dad said.  "You'd better do well, or else."  Strephon
didn't like that tone.

School started a few days later, on Monday.  There was a schoolhouse down the
street.  Some kids were playing on the street in front of the schoolhouse.  As
Strephon and the three girls approached them, Strephon thought he might join the
other kids.  Wendy started to follow him, but Tia and Carol stopped her.  "Girls
don't run around and play balls with boys."

"Why?" she asked.

"It's just not done.  It's not nice."

There was a Teacher, a big girl who reminded Strephon of his mother, although she
didn't look too much like her.  Strephon thought she would be as nice as his
mother, but she turned out to be rather mean. She demanded instant obediance and
instant correct responses to questions.  If a student failed to answer, or
answered wrongly, she struck his palm with a ruler.  Other times, she took a kid
into the closet and cane him good.

Strephon almost never had his palm swatted.  He remembered everything he was
taught, very quickly.  He quickly came to understand what reading and writing
really meant.  The first time he was swatted, it was not because he got an answer
wrong.  Instead, he got his answer correct, but the teacher kept insisting it was
wrong.  He argued with the teacher.

The teacher ordered him to hold out his hand, and he did.  It tickled just a
little bit, when she slammed the ruler on his hand.  He would have wondered what
the fuss was when the other kids screamed, except for his experiences with pain
in his lower, mortal half.  The teacher kept slamming it ever harder and harder,
getting more and more frustrated.  It only tickled more.  Finally, he could not
keep his amusement in, and broke out laughing, pulling his hand away.

The other kids at their tables laughed, but immediately quieted again when the
Teacher shouted, "Quiet!  All of you!" at them.  She ordered Strephon to return
to his desk, then herself turned away.

After school, all the kids ran up to him, asking how he managed to stand up to
the teacher like that.  Strephon didn't explain.

Another time, he found a bunch of girls behind a building.  He thought he saw
Carol among them, but he wasn't sure.  The girls all shouted at him, to get out
of there and back where the boys belong.  Knowing by now how girls jumped and
shrieked at frogs and snakes, he felt the irresistible urge to shock them.  He
made his upper half invisible, exposing his innards at the top of his waist.  All
the girls screamed, some fainted, some ran away.  Strephon turned away,
satisfied.

The teacher didn't try to discipline him for a long time after that initial
experience.  But finally, she did.  This time, she led him into the close, where
she disciplined her most severe cases.  Strephon remembered hearing the screams
of boys dragged into the closet.  She tried to switch him on the legs and
rearend.  Strephon realized that would be painful.  Remembering the effect it had
on the girls, he vanished his top self again.

As fully expected, she shrieked out.  Not so expectedly, she grabbed him and
threw him against the wall of the closet, before exiting as fast as she could. 
When he got up and left the closet, she was gone and nowhere to be seen.  The
children were all excited and running out, by themselves.  He went home.

Dad was home, awaiting him, leather strap in hand.  He grabbed Strephon by the
shoulder.  Strephon, with his fairy upper half slid effortlessly from Dad's
grasp, but Dad promptly grabbed his legs. Being mortal, Strephon's legs were
helpless in Dad's strong grasp. Strephon made his top half vanish again, but Dad
held him firm.

"Strephon," Dad told his apparently independent bottom half.  "I don't know who
or what you really are, but as long as you are part of this family, you will be a
good, obediant, little boy."  With that, he held Strephon's legs firmly still
with one hand, and strapped Strephon's bare legs with the other.  Strephon
screamed in pain, and his top half promptly reappeared.

Strephon generated his wings, and pulled away the best he could.  But Dad held on
firmly.  Strephon turned to Dad and hit him has hard as he could.  His fairy
arms, as strong and powerful as they were when lifting himself or someone else,
were as a feather on iron.  They bounced off Dad harmlessly.  He turned away
again and tried flying upward.  He was barely able to pull up slowly.  Beating
his wings with more and more desparation, he lifted himself up and dragged Dad
with him, holding his legs tight.

Dad suddenly let go, and Strephon shot up and slammed the ceiling. His fairy
upper half flattened out like a blob, somewhat cushening the impact of his lower
mortal half.  Nevertheless, his lower half remained bruised and sore for weeks.

He fell to the floor, promptly reconstructed his fairy top half, and flew out the
door, his bruised lower half swinging below freely. Although he was mentally and
emotionally bruised as well, his fairy upper half was physically intact.  He
cried as he flew back to the creek, returning to his mother.

He flopped down onto the grass next to the creek, and lay there crying.  Iolanthe
raised her head out of the pond.  "Strephon!" Strephon flew into his mother's
arms and balled out crying.

He slowly got his story out.  To his dismay, Iolanthe took the Dad's side, and
told him that in the mortal world, he must obey the rules. Also, it may be
dangerous for him to reveal his fairy side.  Strephon couldn't understand, and
could say anything in reply.  Why would his mother betray him like this!?!

He flew away, blindly, eventually landing somewhere unknown in the forest.

***********************************************************

Iolanthe watched as Strephon flew off in tears, and she cried a little herself. 
It was rather like that time when Aaron drove off, even though the circumstances
were completely different.  Should she really have responded like that?  Would
she ever see Strephon again? Strephon was the only thing that made the past ten
or so years of bondage bearable.  What would life be like, alone for all
eternity. Unlike mortals, she couldn't even kill herself, to relieve herself of
the misery.  Only the Fairy Queen could do that.  But she would never see any of
the other fairies again; they never came to visit her, and most likely never
would.

With those thoughts, she dove back down and nestled in a willow and tried to will
her self to sleep.  But no sooner had she managed to doze off when came the
stomp-stomp of heavy footsteps.  Someone, definitely an adult male mortal, was
approaching.  The flowers, the plants, the trees, the grass, the insects, the
frogs, were all alert and attentive.  Iolanthe had the strong fairy hunch that
this might concern her, so she floated up to just under the surface and listened
and watched.

He looked rather angry, and was calling out a mangled version of her name, and
was saying, "If you are really there, come out and show yourself!"  She wondered,
should she just ignore him, and wait for him to leave?  Or should she reveal
herself?  Wondering if she was doing the right thing, she grew to her full size
and lifted her head above the water.  She didn't wish to appear seductive, so she
generated an opaque waterproof long-sleaved gown to cover herself.  "Good
Evening, Sir," she said to the man.  He was definitely good-looking, but she
wasn't going to have any more of that stuff.  Not now, not never.

The man jumped back, and his angry expression changed to surprise and a little
fear.  "You exist!  I mean, uh, ma'am, uh hello."  He blushed a little, too.

Iolanthe suppressed a giggle -- funny, she thought to herself.  She could still
giggle, even after all this time, at something sufficiently new.  She knew he was
the Father of Strephon's surrogate family.  "Sir, I sincerely thank you for
taking in and caring for my son, Strephon."

"Well, Ma'am."

"Iolanthe, please, Sir."

"Okay, Miss Iolanthe.  I see Tia spoke truely.  You really are Strephon's Mother
then?"

"Yes, Strephon is my son.  A wonderful boy, I think."

"Oh, yes.  He's been very good for the most part.  Polite and hard-working.  We
were quite happy to have him in our family.  He never needed disciplining, not
for a long while at least.  In fact, my wife and I were wondering about him.  He
was too good, too intelligent, too hard-working.  We were wondering what was he
really, was he dangerous or something?"

"No, we're not dangerous.  I assure you, Sir, we are not by any means evil
beings."

"I believe you."

[More conversation, perhaps.  I'm thinking of cutting this part out. In any case,
I can't think of anything to say here.]

***********************************************************

Strephon landed somewhere in the forest, sat himself down, and cried. Eventually,
he drifted off to sleep.  He woke up later, his legs chilled to the bone.  He was
more alone now, than he had ever been in his life.  Hungry, too.  He wondered if
he should find something to eat.  He found a few buries, and ate them.  They
tasted sweet and just a little tangy.

He spent the next few days walking around and flying around, eating various
items.  He watched squirrels chase each other around about, birds twittering and
gathering twigs and items for nests, an occasional rabbit hopping about.  Every
day, he discovered something new about nature.  Whereas before, he only saw moss,
grass, and twigs surrounding roots, now he noticed animal tracks, animal holes,
and sometimes the animals themselves.

He learned to sit or stand perfectly still, almost invisible even without turning
his top half invisible.  After some weeks, he could stand still for hours, and
watch the animals as they went about their merry business.  He never harmed an
animal, except to stop the occasional wolf from catching a smaller animal.  He
knew they had to eat, and catch live meat to eat, but not around him, thank-you,
he thought to himself.

He still fumed at the events of that day, more at Iolanthe's response than at
Dad's discipline.  Sometimes, he wondered to himself, was he wrong?  He sometimes
thought of returning to Iolanthe, admitting his error, begging forgiveness.  His
mind changed, and he fumed again at the unfairness of it all.  So he stayed in
the forest, studying the wildlife, and living off the land.

Unfortunately, it was getting cold now.  He woke up one morning to the first
snow.  His top half had no trouble whatsoever, but his bottom half felt very
numb.  He generated himself some thick clothes, and that helped.  He spent the
winter in the forest.  Then the spring and the summer, the fall and the winter
again.

A couple times, while standing perfectly still in a clearing, he saw or thought
he saw, female forms flitting about, dancing, springing in and out of view,
flying all over the place.  He stood perfectly still, and they never appeared to
notice him.  If he listened carefully, he could almost hear music and singing in
his mind.

He got bored after two years.  He stayed in the woods for another year.  He often
flew around, and sometimes at night flew out of the woods, into the meadows, and
sometimes toward the village.  But he always avoided the creek where his mother,
Iolanthe lived all alone now.  He just couldn't go back...

In near the woods, a ways away from Arcadia, a shepherd stood guard at night,
watching his flock of sheep.  He stood as still and quiet as Strephon at his
best.  Curious, Strephon silently approached, stood there, and watched the sheep
and the shepherd.

He came again the next night.  And the following night.

The fourth night, the shepherd spoke.  "Come over here young, and watch with me."
 Strephon did, and they stood still and watched the rest of the night.  Nothing
eventful happened; the sheep just grazed.

Strephon joined the shepherd and became a shepherd himself.  It was better to
stand around and have company than to stand around solitary. Even though he
looked like an eight-year-old child, the shepherd treated him like an adult.  He
spent most of his time shepherding, during the season, but he also had some free
time.  He occasionally flew around, and visited the villages.

A couple times, he spied on Tia, Carol, and Wendy.  They were all noticeably
bigger than before.  Wendy now looked older than Tia had looked before.  And Tia
now looked almost grown.  Strephon realized that he was growing alot slower than
mortals did.  He looked like a mortal half his age.  He estimated that he must be
about sixteen now, even though he only looked eight.

He was flying through the woods one night.  He had the feeling of danger, or
something terribly wrong.  Puzzled, he followed the feeling, and shortly he saw a
carriage driving on the road through the woods.  The sense of wrongness came not
from the carriage, but from the trees just up ahead.

Men dressed in black suddenly jumped out of the trees and pounced on the
carriage.  They dragged the driver out.  Some began beating him, others ransacked
the wagon and tossed a couple cases out.

Strephon dove down and slammed into one of the men.  That man fell over with a
grunt and lay motionless.  The others jumped and turned toward them.  Strephon,
well aware of the powerlessness of his arms in a fight, flew up and prepared for
another dive.  As he dove, the others turned and ran back into the woods.

Strephon turned to the victim, the driver of the wagon.  To his surprise, it was
the Father of his family in the town!  The Father seemed just as surprised to see
him.  "Strephon?"

***********************************************************

The bandits having all vanished into the woods, Strephon looked at the driver of
the buggy.  Strephon saw with surprise that it was the Father of the family.

The Father also appeared surprised to see him.  "Strephon?  Is that really you? 
It is you!  It is you!"

Strephon suppressed his instinct to run away, as Dad took him by the shoulders
and lifted him up.  "You look as young as before!"  Strephon said nothing.  Dad
set him down and continued, "How have you been?" Strephon still said nothing, and
Dad said, "Strephon, are you still upset about that night?"  Strephon looked down
at the ground sheepishly, but said nothing.  "Really, parents beat their children
all the time; that don't mean anything.  You must take it in stride."

Strephon flamed in fury, and lightning bolts jumped from his fingers, steaming
the ground.  [I'm going to change the fight in the previous episode to use the
lightning bolts.  Also, I will have a scene earlier on where he learns about the
lightning bolts.  They tend to be more effective than his punches.  He has to
learn to keep his hands pointed down and back...  They aren't fatal; just
stunning.]  Dad winced momentarily, but recovered his composure.  "Okay, okay,
don't be upset.  I don't mean to hurt you.  If you wan't, I'll be on my way.
Thank-you very much for saving me from the bandits."  Dad stepped into the wagon.
 He began closing the door, but stopped and turned to him. "Oh, one more thing. 
You must return to Iolanthe, your mother.  She misses you something fierce."  He
slammed the door.

Strephon stood in shock momentarily.  How was his mother doing?  He hadn't
thought of her for ages, except in momentarily resentment. Guilt washed over him.
 Why did he ever run away?  Suppose something's happened to her?

Strephon flew over the woods and back to the bridge over the creek. He called
out, "Mother!" as he landed.

Iolanthe's weed-covered face emerged from the water.  Her face lit up as she
exclaimed, "Strephon!"

"Mother!"  Strephon flew into Iolanthe's arms.  They hugged crying for a whole
minute, then broke apart.

"I missed you so!  I was afraid I'd never see you again.  I was so alone,
thinking that you hated me.  How long has it been?  Five years?"

Strephon burst into tears again.  "I'm so very very sorry.  I'll never ever leave
you again, ever!"

Iolanthe said, "Oh, please don't promise that, Strephon.  You are growing up now.
 I knew you would have to leave me sometime, and your stay with that family was a
good way.  I just didn't expect you to leave so soon, and so angry at me.  What
have you been up to these past years anyway?"

Strephon told his mother about his life as a Shepherd.  They talked about random
stuff for the next few hours, then Strephon said he should go back.  "I promise,
I'll visit you often."  Just as he was about to leave, he turned and asked, "By
the way, how did (Dad) know about you?  He sent me to you."

Iolanthe answered, "He came up right after you left those years ago. The family
came several times since to visit.  They were very nice, and made things a lot
less lonely for me.  It helped relieve the boredom and loneliness over the
years."  Strephon started to apologize again, but Iolanthe continued quickly,
"Well, that's over and done now.  Water under the bridge.

"Please enjoy life.  You have a life of your own, and are free to come and go. 
Unlike me.  I can't tie you down and keep you with me.  Enjoy your life as a
shepherd, okay?"

"Okay.  But I do promise you, I won't abandon you like I did before. I'll come
often."

Iolanthe then said, "Strephon, there is one other thing I must talk to you
about."  She was surprised at how nervous and hesitant she felt at the very idea
of what she had to say.  It wasn't as if she were a mortal.  She was a fairy, for
crying out loud, she thought to herself.

Strephon's stomach dropped at her tone.  "Yes?"  He had an idea what she was
going to talk about, and he froze in embarrassment, thinking about all the
clandestine encounters he'd had at night with young girls his size (half his
age).  [Sorry Celeste.  I didn't include them in this first draft.  I'll include
them in my second draft, later...]

Iolanthe stammered and stuttered as she tried to find the right words. "Well, you
know about girls, don't you?"  Strephon flushed.  Yep, he was right.  It was
going to be about that.  "You know how they are different from boys."  Strephon
nodded noncommittally.  "Well," she hesitated.  "Please be careful with them. 
You may very well be tempted to play with them, and have fun with them." 
Iolanthe recalled her earlier life, how she playfully teased boys and men over
the past two or three centuries.  And then there was Aaron...

"But respect them; they are people, not playthings.  And they can get hurt. 
Ordinary people, mortals, are known to punish girls severely if they lose
respect.  This can happen when girls can get pregnant, if they are not married."

[Okay, Celeste.  I have to rewrite this completely.]

Strephon hugged his mother, said goodbye, and flew back home.  He thought about
what she'd told him, with some relief that it was over and done with.

He continued living as a shepherd, but stopped his adventures with the girls in
town.  He noticed, when watching some of them surreptitiously, they seemed
disappointed at not seeing him, though. He visited his mother at least every
week, sometimes more often, on his time off.

He continued living as a shepherd for another fifteen years.  The old shepherd
died, and now he took on the complete job himself for the farm family.  He now
looked like a strapping young lad of 15, even though he was really 30 years old.

***********************************************************

It was now fifteen years since the tearful reunion, and thirty years since
Iolanthe's confinement and Strephon's birth.  Strephon was now a tall, slender
young man, in top shape and appreciated by all.

A little girl, perhaps ten years old, showed up one summer day as he worked.  She
appeared the next day, and again the next day.  She came every day and watched
him work and talk with him.  She told him that, she was living on a nearby farm,
a mile or so away.  Her name was Phyllis, and the family she lived with was
really a foster family. Both her parents had died many years ago, and there were
no aunts or uncles or grandparents to take her in.  She became a ward of
Chancery.

Strephon felt the familiar desire arise in his stomach, and thought of those
times those many years ago, with the other girls.  The desire was as fresh as it
had ever been the first time, but with difficulty, he resisted it.  It would not
be fair to exploit her, he thought to himself.  He remembered what Iolanthe had
said oh those many years ago.

But he always looked forward to her appearance, and any day that she did not show
up was empty.  She wasn't exactly the most beautiful girl in the world, but there
was very definitely something about her looks, her manners --- something he just
could not put his hands on.

Things progressed very slowly.  During free time he visited her and her foster
family.  He got in their good graces, especially after he managed to revive a
dying heifer calf of theirs.

Every year, a representative of the Lord Chancellor travelled from London around
Great Britain to inspect the local foster families and orphanages.  Strephon was
dining with Phyllis and the family at one time, when the representative showed up
at the farmhouse.  Phyllis was about fourteen at the time.

During the next year, people began showing up.  Noblemen, even members of
Parliament's House of Peers, came to hunt grouse, fish in the creak, fox-hunt,
bird-hunt, and various other activities throughout the year.  And at the
following year, the Lord Chancellor himself appeared for the annual inspection.

At sixteen, Phyllis brought up the subject of marriage.  Strephon was a little
caught by surprise.  He agreed, and the foster family gave their approval.  But
since Phyllis was a Ward of Chancery and under 21 years of age, she needed the
approval to marry.  The foster family thought it would only be a formality.

Strephon never mentioned his mother or his half-fairyhood to Phyllis. He was
concerned that it would frighten her.  But he wondered off and on if Phyllis
would notice that she was aging much faster than he. But, after several years of
nervousness, he mentioned her to Iolanthe. He was still visiting her every week. 
Iolanthe was disturbed and perturbed at the presence of the peers, Strephon knew.
 When they visited the creak, the peers were all over the place, trampling the
ground, digging things up, leaving litter behind, and so forth.

After considerable discussion, the wedding was planned and Strephon went to town
to petition the Chancellor's representative.  To his surprise, three peers were
there.  The eldest and obviously superiour one introduced himself as the Lord
Chancellor, and the other two were high-ranking members of the House of Peers. 
Strephon shuddered to be in their presence, and thanked himself for having the
presence of mind to generate himself a real suit with waistcoat.

Strephon presented his petition, and the Lord Chancellor and the other peers
seemed amused, especially when Strephon got out his recorder and played a
melodious tune.  But finally, the Lord Chancellor interrupted him and curtly
denied his petition.  "A common shepherd is not a suitable mate for a Ward of
Chancery."

In shock, embarrassment, and depression, Strephon kneeled to the Chancellor, said
goodday, and departed from the place.

***********************************************************

Over the same fifteen years, Iolanthe spent a very soggy life in the creak.  The
return of Strephon greatly augmented her spirits for awhile, and she was always
happy when Strephon visited her to chat. But the same intense boredom and
frustration gradually returned during Strephon's absence.

Ideas of revenge, which had always suggested themselves to her off and on, came
to her more insistantly.  A plan suggested itself to her mind.  First escape the
binding that held her to the creak.  Then overthrow and destroy the Fairy Queen. 
Finally, rejoin Aaron, whereever he was.  She wondered how he would react at
seeing her again, and finding out that he had a son.

But, of course, those were all easier thought than done.  She'd tried to escape
her bonds many times over the past decades.  The bonds were as tight as ever.

One day, though, she lay down at the bottom of the creak motionless for a whole
twenty-four hours.  She stayed awake, but lay motionless, thoughtless beyond a
vague sensation of feeling, let herself fill with the essence of nature about
her.  Finally, she sat up, held herself, and zapped out the biggest zap of power
she had ever zapped.  She collapsed unconscious for about five minutes.  Upon
awaking, she noticed that the bond was just a little bit weaker --- about three
percent weaker.

This was the best news she'd had yet!  The Fairy Queen was NOT all powerful!  It
gave her new hope and new life, and she began to think and plot.  The next time
she woke up, the bond had renewed itself, but that only put a slight damper in
her spirits.  It would be possible to free herself.  She wondered, though, if the
Fairy Queen could miss such an outburst of power.  That dampened her spirits a
little.  But the Fairy Queen never showed up, and nothing happened.

She developed her plans very slowly.  The first step was to test the regenerative
capabilities of the bond that held her to the creak. That would take a very long
time, because she did not wish to attract too much attention.  Also, in parallel,
she would attempt to strengthen her own powers.  She was greatly weakened from
the initial binding, and weakened further over the decades of boredom and
idleness.

It would take her a very very long time, but that did not concern her too much,
as she had all the time in the world.  She kept all indications of her plots and
activities from Strephon when he visited; she didn't want anyone to know.  Even
though Strephon was fully trustworthy, it was possible no matter how unlikely
that something could get back to the Fairy Queen.  Of course, it was far more
likely that the Fairy Queen would detect her own experimentation, but that
couldn't be helped.  No need to increase the risk further than absolutely
necessary.

Of course, her elation at actually thinking up the plan dissipated as she began
implementing it.  She got discouraged at how slow it progressed, and often
temporarily gave up before restarting.

After many years, she woke up disturbed when people tramped over the meadow
nearby.  She turned herself invisible and tiny, and peaked up out of the water. 
Old, well-dressed men were all over the place. Most of them were elderly, elitist
men.  Echoes of their minds hit her, and she determined that they were all Peers.
 Many of them were members of the House of Lords.  What were they all doing here?
wondered Iolanthe.  They'll ruin the place!

One was waiting in a carriage near the bridge.  She stretched out her mind, and
jumped in surprise.  He now an old man, one of the oldest here.  She felt him
very stern and grim, very different from the pompous, stilted, yet playful young
Aaron he once was.  She was shocked at the physical change in him, but upon
reflection she realized it was bound to be, after all these years.  She felt a
mixture of joy and fear.  At least, he was still alive, against all odds.  Not
only that, he was now the Lord Chancellor, second only to the Queen in all
England.

***********************************************************

Early one morning, Iolanthe, having decided for the 57th time that year to
abandon her plot to escape, lay down to sleep.  Just as she dozed off, a faint
high-pitched voice calling "Iolanthe" went through her mind.  She turned over and
tried to sleep some more.

It came again, "I-o-lan-the!"  And again louder and more persistant.
"I-o-lan-the!"  That last call, almost sung, sounded like many voices, and there
was a certain familiarity to the mental touch.  What was going on?  She tiredly
pulled herself out of her slumber to investigate.

She lifted her head out of the water and lo, she saw before her the Fairy Queen,
with all the fairies in the world gathered behind her. She arose out of the water
--- only barely noticing that she was no longer bound to the creek --- and knelt
in front of the Fairy Queen.

The Fairy Queen spoke, "You committed a dark sin against the Fairy Law, and thus
we sentenced you to banishment forever.  But mercy took hold of us.  Rise,
Iolanthe.  You are pardoned."

Iolanthe rose, but could only echo, "Pardoned?"

"Yes, pardoned!" everyone sang out, sounding like a whole symphony of fairies.

Iolanthe stood speechless, about to collapse.  The Fairy Queen came forward and
embrassed her.  She hugged the fairy queen back, and all the other fairies came
down to hug her all en masse.  She giggled, cried, and laughed all at once; she
couldn't help it.  Could this be a dream?  No, it was real.  She was free!

Everything shortly quieted down, and the Fairy Queen then asked Iolanthe
curiously, "Now tell me truly, please.  I'm dying to know, why you elected to
serve your sentence here, among the _frogs_, of all places?"

Iolanthe answered, slowly, "Well, this place is a wonderful, clean, fresh area. 
I thought it would be the right place for my son to grow up."

"Oh?  You have a son?"

"Yes, his name is Strephon.  He was born after only half a year here."

"Why, he must be almost forty years old then!" exclaimed Fleta, one of the
fairies.  "To look at you, one would never think that you had a 40-year-old son."

Everyone giggled, and another fairy added, "But that's the nice thing about being
a fairy.  We never grow old."  Everyone giggled more.

"Tell me about your son," commanded the Fairy Queen.  "Tell me all about him. 
What's he like?  What does he do?  Where does he live? Tell us _everything_!"

Iolanthe wondered where to start.  "Well, he's half a fairy --- he's a fairy down
to the waist, but his legs are mortal.  He lives a few miles away, he's a
shepherd.  He loves Phyllis, a Ward of Chancery, and hopes to marry her."

Iolanthe described Strephon more the next few hours, as the fairies sat in
wide-eyed attention, giggling or laughing at appropriate (or inappropriate)
times.

"I am curious to meet someone who is a fairy down to the waist, but whose legs
are mortal," proclaimed the Fairy Queen.

"I'm sure he'll come visit today.  Actually, I think he's coming even now.  Shh,
let's hide.  I want to surprise him."  Iolanthe giggled in anticipation.

All of them made themselves invisible and incorporeal, in preparation. Within 15
minutes, Strephon approached, walking along the road toward the bridge.  He left
the road to come down to the creek, and called out, "Mother, good news!  We've
made up our minds, we're going to get married next week! --- Mother?  Mother?"

Iolanthe materialized behind him and called out, "Strephon!"  Strephon yelped and
jumped in fright, releasing a couple lightning bolts into the ground.  "Really,
Strephon, you must control that lightning!" Iolanthe giggled.

"Mother?  Mother?  Is that really you?"  He was confronted with a highly
attractive sixteen-year-old girl, at least one and a half feet shorter than him,
in a slightly translucient flowing dress, bare arms, and bare feet, and
transparent wings.  But yes, it was definitely his mother's face, his mother's
head.  The head of a sixteen-year-old girl?  He'd seen her head so often; how
come he had never noticed that before!  He flushed in embarrassment and thrust
aside the ideas which intruded.  That was his *Mother* for crying out loud! 
Anyway, he didn't want to be disloyal to Phyllis.  "But---But---But you're out of
the creek!"

Iolanthe giggled; her giggle echoed by many unseen voices all around. Strephon
looked around but saw nothing.  "Yes, Strephon.  Isn't it wonderful?  I'm free! 
I've been pardoned!"  She fluttered up several feet, her black hair flying wildly
about, then landed, dancing about, before jumping into Strephon's arms.

"Mother, that's wonderful!"  he almost dropped her.  "How did it happen?  This
really is such a surprise!"  A chorus of giggles surrounded him, and around him
suddenly appeared a whole crowd of young girls with wings.  Were they all
fairies?  Now he DID drop Iolanthe, but Iolanthe simply flew a short way and
landed.  "Mother, who ARE all of these?"

"Oh, these are my sisters, my cousins, and my aunts."

Strephon bowed low.  "Then you must all be --- my aunts?"  He blushed a little,
and the fairies all giggled.  Some of them blushed demurely at him; others
fluttered around.

One of the fairies, apparently older and more mature, approached him. "Iolanthe
tells me you're soon to wed.  This must be a pleasant surprise for your bride,
now."  Was this the Fairy Queen?  It must be.

Strephon wondered for a moment if he really saw a look of disappointment some on
the fairies faces, or was it simply his immagination?  "Oh, Phyllis knows nothing
of my fairyhood.  I've never told her.  It would most surely frighten her.  My
physique is awkward as it is..."

"Oh?"

"Well, you see, I'm only half a fairy."

"Yes, your mother told us."

"In particular, I'm only a fairy above the waist.  Below, I'm mortal. I can make
my top half invisible, but it doesn't do much good if my legs are still visible. 
I can shrink or grow my top half to any size, but if I'm not careful, it's
painful on my bottom half.  My top half can slither through a keyhole --- leaving
my bottom half stuck behind. Well, at least I can fly.  And my fingers can shoot
off lightning," Strephon sighed.  "But what scares me the most is what will
happen in the future.  Are my legs going to grow old and eventually die, while my
top half remains young and alive?"

"Yes, I quite see your point," answered the Fairy Queen.  "I am unsure myself
what will happen.  But not to dwell on it excessively; don't let it spoil your
wedding.  We must fly off now.  Farewell, handsome stranger.  If ever you are in
perl, call on us and we shall come to you."

At that point, the Fairy Queen vanished.  All the other fairys called out
"Farewell!" and vanished as well.  Strephon noticed that they had become tiny
mosquito-like humming things, which flew away.

Only Iolanthe remained with him.  "Well, Strephon," she said excitedly. "I am
going to fly away, explore, see the world, enjoy myself!  I haven't seen anything
in ages!"

They hugged and Strephon said, "Fairwell."  Iolanthe promptly vanished and flew
off.

It still being daytime, Strephon trod back to the village and rested up in the
local snackbar.  He thought things over; the day's events had been for him among
the most astonishing ever.  His mother, no longer in the creek.  Able to go
whereever she wanted, able to fly all about.  He had always imagine her to be in
the creek.  Never even conceived of her being able to go anywhere else.  And he
now had a whole new herd of relatives.

When it got dark, he walked out of the village, then flew to Phyllis's house and
knocked.  The Foster Father answered the door, and invited him in.  In the
reception-room, Phyllis was there.  She exclaimed, "My you look wonderful and
happy now."

***********************************************************

Now let us return to the Lord Chancellor, and see what he is up to. We last left
him at his father's funeral.

After his Father's funeral, at his parents' manor in the country, the door
leading to the stairs up to the attic kept calling his attention. The Trunk was
up there, and it felt like it was calling him up.  He slowly walked to the door,
opened it, followed the stairs up several flights, and found himself in the
attic.  There, over there in the corner, covered with cobwebs.  Yes, that was it.
 He slowly made his way toward the trunk, fear and horror ever increasing as he
got ever nearer the trunk.  Finally he stood over it and looked down.  Had it
been real?

No, he turned and walked steadily but with all deliberate speed to the attic door
and went back downstairs.  He just couldn't afford all this; he was m0uch too
busy.

His mother, sitting outdoors, pled with him to stay awhile and talk. He refused,
because he had to go back to work.  There was just so much to do.  Back in
London, the routine of work continued the next couple of years.

One day, while he was discussing the problem of orphanages and the Wards of
Chancery, a peer mentioned a Ward living with a foster family in Arcadia --- a
young maiden, of beauty so fair, to be without comparison in the civilized world.

He ignored that particular comment, but some time later, took a more personal
interest in the affairs of the Wards of Chancery. Technically, he was their
guardian throughout the country, and the foster families and orphanages took care
of the youngsters in his name.  But never before had he actually had much to do
with them.

The next summer, instead of sending a representative out, he went out himself to
inspect the Wards in the Southwestern part of England, including Arcadia.  He got
to me many different Wards, boys, young men, girls, and young ladies.  He paid
little attention to the boys and young men, of course.

At one foster family in Arcadia, with a young lady ward.  There was something
about that girl, he couldn't say what.  She wasn't the most beautiful girl in the
world, not by any means, but there was something about her...  He didn't hear her
name when the foster father mentioned it.

The Lord Chancellor noted that other Peers were here in Arcadia as well,
falconing, fishing, and hunting fowl.  He wondered about it a bit.  He recalled
Arcadia from way, way, back... it had seduced him then.  He burnt in
embarrassment at the memory.  Perhaps there was something about this place he
should worry about.

They served him a wonderful dinner.  Certainly wasn't the food that was
worrisome.  It seemed like this Family was doing her good.

As he departed in his coach, he glanced back at the farmhouse. Another coach had
stopped there, someone as well-dressed as he stepped out and knocked on the front
door.  Looked like one of the Peers in the House of Peers; he wondered who it
was.

After finishing his round, he returned to London in preparation for the next
legislative session.

The start of the legislative session was abuzz, with rumors about secret visits
to Arcadia, a super-attractive eligible young lady out there, all sorts of
specifics.  While initially, the rumor was merely an open secret, eventually
everyone talked about it openly.  It was indeed the same girl that the Lord
Chancellor himself noticed, and her name turned out to be Phyllis.  It seemed
like half the House of Peers was interested in this young lady --- all the
unmarried peers, some of the married peers.  Of course, the House of Commons
expressed an interest in her as well, but they didn't count.

During the next legislative session, the House of Peers scheduled sessions in
Arcadia --- purely for legislative purposes, of course. The peers thought it
higly important to investigate the environment there and insure that the peaceful
lifestyle there was maintained.  Of course, there would be various sorts of
activities such as salmon-fishing, grouse-hunting, and so forth, but those would
all be ancillary.

One trip to Arcadia, some months later, the Lord Chancellor just happened to be
at the local office with the two top leaders of the House of Peers, when a young
man appeared with a petition to the local Chancellor's representative.  That
young man wanted to marry the girl himself, of all the nerve!  The Lord
Chancellor didn't want to reject the young man _too_ quickly, so he let him make
his case.  Of course, it was a foregone conclusion that that his petition would
be denied, and the young man departed in a huff.  The Lord Chancellor could see
him just struggling to remain polite.

After the young man left, the younger of the two peers turned to the Lord
Chancellor and commented, "Interesting young man, that Strephon. Bears a certain
resemblance to you, truth be told, milord.  Wouldn't be a relative of yours, by
any chance, would he?"

"Absolutely not, milord Tollolar.  I don't have any brothers or sisters, and none
of my relatives live in this place, as your lordship surely knows."

"But could possibly be that you came out here perhaps twenty years ago, and,
well, you know."

"Are you suggesting what I think you are suggesting?  How utterly impertinent! 
I'm not that kind of gentleman."  He snorted and turned away.  The folly of
nearly forty years ago, was of course unrelated. He suppressed the momentary
memory.

Back in London, one of the members of the House of Lords introduced a resolution
for all the interested Peers to go out to Arcadia in two weeks.  They did not
wish to be oppressive, so they would give Phyllis the choice herself of which
peer to pick as her husband.

***********************************************************

The Lord Chancellor and all the peers took the train to Arcadia to persuade
Phyllis to choose one of them for a husband.

The peers arrived at the village, and settled into the Inn.  The Lord Chancellor
ordered Earl Tolloler to personally fetch Phyllis.  While waiting for him to
return with Phyllis, the Lord Chancellor spoke to the other peers, and explained
his dilemna.

"You have asked me to award this young lady Phyllis to whomever of you she shall
choose.  I must confess to a singular attraction to this young lady myself.  Six
months ago, I was a stout man.  I need say no more."  The peers all nodded.  "I
have an idea of getting married, and I'm not too old.  And herein lies my
dilemma.

"I am the guardian of this young lady, along with many other young ladies.  The
conflict of interest in this is apparent.  As Lord Chancellor, can I give my own
consent to myself to marry Phyllis?  Can I take her without my consent?  If I
marry her without my consent, must I order a warrant out for my own arrest?  Must
I bring myself up in front of my court, to sentence myself to hard labor for
contempt of court?"  The Lord Chancellor sighed.  "Ah, My Lords.  It is such a
heavy position to find myself in."

One of the peers spoke out, "We sympathize most respectfully with your position."
 Everyone shouted, "Here, here," not very loudly or enthusiastically.

"I thank your lordships.  Because of my delicate position, I hereby waive my
claim."  He noted, but ignored the relieved reaction of the peers.

At that time, Lord Tolloler returned, escorting Phyllis. "My Lords, I have
persuaded the young lady in question to join us."  All eyes turned as one toward
the entrance, and as Phyllis entered the room, the collective sigh of the peers
was audible.

Phyllis walked calmly up to the Lord Chancellor and bowed.  "My Lord and
Guardian, I appear at your summons."

The Lord Chancellor stood a moment gazing at her, then shook his head and cleared
his throat.  "My dear, persuant to Resolution HP84-296, we must give you in
marriage to whomsoever you may choose of the Peers present."  At her expression
of surprise, the Lord Chancellor continued, "We realize the shortness of notice,
and that this may sound rather abrupt, but we are sure that you will adjust and
be very happy. You realize that you have the opportunity of a lifetime."

Phyllis said nothing.  The Peers came down one by one, to eloquently make their
case for her, starting at the highest rank, Lord Tolloler. He said to her and the
audience, "My Lords, of all young ladies, this young lady is the fairest.  Her
lips are the rosiest, her eyes are the fairest.  True, she's lowly born, but I've
blood enough for the two of us, and then some.  Not to mention, a Classical
Education sufficient for all."  Tolloller continued his speech for the next five
minutes, until Lord Mountararat, the ranking opposition Peer brushed him aside.

The Lord Chancellor could see well enough that Tolloller didn't go over well with
Phyllis.  Perhaps Mountararat would do better; he tended to be more eloquent and
profound in any case.

Mountararat spoke at length.  "Our Noble House of Peers has divided itself along
Party lines on every conceivable issue.  However, with respect to the Subject at
Hand, we are all of unprecedented unanimity. Why, if you would ask us which party
we belong to now, we must in all truth answer, we belong to the party here before
us."  He bowed to Phyllis.  "Words can but hint at the devotion felt by the world
for this young lady."

Lord Mountararat continued to speak majestically for the next ten minutes.  He
directed minimal attention to Phyllis, except when making a particular point.  He
definitely ignored her yawns which she attempted to conceil.

Before another Peer approached to sing his own praises, Phyllis spoke out. 
"Please do not tempt me, milords.  I do not long for rank or wealth.  The only
true and virtuous life is simplicity and humbleness. I have sufficient grammar
and spelling that I need; I do not wish to attain any upperclass airs."

Tolloller took her hand and spoke out.  "My Lady, allow me to assure you, the
Peerage is not devoid of virtue."  He placed his other hand at her elbow. 
"Please, do not exhibit such disdain toward us."  His hand slid up her arm from
her elbow.  "Why, pure hearts exist just as much in Belgrave Square as in the
Seven Dials" --- the Lord Chancellor cringed at Tolloller's mention of that
horrible neighborhood of London. Tolloller's hand slid up to and around Phyllis's
shoulders. "Spare us the pain of stern denial."  Tolloller finally noticed
Phyllis's look of disgust, and turned away sighing, "All the royal blood in the
world would utterly futile here."

Phyllis spoke out to all the peers present.  "My Lords, this may not be.  You
waste your time on me; my heart is already given!"

"Given?!?!?" every Peer exclaimed in shock!  Blood rushed from a few faces, and
one peer collapsed.

"Yes, given!  I'm so sorry!"

The Lord Chancellor exclaimed, "So who dares to brave our displeasure, and defy
our decree?"

"I do!" came a sharp, bold voice, accompanied by a flash of thunder. Everyone
turned toward the entrance to the hall, where a young man appeared.  The Lord
Chancellor distinctly recognized the face; that was the man who had pled for
Phyllis's hand some months ago.  But what was his name?

"And who might you be?"

"I am Strephon, and I claim Phyllis's hand for myself.  We are getting married,
today!"

Everyone shrieked.  "Nooo!!!  Stabbed in the Back!" exclaimed Tollollor.

Lord Mountararat spoke, "Now, now.  Let us all maintain our composure. We are all
adults and noblemen, and we are all proud in our hearts.  Lets us depart with all
dignity due our status."  He swung his cloak around in a flourish, and marched
out the door, escorting an unwilling Phyllis with him.  Lord Tolloller and all
the other Peers followed him out, holding their heads high and noses upturned,
leaving the Lord Chancellor alone with Strephon.

The Lord Chancellor turned to Strephon.  "Now, my young man.  Perhaps you would
be so good as to explain your disobediance to an order of the Court of Chancery."

Strephon responded, "My Lord, I only go by Nature's Parliament, and abide only by
their acts.  The bees, the breeze, the flowers, the showers, the grass, the ass,
the fowl of the air, the fish of the creek, all command me to love this maiden
and to take her.  The flash of each thunderbolt, the fire of the sun each day it
rises, the silvery light of the moon each, all write it in the sky.  Now, in the
face of the biddings of Nature, am I to answer that it's forbidden by a certain
Lord Chancellor?  Sir, you are England's Lord Chancellor, but are you Chancellor
of birds and trees, King of the winds, and Prince of thunder-clouds?"

The Lord Chancellor replied, "It's a nice point, I grant you that. I've never
encountered it before."  He blinked back a momentary memory of sadness and
horror.  "No, never," he said more to himself, then turned back to Strephon. 
"The problem is, there's no evidence before the court that Mother Nature has
indeed interested herself in the matter."

"No evidence?  But I tell you so!  You have my word!"

"My good sir, your word is not sufficient.  That is hearsay evidence, not allowed
in our Court --- with certain exceptions, of course, which unfortunately do not
apply here.  Now, an affidavit by a thundershower, or a deposition given under
oath by the creek running through the meadow, would merit full attention."

"But this is not simply an equity case.  It bubbles over with poetic emotion.  Do
you have the heart to insist upon the prosaic Rules of Evidence, in cases such as
this?"

"Absolutely, my young man.  I have always held my duty strictly in front of my
eyes.  That and only that, do I owe for my advancement to my present position.  I
have followed the strictest standards from my youth, from the time I first
entered the bar.  I have never unfairly tricked an over-dull judge.  I have never
taken a fee for a case without putting the work into it.  I have never assumed a
rogue to be eminently believable simply because his attorney sends a brief ---
not that I consider you a rogue or anything, heaven forbid!  I never assumed that
a common man summoned into court has perjured himself as a matter of course.  No,
sir.  I have played strictly by the rules, and to the best of my ability been
strictly fair.  No, young Strephon. My order is set; you will not marry anyone
this day, under penalty of imprisonment at hard labor.  I bid you good day."  And
the Lord Chancellor walked out.

Strephon collapsed onto a bench, and lay there weaping.

A few minutes later, Iolanthe appeared.  "My son in tears, and on his wedding
day!"

***********************************************************

"My son in tears, and on his wedding day!" exclaimed Iolanthe.

"Alas, Mother, the wedding is not to be!  The Law, in the form of the Lord
Chancellor, has separated us forever!"

"But remember, you are half a fairy!  You can defy the Lord Chancellor."

"Only down to the waist.  But he can condemn my legs to a lifetime penal
servitude at hard labor!  And my top half is tied to my legs!" Strephon burst out
in tears.  Iolanthe put her arm around him, to comfort him.

They walked out of the building, talking.  Unbeknownst to them, a group of Peers
were nearby and spotted the two.  A few minutes later, all the peers had
returned, dragging an unwilling Phyllis with them. She shrieked at the sight of
Strephon and Iolanthe, who jumped at the sound.

"Phyllis!" exclaimed Strephon.

"Stop, shameless one!" shrieked Phyllis.  "You..."

"Please, let me present my mother!"

Everyone burst out in gales of laughter.  Strephon realized at that instant how
ridiculous it seemed.

The laughter died down somewhat, as the Lord Chancellor reappeared. "My lords,
what's all this undignified mirth?  Why, the very earth trembles!"

Lord Mountararat replied, "My Lord, this gentleman was caught with a
sixteen-year-old girl, having his dolce far niente.  And, can you believe this,
he claims she's is mother!"

The Lord Chancellor turned toward Strephon and Iolanthe.  Turning back to Lord
Mountararat, he answered, "Recollect yourself; be careful what you say.  There's
no way I can conceive of that a maid of sixteen could be the mother of a man of
twenty-two years, I'd say."

In the middle of this, Iolanthe, frightened that the Lord Chancellor might
recognize her, disappeared.  Nobody noticed.

Strephon said, in a despairing tone, "My Lords, she is my mother, has been from
my birth!  Why, I still remember, when I was just a little tyke.  She fed me, she
held me.  Why, if not for her neurishment, your young Strephon would most surely
have died of starvation!"

Tears came to the Lord Chancellor's eyes, "Died of starvation?"  The other Peers
seemed to develop tears as well, until Lord Mountararat spoke out, "My Lords why
all these tears?  She's clearly not his mother.  And anyway, why should we
rejoice that young Strephon didn't die.  Instead, let us all cry because our
Strephon did not die."

Phyllis spoke out, and the room quieted down instantly.  "I have never longed for
riches or rank; I have always viewed their pleasures as vain.  I loved a swain
whom I thought was true but poor.  But now he has shown himself as false and
deceptive.  I now turn to one of you! These two Earls, Mountararat and Tolloller,
lead the House of Peers, and are the wealthiest and highest in rank in all
Britain.  One of you, I give myself to for life.  Decide among yourselves, and I
shall marry you.  I shall be a Countess!"  She took both of their arms.

"Phyllis, please!"  Strephon begged, in tears.  Phyllis ignored him and walked
away with the two Earls.  The other Peers all laughed at the his distress.  "Oh,
Mother!"  He looked around and noticed that his mother had disappeared.  The
Peers all laughed further.  "Oh, disaster!  I can't take it any further!"  More
laughter.  "Mighty mistress, come to my aid!"

Without warning a clap of thunder sounded, and there appeared a mass of girls
rushing about, all dressed in fancy skirts and dresses.  They converged onto
Strephon, talking and giggling.  A slightly more mature-looking female appeared,
and they all quieted down.

Strephon said, "My love Phyllis caught me talking with my mother; now she think's
I've been cheating on her."

One of the Peers shouted out, "Oh, Fie!  Strephon's just a rogue!"

Strephon continued.  "I tell her and everyone that she was my mother, but she
doesn't believe me.  Now she's going to leave me and take up with these two
noblemen," he stopped in tears.

The Fairy Queen turned and scolded the Peers, "How cruel of you!  He has told the
truth; the lady is his mother."

The Lord Chancellor replied, "Oh sure.  That fable is as good an excuse as any. 
If they fondled each other, I'm sure she's not his mother.  Especially if she's
but sixteen."

Lord Mountararat did a little figuring to himself, and spoke out. "After all, if
he's twenty-two and she's only sixteen, she must have been minus six when he was
born."

The Fairy Queen answered, "Sir, you know not what you talk about.  The world is
much grander than you imagine."

The very impertinance of this lady hit home to the Lord Chancellor. Why the heck
were we arguing and debating with these girls and this lady, as if we were
equals?  We are Peers and proud of it!  "Madam, go away!  You display shocking
taste, coming here, interfering with us. We are Peers. If you and your brood
don't depart at once, we will call out the constable and have you arrested and
locked up."

The fairies all fumed in fury, and the Fairy Queen turned toward the Lord
Chancellor with a shocked expression.  She raised her hand, and the Lord
Chancellor found himself frozen in position by some unknown force.  The Fairy
Queen waved her hand around, and the Lord Chancellor's head and body could only
follow.  "You, the Lord Chancellor of all England.  It is necessary to teach your
tongue to speak respectfully.  Your superiour attitude is very much out of place
when face to face with an influential fairy."

The compelling force suddenly released him.  He collapsed into the arms of two
Peers standing behind him.  One of the Peers said, "Our humble apologies, Madam. 
We had no idea you all were fairies."

Another said, "No Madam, we were unaware.  We thought you were simply the
propriatress of a Ladies Seminary."

That only angered the fairies more than ever.  One raised her hand, and the whole
crowd of Peers froze.  "You tremble now; you shall tremble ever more."

Another fairy gave the Peers a jolt, saying, "When gentlemen offend us, our wrath
is tremendous!"

A third fairy proclaimed, "Those who underrate us, shall face their doom!"

The Fairy Queen spoke out herself, "I shall rain down horrible thunders --- No, I
have a better idea.  HE shall wreck my vengence." She pointed to Strephon. 
"Tremble, when your Houses of Parliament next assemble."  Strephon approached the
Fairy Queen in some trepidation.  "Young Strephon, put aside your flocks and
staff, suspend your work as a shepherd.  You shall enter Parliament."  She spoke
to all.  "Every bill, every measure, that he proposes shall be passed by both
your houses!  If he sees reason, you shall sit through the hunting seasons. He
may disolve your Friday night rights.  Peers shall proliferate; a Duke's exalted
rank be attained by competitive examination!"

The Peers all shouted out in unison, "Oh, horrer!"

***********************************************************

The following days were dreadful for Strephon.  But he slowly accustomed himself
to the fact that Phyllis didn't want him any more, and thought he was a cheat.

The Fairy Queen's pronouncement echoing in his mind, he filed with the Liberal
Party for nomination to Parliament.  He never thought he would actually win, so
he didn't think about it, but merely continued his chores as a shepherd.

But to his surprise, he won the Liberal nomination for Parliament. Then he won
the general election, the first time a Liberal had won in arcadia since time
immemorable.

So, off he went to London, and entered Parliament.  Being a fairy down to the
waste, he was able to generate his own clothes, so he was spared the huge expense
of purchasing personally designed clothes for his work.

On the other hand, he felt a horrid wrongness in London.  There was always
continuous violence and crime.  Sometimes, during the night, he would sense a
particular mugging or violent act at night or during the heavy pea-soup fog, and
fly out and stop it.  But he could do nothing about the vast majority of crimes
in London.  He realized it was primarily because of the high concentration of
people in London. There were far fewer people in Arcadia, and consequently far
fewer crimes.  It could well also be the proximity of people. Strephon didn't
know.

When he first reported for duty in the House of Commons, he found himself in
front of the head of the Liberal Party there, and was told in no uncertaint terms
that he must vote the party line.  He didn't answer, but he just couldn't
understand why he couldn't simply vote the way he felt was right.  After all, why
run for Parliament if he couldn't do what he wanted there.  Anyway, he recalled
the Fairy Queen's pronouncement, that every bill of his would pass.  Things had
worked out up until now, why not now?

Everything but Phyllis, that is.  Phyllis had come to London too, and was staying
with the family of an elderly but married Peer.  She was waiting until the two
Peers Tolloller and Mountararat decided between them who would get her.

[Phyllis should arrive later...]

The first few weeks in session, Strephon just listened and learned the
procedures.  He was assigned to a few committees, where lots of the real work was
done.  It was primarily discussion, anyway.  It's not as if MPs had to actually
do anything.  Strephon found it rather boring. At least until he got into a few
arguments about what should be done.

Of course, he had little contact with the House of Lords.  The Peers views the
Commons as beneath contempt, and dealt with them as little as possible.  The
members of the House of Commons, on the other hand, viewed the Peers as pompous
twits.

The fifth week of the session, he quietly introduced a bill into Parliament.  The
act entailed simply writing up the bill and delivering it to the appropriate
clerk, who would enter it into the docket.  It was but a simple bill, to cut off
subsidies for transportation between England and her colonies.  He felt that the
merchants were making enough money to pay for their transportation themselves.

***********************************************************

Lord Tolloller and Lord Mountararat were in their own in the House of Peers. 
They were the leaders of their respective Parties.  While they found themselves
in opposition on many issues in the House of Peers, outside they were always good
friends, and had been from their youth.

But this year had brought them new things.  First, they were both engaged to
Phyllis, the loveliest maiden ever to set foot on the British Soil, and her years
had not left the teens.  She was a most youthful bride, for Mountararat at 50
years of age and Tolloller at 44.  They were having problems deciding between
them who was to get Phyllis.  Each had excellent reasons proving that he would be
the better husband, so things were at an impasse.

[I think I should have Phyllis stay in Arcadia until her nineteenth or twentieth
birthday.  Then she comes to London to live with a guardian, shortly before the
confrontation with the two peers.]

The other Peers were also attracted to Phyllis, and it was getting pretty obvious
that the Lord Chancellor himself was obsessed with her. Of course, the Lord
Chancellor kept that obsession under wraps, and nobody mentioned it out loud. 
But still it was pretty obvious.

Second, Parliament was in an uproar.  An upstart member of the House of Commons
had effectively taken it over, getting passed whatever bills he proposed.  This
new member turned out to be the very same Strephon they had encountered months
ago in Arcadia.

They first heard of him when a small surprise bill came to the House of Lords
from the House of Commons.  It was short, and somehow had managed to slip through
the House of Commons at surprising speed.  The bill would stop all subsidies of
private transportation among the British Isles and her Colonies around the world.

The Peers were almost unanimous in their vocal opposition to the bill, and many
gave heartfelt speeches in the House of Peers about the majesty and glory of the
British Empire. One Peer spoke out in favor of the bill, but was quickly sat upon
by the other Peers.  Tolloller and Mountararat and the chairman of the House of
Lords all agreed to dispatch the bill quickly with a voice vote.

The chairman called out, "All in favor, aye!" and a surprising chorus of voices
called out. A compariable chorus voted "Nay" in turn, and the chairman decided he
could not tell the outcome.  He decided to hold a role-call vote.  The result:
57-34 in favor.  The result was pretty much bipartisan --- similar ratios held
for both parties.

Tolloller and Mountararat promptly gathered the membership into separate party
caucuses to discuss the disaster.  As soon as the Conservative Peers had taken
their seats in the Conservative Chamber, Mountararat stood at the podium and
addressed them.  "My Lords, We are gathered here today to discuss an
excruciatingly serious matter.  Now it is not necessary more me to expound at
length on today's events. You all know what happened.  So let us get down to the
precise matter at hand.  It is not merely this occurance in itself that concerns
me. I can live with the this law itself.  In fact --" Mountararat looked in all
directions "-- I'm somewhat -- just a little -- sympathetic with the idea of
having the mercantile pay their own transportation costs.

"Rather, I am concerned about what this portends.  There is the possibility that
it might happen again.  So let us get to the bottom of this matter to make sure
it never happens again.  Now, those of you who voted for that bill --- you know
who you are; I need not read out the roll call --- please explain what went
through your mind." Mountararat hoped nobody would bring up his own inadvertent
vote for the bill.

Nobody answered for several minutes.  One Peer finally admitted, "My Lord, I must
confess.  I voted for the bill.  I had every intention of voting against, but
before I realised it, I had voted in favor.  I didn't notice until too late."

This provoked heavy discussion: "...I thought I was voting for a motion to table
the bill..."

"...I voted for it?  Oh, I guess I did.  I didn't notice..."

"I supported the bill."  This was the Peer who had spoken out in favor of the
bill.

"Then you don't count."

"Not unless _you_ jinxed us."

"You didn't do that, did you?"

The Peers who had actually voted against the bill remained silent, looking smug. 
Even though they lost, they had maintained their position.

Up above them, in their own little world, the fairies looked down upon the
quarreling Peers. They danced and flittered about.  "This is the most fun we've
had in decades!"  It was wonderful how they could secretly manipulate the unaware
Peers, and make the Peers turn against themselves in righteous fury.

Of Course, Strephon wasn't content to rest with that one victory.  He continued
to introduce bills into Parliament, and no matter what anyone tried to do, every
one of them passed.  Every Peer found himself at least once or twice voting for
Strephon's bills, and Strephon always had enough votes to gain a solid working
majority. Thus he became head of both houses of Parliament, leader of both
Parties.  The most anyone else could do was to advise Strephon on the merits and
consequences of items in a bill, and recommend alternatives, or possibly delay
the bill a few days by routing it to committee.

The last straw was when Strephon introduced his bill to open the Peerage to
competitive examination.  The bill came up in the House of Peers one late
evening, where the Peers were working late because of an earlier bill requiring
Parliament to stay in active session and do productive work more and longer hours
a week.  The bill was read in session, and the Peers, lead by the leaders
Tolloller and Mountararat promptly stood up and walked out of the building in a
fury.

The fairies were outside in the courtyard, dancing about and celebrating
Strephon's rapid rise to power.  They vanished just as the Peers appeared in the
courtyard.  One of the fairies reappeared and jumped out at the Peers, giving
them the fright of their lives.  The other fairies appeared in turn, and giggled
at the Peers all in disarray.

The Peers promptly recovered their dignity.  They looked down with annoyance at
the giggling creatures who looked like young maidens; and the fairies giggled all
the more at their expressions.

Finally, one of them spoke.  "You seem annoyed."

Mountararat stepped toward the fairies, ignoring a whisper warning, and answered,
"I should think so!  Why, this ridiculous protege of yours is playing the deuce
with everything!  Why, tonight he's introduced a bill to throw the Peerage open
to Competitive Examination!"

"And he'll carry it, too!" added Tolloller.

"Of course he will.  He carries everything!"

A second fairy replied, "If you please, that's our fault."

Mountararat exclaimed, "The deuce it is!"

The first fairy said, "Yes.  We influence the members, and compel them to vote
just as he wishes them to."

The second fairy agreed.  "It's our system; it shortens the debates."

"But think what it all means!" exclaimed Tolloller.  "I don't so much mind for
myself.  But with a House of Peers with no grandfathers worth mentioning, the
country must go to the dogs!"

"I suppose it must!"

"I don't want to say a word against brains," said Mountararat.  "I've a great
respect for brains; I often wish I had some myself.  But with a House of Peers
composed exclusively of people of intellect, what's to become of the House of
Commons?"

"I never thought of that," replied the second fairy in some embarrassment.

"This comes of women interfering in politics.  It so happens that if there is an
institution in Great Britain which is not susceptible of any improvement at all,
it is the House of Peers."  The fairies looked suitably humbled, and all the
peers shouted, "Hear, hear!  Speech!" Mountararat nonchalantly walked over and
stood on a stone step, and faced the crowd of Peers, fairies, and interested
bystanders.

Mountararat sang a majestic song, describing how Great Britain became great under
Queen Elizabeth, and how Great Britain defeated Napolean under King George.  How
this all happened because the House of Peers did nothing in particular and did it
very well.  Great Britain was great because the Peers did not pretend to
intellectual eminance and did not itch to interfere with matters beyond them.

Everyone was moved by Mountararat's speech -- the fairies as much as the Peers. 
During the song, the fairies had intermingled themselves among the peers. 
Whatever else they may be, the fairies were British Fairies.  As Mountararat
stepped down from his high horse, the second fairy commented, "Charming persons,
are they not?"

"Distinctly," answered the first fairy.  "For self-contained dignity, combined
with airy condescension, give me a British representative Peer!"

"Then, pray, stop this protege of yours before it's too late," said Tolloller. 
"Think of the mischief you're doing!"

"But we can't stop him now," cried the second fairy, in tears.  "Oh, why did you
go and defy us, you great geese?"

"`Great Geese,' indeed!" exclaimed Tolloller as he snorted.  He turned his back
to the fairy and began to depart, but as he walked away he felt a jolt on jerking
him back and spinning him around.

"Please don't go!" begged the fairy.  "You sneer at us.  You break our laws. 
It's true we sigh and cry, but don't think we forgive you.  No, we're very cross
indeed."  At that, Tolloller again turned and tried to leave, only to be zapped
back.  "Don't go!  You are our foe, and we hate you."

"Well, my dear," replied Tolloller.  "If you hate us so, then you have no problem
if we go." Tolloller turned and walked off, ignoring the pleas of the fairy.  At
least she didn't zap him back this time."

***********************************************************

A few days later one Sunday afternoon, Mountararat and Tolloller were walking in
the park.  They spotted Phyllis sitting on one of the benches.

[Phyllis's arrival in London should be long and excitedly anticipated by everyone
in Parliament, except for Strephon who's frightened of it. The day after her
arrival, the two Lords call on her, but she has gone to the park.  So they
quickly stride out after her, and find her sitting on one of the benches, legs
crossed at the ankles, sketching a nice scene.  Of course, she's wearing a dress
down to her ankles.]

"Phyllis, my darling!" called out Mountarart as he sat down next to her.

"Phyllis, my own!" echoed Tolloller as he sat down on the other side of her and
took her arm.

"Don't!" exclaimed Phyllis as she slapped Tolloller in the face.  "How dare you? 
Oh, perhaps you're the two noblemen I'm engaged to?"

"I am one of them," replied Mountararat.

"I am the other," said Tolloller.

"Oh, then, my darlings.  I must apologize," she said to Tolloller in particular. 
"So have you settled which it's to be?"

"Not altogether," replied Tolloller.  "It's a difficult position.  It would be
hardly delicate to toss up.  On the whole, we would rather leave it to you."

"But how can it possibly concern me?  You are both earls; you are both rich; and
you are both old and plain."

"So we are, so we are.  At least I am," answered Mountararat.

"So am I," said Tolloller.

"No, no!" said Mountarart.

"Oh, I am indeed very plain."

"Well, well.  Perhaps you are."

Phyllis said, "I really have nothing to choose between you.  If one of you would
forego his title and distribute his estate among his Irish tenantry, why then I
should see a reason for accepting the other."

The two noblemen stood and walked a few paces off to the side. "Tolloller," asked
Mounararat.  "Are you prepared to make this sacrifice?"

"No..."

"Not even to oblige a lady?"

"No, not even to oblige a lady."

"Then the only question is, which of us shall give way to the other?" Mountararat
continued.  "Perhaps, on the whole, she would be happier with me.  I don't know;
I may be wrong."

"No, I don't know that you are," replied Tolloller.  "I really believe she would
be happier with you.  But the awkward part of the thing is that, if you rob me of
the girl of my heart, we must fight and one of us must die.  It's a family
tradition that I have sworn to uphold. It's a painful position, for I have a very
strong regard for you... George."

"My dear Thomas!"

"You are very dear to me, George.  We were boys together -- at least I was.  If I
were to survive you, my existance would be hopelessly embittered."

"Then, my dear Thomas, you must not do it.  I say it again and again: if it will
have this effect on you, you must not do it.  No, no.  If one of us is to destroy
the other, let it be me!"

"No, no!"

"Yes, yes!  By our boyish friendship I implore you."

"Well, well, be it so," Tolloller paused.  "But no!  I cannot consent to an act
which would crush you with unavailing remorse."

"But it would not do so.  I should be very sad at first -- oh, who would not be?
-- but it would wear off.  I like you very much, but not, perhaps, as much as you
like me."

"George, you're a noble fellow, but that tell-tale tear betrays you. No, George,
you are very fond of me, and I cannot consent to give you a week's uneasiness on
my account."

"But, dear Thomas, it would not last a week.  Remember, you lead the House of
Lords; on your demise, I shall take your place.  Oh, Thomas, it would not last a
day!"  Stepping forward, Mountararat reached his hands out toward Tolloller's
neck.

"Oh!" shrieked Phyllis as she jumped up and broke in between them. "You're not
going to fight over me, are you?  It really isn't worth while."

Tolloller looked at her, at Mountararat, and back at her.  "No, I don't believe
it is."

"Nor I," agreed Mountararat.  "The sacred ties of friendship are paramount."

"Then please, forget your obsession and free me, both of you," implored Phyllis. 
"Let the blame be mine, but in the name of friendship, go your ways and forget
about me."

"Indeed we shall.  Good day, Milady."  Tolloller and Mountararat bowed to Phyllis
and turned and walked away together.  "Say, why don't we take the afternoon off
and do a little Falconing?" Mountararat suggested to Tolloller.  They spent the
rest of the afternoon reminising of the good old days of their youth, and the
many events that had occured, and the current crisis facing Parliament and
Britain.

Mountararat mentioned the Lord Chancellor, who was his cousin about ten years
old.  Mountararat didn't really know what happened; he was only ten or so at the
time.  But the Lord Chancellor was supposed to have done something, had run off
or something.  His elders were hush-hush about it around him, but there was
considerable disapproval going on.  They were all relieved when he returned after
half a year. Thatcher had done his penance, and then turned out sober and proper.

That evening Tolloller headed for his townhouse.  The afternoon had been a
cathartic experience, and he'd developed a new appreciation for his old friend
Mountararat.  He told himself, "Yes.  It was the right thing.  Phyllis was just
an obsession, nothing more."  It wouldn't be right for that kind of rivalry to
break up their long-standing friendship.  "But what a lady.  It will be jolly
difficult to forget her, just like that."  He did not realize he was talking out
loud.

"Yes, she is very hard to forget, is she not?" spoke a female voice next to him. 
He jumped in surprise.  A fairy was flying next to him, her head at the level of
his.  He recognized her; she was that very same fairy who had confronted him
personally that time in the courtyard, he was sure.  "Perhaps I could help you. 
Forget her, that is."  And she put one arm around his shoulders while the other
reached down to his belly and slid down to lower levels...  She giggled as he
jumped back in surprise, and persisted with her manipulations.

A few days later, Tolloller and Mountararat were visiting the Lord Chancellor in
his office. They had noticed how gaunt and thin the Lord Chancellor looked, and
now Mountararat brought it up.  "My Lord, have you been taking care of yourself
lately?"

"I shall admit it: I have been sleeping very poorly and having all sorts of
nightmares these past months, and not eating very well either."

"Yes," answered Tolloller.  "That young fellow Strephon is really making an ass
of himself in Parliament."

"Ah, My Lords, I could handle that well enought.  But -- I shall be frank.  It is
seldom that a Lord Chancellor has reason to envy the position of another, but I
am free to confess that I would rather be two earls engaged to Phyllis than any
other half-dozen noblemen upon the face of the globe."

Tolloller answered without enthusiasm, "Yes. It's an enviable position when
you're the only one."

"Oh, yes -- no doubt most enviable," Mountararat agreed.  "But seeing you thus,
we naturally say to ourselves, `This is very sad.  His Lordship is
constitutionally as blithe as a bird.  He is, perhaps, the only living instance
of a judge whose decrees have received the honor of a double encore.  How can we
bring ourselves to do that which will deprive the Court of Chancery of one of its
most attractive features?'"

"I feel the force of your remarks," replied the Lord Chancellor.  "But I am here
in two capacities, and they clash, my Lords; they clash.  I deeply grieve to say
that in declining to entertain my last application to myself, I presumed to
address myself in terms which render it impossible for me ever to apply to myself
again.  It was a most painful scene, my Lord.  Most painful!"

"This is what it is to have two capacities," commented Tolloller. "Let us be
thankful that we are persons of no capacity whatever."

"Come, come," chided Mountararat.  "Remember, you are a very just and kindly old
gentleman, and you need have no hesitation in approaching yourself, so that you
do so respectfully and with a proper show of deference."

"Do you really think so?"

"I do"

"Well, I will nerve myself to another effort, and if that fails, I resign myself
to my fate."

"Remember," said Tolloller.  "Only the brave deserve the fair.

"And faint heart never won Fair Lady," added Mountararat.

About the same time, Strephon was walking though the courtyard, thinking about
further bills to pass.  There were so many problems to solve -- crime, education.
 He was disturbed by the colonization of the world, too --- people didn't WANT to
be conquered and "civilized." He felt depressed and bitter, and wondered why he
wasn't enjoying himself as leader of both paries and both houses of Parliament. 
"Oh, Phyllis, Phyllis!" he called out, bitter.

"Yes?"

Strephon jumped in surprise.  He wasn't expecting a reply.  "Phyllis! Pardon me,
my Lady," he corrected himself.  "I have not been informed as to which title your
ladyship has chosen."

"I'm not --- I mean, I haven't quite decided yet.  You see, I have no mother to
advise me."

"I have."

"A very young mother..."

"Not very.  A couple of centuries or so."

"Oh?  She wears well."

"She should; she's a fairy."  Strephon regreted that remark as soon as it slipped
out.

"I beg your pardon -- a fairy?"

"Oh, I've no longer any reason to conceal it.  Yes, she's a fairy."

"Well, that would account for," she hesitated.  "A good many things. Then I
suppose you're a fairy."

"I'm half a fairy.  A fairy down to the waist."

"There's nothing to show for it!" She poked him in the side.

"Ow!  I can show you if you want."  He promptly made his top half invisible. 
Phyllis shrieked and jumped in fright, and he restored himself.

Phyllis recovered shortly.  "But why didn't you tell me this before?"

"I thought you would take a dislike to me, or fear me horribly.  But as it's all
off, you may as well know the truth.  I'm only half a mortal."

"But I'd rather have half a mortal that I do love, than half a dozen I don't!"

"Oh, I think not.  Go to your half-dozen."

"It's only two, and I hate'em!  Please forgive me!" Phyllis cried.

"I'm not sure I ought to.  Besides, all sorts of difficulties will arise.  You
know, my grandmother looks quite as young as my mother. So do all my aunts."

"I quite understand.  Whenever I see you kissing a very young lady, I shall know
it's an elderly relative."

"You will?  Then we shall be very happy!" Strephon embraced Phyllis and kissed
her.  It was a prolonged kiss, to make up for all the time they were separated.

After they separated, Phyllis asked, "Does your mother know?  Is she aware of
us?"

Iolanthe appeared right next to them. "She is, and thus she welcomes her
daughter-in-law."  Iolanthe kissed her on the cheek.

"She kisses just like other people!" exclaimed Phyllis.  "But, oh! The Lord
Chancellor, what about him?"

"I forgot him!  Mother, none can resist your fairy eloquence.  You will go to him
and plead for us?"

Iolanthe was much agitated.  "No, no!  It's impossible."

"But our happiness, our very lives, depend on his consent!" said Strephon.

"You know not what you ask.  The Lord Chancellor is," Iolanthe hesitated.  "My
husband."

"Your husband?" exclaimed Phyllis and Strephon both in surprise.

"Yes -- and your father."  She said that to Strephon.

"Then our course is plain!" exclaimed Phyllis.  "On his learning that Strephon is
his son, all objections to our marriage will be at once removed."

"No... no... I can't!"  And Iolanthe promptly disappeared.  But the idea had
planted itself in her mind, and refused to go away.

"Please do not look so betrayed, young Strephon," came a voice from above. 
Strephon looked up and spotted a fairy sitting above them on a treebranch.

"Hello, Miss."  Strephon nodded his head, while he racked his brain. "You must be
Fleta."

"Yes, indeed," Fleta giggled.  To Phyllis, she said, "And you must be Phyllis. 
I've heard plenty about you."  Phyllis curtsied briefly. The fairy became serious
again.  "Let me tell you about your mother and the Lord Chancellor."  She told
Phyllis and Strephon how Iolanthe had met the man who was now the Lord Chancellor
forty years ago, married him.  The penalty was death for marrying a mortal, but
the Fairy Queen commutted it to confinement to the creek.  The Fairy Queen had
finally relented and pardoned and freed Iolanthe only last year. But she must
still never reveal herself to the Lord Chancellor; if she does, she dies.  He
must continue to believe that she died childless.

"Yes, I understand now," said Strephon.  He was moved that the fairy could tell
the whole story seriously, without giggling or laughing once.  Things were that
serious.

Fleta said, "But you know, you can do it yourself.  Have Parliament pass a law
giving you consent to marry Phyllis.  Parliament won't reject it, you know that."

"No, I mustn't," Strephon replied firmly.  "It's out of the question. It would be
most unethical to use my power in Parliament for my own personal benefit."

The next morning, Tolloller lay in bed, his arms wrapped around the fairy, whose
name he learned was Leila.  They had spent a wonderful night together, and now
they cuddled and caressed and kissed each other.  Leila suddenly became agitated.
 "Something horrible's going to happen!" She promptly shrank and flew out the
window.  Tolloller jumped out of bed and ran to the window.  He could see a
momentary reflection from the sun as she flew toward the park.  He got dressed as
quickly as possible and ran out toward the park.

At the same time, Phyllis was having breakfast with Strephon, when he suddenly
got the strong feeling of horrible wrongness.  "I gotta go. Something bad's going
to happen!"  And he fled outside and toward the park.  Phyllis shortly followed
him, running as fast as she could.

The Lord Chancellor left home for work feeling wonderful.  He had slept well for
the first time in ages.  Yesterday evening, he had finally persuaded himself to
consent to give Phyllis to himself.  It was a most hard-fought battle with
himself, he recalled.  At first, he wouldn't hear of it.  It was out of the
question.  But then he pointed out that he was no stranger to himself; as point
of fact, he had been personally acquainted with himself for quite some time. 
That had an effect; he admitted that he had watched his professional advancement
for some time, and yielded to nobody in admiration for his private and
professional virtues.  Then he worked on his feelings.  Eventually, after a
severe struggle with himself, he reluctantly, most reluctantly, consented.  He
was thus now engaged to Phyllis.  He wondered how Phyllis would react when she
was informed.  He would see to that first thing, upon his arrival in his office.

It was a gorgeous morning, and he decided to walk through the park on the way to
Parliament.  He stopped for a moment in the park to look about and enjoy his
surroundings.  A young lady accosted him; she was veiled, and her features seemed
blurred.  They wouldn't clear up however much he blinked and tried to focus his
eyes.  He wondered if he should get another pair of specticles.  She kneeled at
his feet.

"My Lord, I plead a suppliant of you.  Please listen to a mother's fond appeal. 
It's young Strephon of whom I speak."  So this was Strephon's very young mother. 
Or was she a fairy?  With that encounter with fairies and the resulting business
with Parliament, he didn't know what to believe right now.  Everything seemed
turned upon its head.  All right, he would listen to her plea.

The maiden continued, "In bygone years, have you ever wept tears for one untimely
dead?  Bitter, unavailing tears?"  "If even now, in the eventide of life, sad
thoughts of her still arise, let the memory of your wife plead for my son.  he
loves."  The Lord Chancellor couldn't tell -- was she singing or speaking?  It
was a low, somber tone. Tears came to the his eyes. That time, oh so many years
ago...  Was that real?  How did this fairy know about it?  Oh, that was awful!
His mind had been blocking it, and his heart had frozen from it.

The fairy continued, "Do memorials of your long-dead bride lie away in some
cabinet or trunk still treasured?  Her dainty gloves, her faded roses, her bridal
dress, please, let them plead for my son."

The Lord Chancellor could only stand there for a moment.  Then he decided.  "It
may not be. Let me inform you now, Phyllis is my promised bride."

"Your bride?!?  No!"  Thunder burst from the fairy's fingers into the ground, and
she rose and flew backwards, landing on her feet.

The Lord Chancellor stepped back in fear, wondering if he was in any danger.  How
could a fairy possibly become so distressed?  But he held firm.  Nobody and
nothing would change his decision.  "It shall be so. Woe to anyone who would
separate us."

The fairy calmed down, and spoke in a steady tone.  "Yes, you have spoken my
doom."  The Lord Chancellor looked at her, puzzled, confused, wondering.  He
heard, or rather felt, faint voices piercing through his head, proclaiming, "No! 
Don't do it!  Forbear!"  The pleas were aimed not at him, he knew, but at the
fairy in front of him.  "For my son, for Phyllis, and for you, I yield my life. 
Do you not recognize me?"  Her features cleared up and the veil vanished. "I'm
your wife."

The faint voices became wails of anguish, and he recognized her face, a face back
from forty years in the past.  "Iolanthe?"  His breath caught, nausea swept over
him, and he collapsed to the ground in a near faint.  He kept repeating,
"Iolanthe...  Iolanthe..." and was only vaguely aware of fairies appearing around
him and leading Iolanthe away.

Someone roughly shook his shoulders.  He lifted his head up.  It was that young
man, Strephon.  Strephon was speaking, and he only just now heard the words. 
"Where's my mother?  Where is she?  What have you done to her?"

He looked around and saw a crowd in the distance.  Iolanthe was kneeling in front
of the Fairy Queen.  He sprang up and ran faster than he had ever since his days
in college.  He heard the Fairy Queen proclaim, "Thou shalt die." and saw her
raise her arm and point her finger at Iolanthe.  The Lord Chancellor grabbed a
stone and threw it as hard as he could.

The stone slammed into the Fairy Queen's head, and her thunderbolt went wild. 
"What?"  She immediately turned and zapped a bolt into the Lord Chancellor's leg.
 It burned like fire, and he collapsed again. The Fairy Queen looked down at him.
 "The Lord Chancellor again, I perceive.  It's not wise to set yourself against
the fairies -- you surely know by now."

"I don't care," replied the Lord Chancellor, trying to ignore the burning pain in
his leg.  "Go ahead, kill me if you like. I'm past caring how the fairies are
offended."

One of the fairies flew down and stood between the Lord Chancellor and the Fairy
Queen.  "But I'm not offended."  She pointed at the Lord Chancellor's leg and
suddenly the pain was gone; the leg was made whole.

Other fairies flew down and joined them.  "Offended?  Not I."  "Nor I." 
Eventually, all the fairies except Iolanthe and the Fairy Queen herself, were
arraigned between the Fairy Queen and the Lord Chancellor.  "None of us are
offended."  Iolanthe remained on her knees, following the proceedings with an
expression of astonishment.

The Fairy Queen finally spoke, after freezing in tongue-tied surprise. "Offended?
 Heaven forbid, of course We're not offended.  Why should We be offended?  In
fact, We admire you very much.  It's not often that a mortal challenges the Fairy
Queen.  Even less often does a mortal save a fairy's life -- even if only
temporarily.  Iolanthe made a superb choice for a husband, I must say.  It is
most unfortunate that the law mandates death for any fairy who shall marry a
mortal. And it is Our most unpleasant duty to enforce that law."  She raised her
arm again to administer the sentence.

A fairy spoke out.  "Your Majesty, if Iolanthe must die, so must we all.  For we
have sinned as she has."

"What?" exclaimed the Fairy Queen.

"We are all fairy duchesses, marchionesses, countesses, viscountesses, and
baronesses."

"Good heavens!" she cried.  "You have all incurred death."  The Fairy Queen
paused, then pointed directly at one fairy near the back of the crowd.  "No, all
but you."

"No.  When I mentioned the Law, he simply refused to marry me."  She gave an
embarrassed giggle, and seemed a bit disappointed.

"Wise man, and honorable," commented the Fairy Queen.  She raised her arms
authoritatively.  "The rest of you have incurred death!"  She lowered her arms. 
"But I can't slaughter the whole lot of you."  She sighed and brought out a
scroll from buried in her robes.  "But the law is clear.  `A fairy dies who shall
marry a mortal.'"

The Lord Chancellor stood up.  "As an old Equity Draftsman, maybe I can be of
assistance." He went around the other fairies, and approached the Fairy Queen
with some trepidation.  The Fairy Queen showed him the law.  "The subtleties of
the legal mind are adequate to the emergency.  The thing is really quite simple. 
Only a single word need be changed.  Let it stand that, `A fairy dies who don't
marry a mortal.'"

"We like your humor.  Very well."  She wrote in the scroll.  "And now, We shall
see you all momentarily.  We have some business to conduct -- and so do you." 
She pointed sternly at the unmarried fairy.  They both vanished.

The Lord Chancellor turned to Iolanthe, who jumped up and flew into his arms. 
"Aaron."  They kissed; the kiss lasted almost forever. Finally, they broke apart.
 They looked around.  Most of the fairies had disappeared.  A few fairies
remained.  Strephon and Phyllis were there.

The Lord Chancellor turned to Strephon.  "Young Strephon.  You're my son..."

"Mother only told us just yesterday.  I never knew."

"But there is the definite family resemblance," put in Phyllis.  "I can see it,
now that we know."

"I think we should return to Parliament.  Something's happening there, or going
to.  It sounded like the fairies have all married half the House of Peers," said
the Lord Chancellor.  "Shall we find out?"  They all walked happily down to the
Parliament.  "Oh, by the way.  You may marry.  You have my consent."  Strephon
and Phyllis jumped for joy.

Things were abuzz in the House of Peers.  The Lord Chancellor spotted the Earls
Mountararat and Tolloller; they both had fairies by their sides.

The Fairy Queen was there; a soldier was by her side.  Iolanthe giggled and
commented, "Oh, so the Fairy Queen herself has not been wholy innocent of these
shenanegans."

The Fairy Queen overheard that remark, and replied with a smirk, "True, my dear,
but I never acted on those desires until the law required me to."  She turned
back to the soldier and continued what she was saying before.  "I'll make you a
fairy now.  Then you won't be subject to your commander's discipline."  The
soldier jumped, and wings sprouted from his back.  The Fairy Queen then spoke out
to the rest of the hall.  "What say you, my Lords?  Will you join our ranks?"

All the fairies begged the Peers to do so, and Mountararat commented, "Well, now
that the Peers are to be recruited entirely from persons of intellect, I really
dont see what use we are down here, do you, Tolloller?"

"None, whatever."  Wings sprang from the Peers' backs, and everyone, including
Phyllis and Strephon, became a full fairy.  The Lord Chancellor felt strange.  He
felt younger, lighter, and more sprightly than ever before, at least the past
quarter-century.

"Then off we go to Fairyland!" exclaimed the Fairy Queen.  Everyone flew off.

The Lord Chancellor experimented a little.  Yes, he could fly, albeit rather
clumsily for now.  But he'd get better.  Iolanthe, Strephon, and Phyllis remained
with him.  "So what do we do now?"

"Pretty much anything you want.  Fairies live anarchicly, pretty much," answered
Iolanthe.

"Actually, I would like to visit my mother.  I haven't seen her for a couple
years, not since my father's funeral."

***********************************************************

On the country estate, Aaron's mother sat in her wheelchair, in the middle of a
garden.  The garden was surrounded by stone walls, and she was alone with her
thoughts.  She had not long to live, she knew.  Her son was the only remaining
member of her family, and she hoped she would be able to see him once more at
least before she died.  It was very unlikely, she felt.  He was married to his
work.  Had been all his adult life.  He'd learned it from his father, after that
period in college when he went away.

When she thought about that episode now, she did not think her son so bad for
running off and eloping with that young bride.  She wondered what the girl had
been like.  If only she had lived.  Her son would have turned out a whole lot
better, in her opinion.

Sometimes, she imagined her son calling to her.  Like just now, for example.  But
it was always in her imagination.  But it came again, "Mother."  She turned her
head around, and saw four people. One was her son, or a young-looking version of
her son.  Then there was a young man, and two young maidens, all coming toward
her in the garden. "Aaron!"  Is that really you?  How did you get here?"

"I flew.  Mother, it's a long story.  Allow me to present my wife Iolanthe, my
son Strephon, and his wife Phyllis."  Aaron's mother was utterly speechless. 
Everyone bent low to kiss her cheek.  "Remember when I was in College, that
time?"

"Of course.  That was not so bad; I only wish your young wife had lived, and that
you brought her home to me."

They tried their best to tell the story.  Everyone brought everyone else up to
day on the past forty years of life.