Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

Acknowledgements

Part one

CHAPTER ONE - Balloons over London

CHAPTER TWO - Rich Cousins

CHAPTER THREE - The Train

CHAPTER FOUR - Delderton

CHAPTER FIVE - Becoming a Fork

CHAPTER SIX - London Interlude

CHAPTER SEVEN - Matteo’s Moan

CHAPTER EIGHT - Biology at Dawn

CHAPTER NINE - Trash Cans and a Festival

CHAPTER TEN - The Flurry Dance

Part Two

CHAPTER ELEVEN - The Prince Awakes

CHAPTER TWELVE - Arrival in Bergania

CHAPTER THIRTEEN - The Prince Watches

CHAPTER FOURTEEN - Sightseeing

CHAPTER FIFTEEN - Treachery

CHAPTER SIXTEEN - The Dragonfly Pool

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN - The Festival Begins

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN - Finding the Prince

CHAPTER NINETEEN - The Last Dance

CHAPTER TWENTY - Good-bye, Bergania

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE - The Pursuit

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO - The Berganian Mountain Cat

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE - The Cheese-Makers’ Guild

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR - A Mistake Is Made

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE - A Hero Is Born

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX - Night Train to Calais

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN - Reaching the Boat

Part Three

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT - September the Third

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE - Rottingdene House

CHAPTER THIRTY - New Term

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE - Karil and Carlotta

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO - Matteo’s Visit

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE - The Duke Is Enraged

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR - The Painting

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE - Karil Sees His Way

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX - Christmas

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN - The Future King

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT - The Stripy Boys

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE - Arcadia

CHAPTER FORTY - Dry Ice

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE - The Play

Epilogue

ALSO BY EVA IBBOTSON

The Beasts of Clawstone Castle

The Star of Kazan

The Haunting of Granite Falls

Not Just a Witch

The Great Ghost Rescue

Journey to the River Sea

Dial-a-Ghost

Island of the Aunts

Which Witch?

The Secret of Platform 13

A Company of Swans

A Countess Below Stairs

A Song for Summer

The Morning Gift

DUTTON CHILDREN’S BOOKS

A division of Penguin Young Readers Group

Published by the Penguin Group

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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Text copyright © 2008 by Eva Ibbotson Illustrations copyright © 2008 by Kevin Hawkes

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages in connection with a review written for inclusion in a magazine, newspaper, or broadcast.

The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

CIP Data is available.

Published in the United States by Dutton Children’s Books,

a division of Penguin Young Readers Group

345 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014

www.penguin.com/youngreaders

eISBN : 978-1-101-09802-8

10987654321

http://us.penguingroup.com

I would like to thank my son Toby Ibbotson

for the help he gave me in the writing of this book.

Part one

CHAPTER ONE

Balloons over London

I don’t think you ought to be crying at your age. People of fifty-two don’t cry,” said Aunt Hester sternly.

“I’m not crying,” said her sister, May. “Not really. And anyway, I heard you blowing your nose three times last night when you went to the bathroom.”

“Anyone can blow their nose,” said Hester.

“Not three times. And you’re older than me.”