Chapter 5 - The Trap

  I’ll leave you to imagine all the excitement on Christmas Eve in the Darling’s household, when one of the Earl’s valets delivered the invitation for Wendy and Betty.

Mrs. Darling had been forced to endure, in a dignified silence, the scornful looks of the other mothers when she named the academic establishment that Wendy attended. Now she was filled with delight at the thought that she would shortly be able to tell these ladies about a Christmas party held at the residence of His Excellence, Lord Ffink Pfenninger Jones – “the uncle of Wendy’s dearest friend.”

Mr. Darling, on the other hand, started to fret that Wendy would need a new dress. However, he was soon reassured by the fact that not even Betty possessed a special dress she could wear to go to her uncle’s house.

Now, I know you are anxious to learn whether the Earl and his son’s evil plan was successful or not, but, first of all I must tell you that Christmas Day was quite magical for Betty. Everyone overwhelmed her with kindness and gave her lots of presents. John even wrote a poem for her and presented it, blushing red as a beetroot. Naturally, this thrilled little Betty.

Finally, the day of the 27th arrived and William came in his uncle’s carriage to pick up the two girls. As we know, William had his misgivings concerning Wendy, but he had decided to hide them and behave politely to everyone.

The girls were ready well in advance. They waited for William in the sitting room, peeping from behind the curtains to watch the carriage draw up at the door.

Truth to tell, the girls’ behaviour would have made Miss Worksham exceedingly annoyed, because they both completely forgot the importance of her instructions regarding “Decorum, Decorum, Decorum”. Betty tore open the front door and ran into the street to hug her brother, shouting with joy, while Wendy…

Well, it’s difficult to say what Wendy did. She had the feeling she had been covered in fairy dust and she was flying all over the place. It seemed to her that everybody in the room had stopped talking - or else she had become deaf, because she couldn’t hear a thing. She came back down to earth only when Betty pulled her sleeve for the third time and cried in her ear (she hadn’t heard the first two times) “Can I introduce my brother?”

William and his constant private sunbeam came towards her. Wendy, who would have preferred to run away, struggled to control herself, dropped a curtsey and murmured: “Welcome, milord!” And this made Betty, John and Michael, who had run to meet the guest, fall around with laughter.

I must say that, in all the confusion, some fairy dust had probably dropped on Mrs. Darling by mistake. For a moment, if he had been quick enough, William might have managed to catch the sweet little kiss that was always in the right-hand corner of her mouth.

The Earl treated the girls and his nephew with extreme kindness during dinner. He was particularly attentive to Wendy. He asked her how she was getting on at school and also a great many questions concerning that Peter Pan fellow who was going to pick her and Betty up and the Neverland where he lived.

Playing the perfect host, he inquired all about their trip - how long it would last, the direction they would take and the layout of the Island, as well as the number of pirates and Indians and the kind of weapons they had. In short, his Lordship, who was an expert at worrying out secrets, did everything he could to win over his young guest. He would have completely succeeded if Wendy had not been distracted all evening by an annoying little sunbeam that seemed to hover mysteriously over William’s head, dazzling her eyes.

Lord Bryan’s manner was so relaxed and friendly that he put his young guests entirely at their ease. When he proposed a toast before they went back home, Betty, who was overcome with happiness and excitement, raised her glass containing a thimbleful of champagne and cried: "I wish Wendy and William would get married soon!”

Naturally, poor Wendy was so embarrassed that she would have liked to have disappeared under the table. She was so ashamed that she thought she would die if her eyes met William’s. And as for William – his first thought was that gabbling sisters ought to be put down by law - in a painless way, of course, but definitely exterminated!

In that moment of intense drama for his guests, the Earl rose splendidly to the occasion. He laughed gently at Betty’s outburst and treated Wendy with great delicacy. He said that if what Betty desired should, in fact, actually take place, the young couple would have his blessing. Then he distracted their attention by changing the subject. When the moment of confusion was past, he accompanied them to the door, where he said an affectionate goodbye and gallantly kissed Wendy’s hand. “Now, have a good trip, young lady,” he said. “And give my regards to your Peter!”

The three friends’ return trip home would have been perfect, as Wendy confessed to William some years later, but for the fact that the horse’s hooves made such an annoying noise all the way back. At that moment, she had been sure they were racing over clouds and not cobblestones, and there shouldn’t have been such a clatter.

However, all this was spoiled when they had reached the top of the avenue where the Darlings lived. That was when Johnny the Stinker and his ruffians arrived on the scene.

Some time later in the Darlings’ sitting room (where Mr. Darling was tenderly trying to console his weeping wife), the bruised coachman made a statement to the police, declaring that a wicked band of scoundrels had dragged away poor Master William and the two terrified, screaming girls. In reply to the sergeant’s questions he added: “Oh, yes, naturally, Master William fought like a lion. He even managed to pull off the ragged scarf that the one who looked like the leader had over his face.”

Unfortunately, however, the coachman had been unable to identify the rascal.