At last Onesimus returned to his property in Kithera, after a break of several days in which Marinus and Pelleus had time to flesh out their plans, while taking turns to help Anneus with the fishing. The fisherman had seen his friend trundling up the lane on a cart just that morning, while the youths were foraging for mushrooms in the valley.

  "He said he's always got room for guests in that draughty old house of his; I'd say it's a damn sight better than sleeping in hammocks that smell of fish, if you follow me," Anneus winked.

  Marinus and Pelleus were alarmed, thinking Anneus might have given the game way by speaking of them to Onesimus. They hadn't briefed the fisherman on their schemes, thinking that he wouldn't approve.

  "I just told him a couple of friends would like to drop by, if he had the time," Anneus told them, taken aback by their anxious questions.

  "And you used those words specifically: 'a couple of friends'? Very good, Anneus," Marinus said. They were relying at least somewhat on Onesimus' not knowing too much about them.

  They had one point working in their favour already – Onesimus, the old nobleman and friend of Anneus, was blind. He would thus be an ideal subject for their first attempt to pass off Pelleus as a woman. As yet they had not found any way to obtain women's clothes to complete the disguise, but the high timbre of Pelleus's unbroken voice might be enough to clinch the impression.

  "We shall pay him a visit this afternoon, if possible," Marinus told Anneus, their host. "Is that alright with you, Pelleus?" he added in an undertone.

  "I suppose so. I am as ready as I'll ever be, we shall just have to trust the rest to fortune," he answered.

  "That's the spirit!" Marinus said, slapping him on the back.

  They set out as planned, just after lunch, hoping to catch the older man at home. Anneus had pointed out the way to them.

  Onesimus's estate lay directly adjacent to the lands of Agon Hermenides, and included the part of the avenue containing Anneus's hut. Onesimus's house, however, lay further off, behind a large shelf of cliffs. The two young men followed a path that went up and down some gentle foothills, coming to an extreme end of the valley.

  They spotted the house, nestled between cliffs – a handsome building, of very ancient stone blocks with an upper storey of brick. Beside it, the thin trickle of a waterfall ran down from the cliff and into a culvert in the rock below. This corner of the valley was still and quiet but for the sound of birdsong and the gentle trickle of the stream.

  The house appeared almost deserted, and Marinus had to pull on an cord to sound the bell from outside. A tall and wizened old man with a thick white beard stumbled towards the entrance. His eyes were milky white.

  "Hello?" he called, in a tremulous voice.

  "Hello! Have we come to the house of master Onesimus, sir?" asked Marinus.

  "You have; I am he," the man replied, standing very straight-backed. "I take it you are the friends of Anneus he mentioned earlier? Well, you are welcome to Arcadia. If I can be of assistance to you in any way, it would be my pleasure. It is seldom that this old man receives guests, let alone young people like yourselves. But forgive me, we have not been properly introduced..."

  "I am Marinus of Aeolia, and this is my intended, Pusanella."

  "How do you do, sir?" Pelleus said, in as girlish a voice as he could manage. The old man bowed low.

  "My lady, I am at your service," he said. "As I was saying to Anneus, it would be a great blessing to have some young people about the place; I have ample room in this house to accommodate you both during your stay in Kithera, if you are willing."

  "That is very gracious of you sir," Marinus put in quickly, "more generous than either of us could have hoped, however," he paused for dramatic effect, and the old man's head turned as if to try and catch the words that were to follow, "before we were wrecked on this blessed (but perilous) isle, I made a promise to Pusanella's father, that I would hold her in all reverence, and guard her honour until such a time as we were lawfully wedded. Therefore I am afraid I cannot consent to sleep under the same roof as my dear Pusanella, for aside from the temptations it would pose, there is the matter of her honour."

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  It was masterfully done. Marinus straddled the line between sounding apologetic and presumptuous, and there was little argument to be made against these honourable intentions, or so Onesimus seemed to think.

  "Well, what is to be done?" he said in a forlorn voice, and his eyes widened pathetically. "I cannot turn away a guest – heaven knows Anneus's hut cannot hold two people, and there is nowhere else around for miles, except master Agon's estate..."

  "Master Agon," Marinus repeated, snapping his fingers as if the name had just come back to him. "Now I have heard that he is a man of good repute, keeping a blameless household. He does not have any sons, does he, milord?"

  "Sons? No... but,"

  "Marinus," Pelleus interjected, "we cannot ask master Agon for room and board, it would be too presumptuous!"

  He played his part to perfection. The shy yet forceful tone of voice, sweetened by its feminine timbre, sounded just like that of a concerned fiancée addressing her mate. And the pleading note in it seemed to have stirred Onesimus's sense of chivalry.

  "No, my lady, I would not allow you or your dear fiancé to throw yourselves on the mercy of master Agon. I shall write to him myself, on your account. This matter will brook no delay – Agatha!" he called in a loud voice.

  Marinus and Pelleus's joy turned to horror in the second it took for Onesimus to name his housekeeper. They had forgotten his staff! They, of course, were not blind, and would spot the deception at once.

  The two lads threw each other looks of alarm, gesticulating silently though with great violence to try and communicate past the old man. It was no use – already they could hear the woman's feet upon the stairs, and moments later she appeared in the hall, summoned by her lord. She hardly spared a glance at the two youths, having eyes only for Onesimus.

  "Ah, Agatha – if you would fetch some paper and a quill from my study, I require you to pen a letter for me," he said, turning to face her. She went without a word and returned very soon with the writing materials in hand, along with a little tablet to lean on.

  "To whom am I addressing the letter?" she asked.

  "His lordship Agon Hermenides – this cannot wait..." Onesimus muttered, as if to himself.

  Marinus and Pelleus stood there rooted to the spot, wishing the floor would swallow them up, while the old man briefly recited their cock-and-bull story, naming them as a pair of young lovers – his housekeeper Agatha catching every word.

  All the while she did not utter a single objection; they wondered if she had not noticed they were not who they said they were, for she paid them no heed whatsoever. Marinus was close to considering their plan a success, and even relaxed his rigid stance.

  When Onesimus finished dictating, however, he turned to his visitors, and Agatha's gaze followed his.

  "I think, given your predicament, his lordship will be happy to grant lodgings to your lovely companion, while you yourself are welcome to stay here in my house," he said, addressing Marinus. Agatha's eyes narrowed on Pelleus, but she said nothing.

  "You'll find, my lady, that Agon has a charming daughter of about your age. I think she, in particular, will be delighted to find herself with a new companion and house-guest," Onesimus went on, smiling in Pelleus's vague direction.

  "I look forward to it," Pelleus said, with a tremor in his voice brought about by Agatha's ice-cold scrutiny.

  "We are much obliged to you, sir," Marinus added warmly, as if hoping to charm his way out of this problem. "You have truly saved me from a sticky spot."

  His own gaze met Agatha's with defiance. Pelleus had to marvel at his brazen confidence.

  "Well, with that settled – I think Anneus will be willing to post the letter, he is always eager to help – perhaps, Agatha, you could show master Marinus to the spare room?" Onesimus said. "And Marinus, would you mind if I deprived you of mistress Pusanella's company for just a moment?"

  Pelleus shot a fearful look at Marinus.

  "By all means!" Marinus said pitilessly, and with a punch on the arm, he left Pelleus to it, while the housekeeper showed him the way upstairs.