That Sunday afternoon at the Johnsons had a great effect on Lalla’s skating. She had often said things like “Who wants to be a champion anyway?” but she had not meant them; it was like a person’s saying “Who’s afraid of the big, bad wolf?” when a headmaster or mistress sent for him. But hearing Toby say “one chance in a thousand” did something to her. It made her want to hear people like Max Lindblom praise her and say how well she was getting on. And it made her decide to pass her inter-silver test so brilliantly that not only Max Lindblom but everybody else at the rink would compliment her, and then Harriet would go home and tell the Johnsons, and they would laugh at Toby and tell him what an idiot he had been.

With the fine training she had behind her, all Lalla needed to make her excel at the figures that she had to do for the inter-silver examination was to care that she did them well, and to work hard. Quite suddenly she was caring and she was working hard. Max Lindblom, smiling in his shy way, came to Nana.

“Lalla does well. I am very pleased with her. You will tell Mrs. King.”

“I will, Mr. Lindblom, and I know she’ll be pleased. Very set she is on this skating.”

Max was used to Nana, and knew how she felt about skating, and was used to her saying “this skating” in a despising voice; but he knew too she worried if Lalla was not getting on well, and would be glad to tell the aunt that he was pleased.

Nana not only told Aunt Claudia. She also told Wilson, who told the cook, who told the housemaid, and she told Miss Goldthorpe. Miss Goldthorpe, who took Lalla to her fencing and dancing lessons, told Alonso Vittori and Monsieur Cordon, so in the end everybody who had much to do with Lalla knew how well she was doing and smiled at her in a proud way.

A month after Lalla’s tenth birthday the inter-silver test took place. The judging was held on the small private rink, and while it was going on skaters who had not been called practiced on the big rink. It had been arranged that Harriet should come to the rink that morning, so that Lalla would have someone to talk to while she was waiting. Lalla did not need someone to talk to, for she was not nervous before a test, but Harriet was quaking at the knees. She looked at Lalla flying round in a new white skirt, sweater and bonnet, and thought how awful it would be if Lalla got her figures wrong, or fell over, or did something else to lose marks so she would not pass.

Because the test was in the morning, and the mornings were her time, Miss Goldthorpe had brought Harriet to the rink. She thought skating rinks nasty, cold, damp places, and she could not imagine why anyone, unless forced like Lalla to do so, wanted to spend her time going round and round on ice when she could spend it reading interesting books. She had not met Harriet until that morning but, as Lalla’s friend, she had been wanting to meet her. The first thing that struck her was that Harriet looked worried. “Why,” she thought, “should a child of that age look worried?”

“Is anything the matter, dear?” she asked.

Harriet sat down beside Miss Goldthorpe. She put her hands into her coat pockets to keep them warm. “I feel peculiar inside for Lalla. I expect you do too, don’t you?”

Miss Goldthorpe had not thought of feeling peculiar for Lalla but she was always interested in new ideas. She thought this one over. “I don’t think so. Should I?”

“It’s a test. It’d be simply awful if she failed.”

“Why?”

Harriet stared at Miss Goldthorpe. Could it be possible that somebody who knew Aunt Claudia could ask why?

“Well, she expects to pass, Mrs. King expects her to pass, and so does Mr. Lindblom.”

“How old are you?” Miss Goldthorpe asked.

“I was ten just before Lalla was. Lalla gave me a simply lovely skating book, and Nana knitted me this beautiful sweater, and of course I’d lots of other presents besides.”

Miss Goldthorpe said she was glad Harriet had had so nice a birthday, and remembered that Lalla had told her about it. Then she explained that the reason she had asked Harriet’s age was to know if she was old enough to have taken any examinations.

Harriet explained that until she had been ill she had been at school, and there had been examinations at the end of each term.

Miss Goldthorpe said that she quite understood, but that it was not end-of-term examinations she was thinking of, but bigger ones. She went on:

“I taught in schools until I taught Lalla, so I was always coaching girls for examinations. Of course it was important that they should pass, but I found it didn’t really matter what they knew. Lots of people pass examinations who don’t know very much, and lots of people can’t pass them who do. Once I got used to this idea I never worried about examinations again. I did my best to make my pupils pass; I couldn’t do more. If they didn’t, they didn’t. I imagine a test’s very like a school examination, and that Mr. Lindblom feels about Lalla much as I felt about my pupils.”

Harriet hugged one of her knees.

“But Mr. Lindblom doesn’t feel like that, nor does Mrs. King, nor does Lalla. She’s simply got to pass. It’d be the most awful thing that had ever happened if she didn’t.”

Miss Goldthorpe took a small tin out of her pocket.

“Black-currant drops. They’re not at all bad though really they’re medicine. You suck one, and don’t worry. If Lalla knows her figures she will pass. She’s that sort of child. If she doesn’t know them she won’t, and there’s nothing either you or I can do about it. Now tell me about yourself; what lessons have you been doing since you’ve been ill?”

Miss Goldthorpe was a good teacher because she was really interested in the girls she taught. She thought about them and nothing else. Now, sitting on the side of the rink, she was really interested in Harriet, and Harriet, feeling this, told her everything. About being ill, and the convalescent home, and Uncle William and the shop, and the boys, especially Alec’s paper round. It was quite a surprise when Lalla skimmed across the ice and leaned over the barrier and said:

“I’ve been watching you two. Jabber, jabber, jabber. I knew you wouldn’t care about my skating, Goldie, but I thought you’d watch me, Harriet. I’ve practiced all my test figures, and everyone was watching me except you.”

Harriet started guiltily, but Miss Goldthorpe was quite unmoved.

“Harriet and I have been having a nice talk, dear. While she was watching you she was getting quite nervous for you, and I told her it was unnecessary.”

Lalla nodded. “So it is, but you can think of me now because I come next.”

“I’ll hold my thumbs,” said Harriet. “I always hold my thumbs when anything’s happening in the family. It’s the best thing you can do to help anybody.”

“All right, hold them,” said Lalla. “But watch me. I don’t want you two gabbling while I’m doing my test.”

Harriet and Miss Goldthorpe stood next to Max Lindblom. Harriet was holding her thumbs, but Miss Goldthorpe, who did not believe in thumb-holding, had her hands in her pockets, and so did Max Lindblom. Harriet had never seen a test before, and she had the sort of respectful feeling she had when she went into a church.

Though the two judges looked ordinary, they became, as Harriet watched their faces, taller and more important every minute. They were a man and a woman, and they wore almost identical teddy-bear coats and fur boots. The woman judge had a scarf tied over her head, and the man was wearing a cap. Both carried pencils and cards. Lalla seemed surprisingly at home with them. She searched about the ice for a clean piece where no previous skaters had left a mark, and then stood waiting to begin as calmly, Harriet thought, as if she were waiting to cross the road.

As neither Miss Goldthorpe nor Harriet knew a well-skated figure when they saw one, they could only stare at Lalla and hope for the best. Miss Goldthorpe thought it peculiar to be able to skate, so while she watched Lalla she did not see the child she taught but a new Lalla, whose talent was as weird as the talent of a chimpanzee who could ride a bicycle.

Harriet had been shown by Lalla over and over again what she had to do, and she understood just enough to know which edge Lalla was on, and when she was doing the same figure on a different edge, or backwards instead of forwards. She tried to discover how things were going by glancing at Max Lindblom’s face, but she got nothing from it until Lalla had finished her figures. Then he smiled. When later Lalla’s one and a half minutes of free skating were over, Harriet could bear the suspense no longer. She pulled Max Lindblom’s sleeve.

“Was she good?”

He was moving towards Lalla but he paused.

“Very good. I am well pleased. I shall ask if we may know her marks.”

Lalla, after a charming smile from both the judges, came flying towards Max, her hands outstretched. He held them in both of his, beaming at her.

“That was good, Lalla. You have done well.”

In a few minutes, the fact that Lalla had done well was known all over the rink. The top marks she could have been awarded for figures were fifty-four, and the marks she had earned were forty-eight. They were better marks for figures than anybody had hoped for, and extraordinarily good ones for someone who was only just ten. For free skating top marks were twelve, and Lalla had been given nine point three.

Lalla was enchanted with herself. She rushed on to the big rink and let off steam by spread-eagling all the way around it, and in spite of Miss Goldthorpe’s waving and beckoning, she would not come off the ice. In fact she would have gone on going round and round if Max Lindblom had not caught her and pushed her to the barrier.

In spite of understanding that Lalla felt wildly excited, and knowing people did feel like that after passing examinations well, Miss Goldthorpe had to make her voice sound severe.

“Come along, dear, it’s time we were going home.”

When they got to the cloakroom Lalla sat down on a stool next to Harriet, leaned back against the wall and put a foot in Harriet’s lap in a lordly way.

“Take my shoe off for me, Harriet. A person who has got forty-eight marks out of fifty-four doesn’t feel like taking off her own skates.”

Harriet started to unlace the shoe, but Miss Goldthorpe stopped her.

“I’m sorry a person who’s got forty-eight marks doesn’t feel like taking off her skates, but she’s got to for no one else is going to take them off for her.”

Lalla felt as though Miss Goldthorpe had tugged her down from the clouds to a common everyday world.

“You are mean, Goldie. Why shouldn’t Harriet take them off for me? She’s got nothing else to do.”

Miss Goldthorpe could see Harriet would be proud to take off Lalla’s skates, but she knew that Lalla, who had always had everything that she wanted, could very easily turn into a spoiled little horror, so she answered in a really severe voice.

“Lalla. Take your foot off Harriet’s lap at once, and unlace your shoes.”

Lalla thought Miss Goldthorpe was being horrible, but she knew there was no arguing when she used that voice. She unlaced her skating shoes and took them off, but while she was doing it she kept up a running commentary under her breath.

“Such a fuss…you wouldn’t think it would hurt people who’ve had nothing to do all the morning but watch other people doing things, to take off a shoe…it’s mean…nobody would think here was somebody who’d just got forty-eight marks out of fifty-four.”

Miss Goldthorpe said nothing while Lalla was muttering, but when Lalla had changed into her outdoor shoes she buttoned her into her coat and gave her a kiss.

“Shall we celebrate your success? Let’s go to a shop and have a bun and something to drink.”

In one second Lalla was back in her earlier mood.

“Gorgeous Goldie, you always think of nice things. May Harriet come? And may we have that fizzy lemonade that makes your nose tickle?”

“Of course you may, and of course Harriet’s coming. But if Harriet’s sensible she will choose hot chocolate, for it was cold by the rink.”

They found a very nice shop and Lalla had lemonade, Harriet chocolate and Miss Goldthorpe a cup of coffee, and they all had buns. While they ate and drank Lalla described every moment she had been on the ice taking her test. Neither Miss Goldthorpe nor Harriet understood much of what she was saying, but Miss Goldthorpe managed to look interested, and Harriet really was. Interested faces were all that Lalla needed and she enjoyed herself more and more each minute. When Miss Goldthorpe went to the desk to pay the bill Lalla suddenly remembered another reason why she felt so wildly excited.

“Oh, Harriet, I’ve thought of something. The very first second you see Toby you’ve got to tell him about me. How many marks I got, and every single thing you can think of. That’ll show him that he’s absolutely wrong saying I won’t be a champion.”

A few days after the test there was more excitement for Lalla. Max Lindblom thought that as she had passed with such flying colors, it would be good for her to have the experience of skating before an audience. He went to see Mr. Matthews. Mr. Matthews was drinking a glass of milk and swallowing tablets for his duodenal ulcer. He listened to what Max Lindblom had to say with a surprised expression.

“But I’ve been wanting the kid to skate in public for years. We’ve got that big charity affair in January. Nothing could suit me better. But you’ve always said you wouldn’t allow it.”

Max nodded and said, “I do not like a show being made of a small child. A small child does an exhibition badly, but people do not know it is bad, they think it wonderful she can skate at all, so they stamp and scream and applaud. How then can I say to that child, ‘you are a naughty one, that was a bad display last night.’ The child has heard the applause, and she thumbs her nose at me.”

Mr. Matthews looked shocked. “I hope not! I shouldn’t like any of our youngsters behaving that way.”

“I do not mean they thumb the nose with the hand, I mean they thumb the nose inside the head.”

Mr. Matthews did not care what happened inside the head, so he went back to the discussion of Lalla giving a skating exhibition.

“D’you think that aunt of hers would agree?”

Max explained that Aunt Claudia would have liked Lalla to have skated in public long ago, but she had agreed to wait until he said that she was ready for it. He thought now the time had come. He wanted Lalla to learn how a free skating program was made up; that the movements were chosen and the jumps and spins arranged to show her to her best advantage, please the audience, and yet be well inside her range. The only question was who should write to the aunt. Should he do it or should Mr. Matthews? Mr. Matthews said he thought he ought to write. After all, he was arranging the performance for charity and he would say that Max had suggested it.

The result of Mr. Matthews’ letter was that one morning Aunt Claudia came up to the schoolroom just as Lalla was starting lessons. It was easy to see, as she opened the door, that nobody had done anything wrong, for she looked like a cat just after it had drunk a large saucer of cream.

“Forgive me for interrupting, Miss Goldthorpe, but I have some exciting news for Lalla. Mr. Matthews asks if you may give an exhibition, dear, at his big charity performance in January. I think we may say yes, don’t you?”

Lalla was as surprised as Mr. Matthews had been, for she knew Mr. Matthews had always wanted her to give exhibitions and Max had never allowed it.

“Does Max say I can?” she asked.

“Mr. Matthews says he suggested it. Now when you go skating this afternoon I want you to find out what sort of program he is arranging, because we’ve got to see that you have a really lovely skating dress for the occasion. I think the first skating frock for our little star ought to be white, don’t you, Miss Goldthorpe? With perhaps a sprinkling of silver stars or something pretty like that.”

When Aunt Claudia said “our little star,” Miss Goldthorpe’s insides felt as if they were milk about to curdle. She did not approve of that sort of talk. Time enough, she thought, to call Lalla a star when she was one. However, it was no good talking to Aunt Claudia. So Miss Goldthorpe answered politely, though in rather a stuffy, governessy sort of voice, that she thought white would be very nice indeed.

Aunt Claudia sat down.

“The other thing I want to speak about, Lalla, is your food. Now that you’re really on the threshold of success, we must do something about your diet. A skater should be slim, and there are a few naughty curves I should like to see disappear. Don’t you agree, Miss Goldthorpe?”

Miss Goldthorpe looked at Lalla’s round face, colored like a ripe peach, her mass of shining dark curls, and her nicely made, solid body, and Aunt Claudia or no Aunt Claudia, she had to speak her mind.

“Lalla’s not fat. She’s nicely covered, and I like to see a child nicely covered.”

Aunt Claudia smiled at Miss Goldthorpe in a you-and-I-understand-each-other way.

“An ordinary child, yes. But we can’t treat Lalla like an ordinary child. We must treat her like a little race horse.”

Lalla was startled. A race horse! She had been wondering what sort of diet she was to have, for the only kind she knew was the sort known as “starve a fever,” which happened when she had measles, chicken-pox, and influenza.

“Do you mean I’ve got to eat oats? I have those in porridge.”

Aunt Claudia tried not to look impatient, but she thought Lalla was being slow and her voice showed that she thought that.

“Certainly not oats. We have to increase the proteins and reduce the starchy foods.” She turned to Miss Goldthorpe. “There’s to be no bread with her luncheon, nor potatoes, and there’ll be no rich sweets. I’ve told Cook it’s to be stewed fruit in future. For tea and breakfast there will be rusks instead of bread, and no cakes at present.”

Lalla gasped. “Rusks for tea! But I like toast. No cakes!”

Aunt Claudia used her reciting voice. “Not for the moment. We don’t mind any sacrifice, do we, to achieve our end?”

Lalla did mind, and she minded Aunt Claudia saying “we.” She thought to herself, “I bet she has cakes and toast, and I’m the only one who’s got to eat rusks.” But she kept these thoughts to herself and merely said:

“I thought I was to have ‘square-turn’d joints and strength of limb.’ I won’t get those eating rusks.”

Aunt Claudia gave her a kiss.

“Naughty child. You know I’m only planning this diet because I have to. And believe me, it’s not an easy thing to do. With meat rationed as it is, it’s going to mean a sacrifice all round to see you have sufficient.”

There was a little silence after Aunt Claudia had gone. Miss Goldthorpe was wondering what Nana was going to say when she heard about the diet. Lalla was waiting for Aunt Claudia to be out of hearing. Presently she could be heard shutting Lalla’s bedroom door. All the same, Lalla spoke in a whisper.

“She’s gone to tell Nana, but I’ll get round her. Nana’d never be so mean as to stop me making toast. Do you think I’m too fat, Goldie?”

Miss Goldthorpe struggled to be loyal to her employer.

“Well, dear, I know nothing about skating.” Then she broke off and her real feelings got hold of her. “No, I don’t, dear. However, if you’ve got to have a diet, you’ve got to have a diet, and there’s the end to it. Now come on, we’ve wasted too much time. Where’s your atlas? Open it at North America.”

In Lalla’s bedroom Nana listened to Aunt Claudia’s description of Lalla’s diet with a respectful face but a turbulent heart. Never had there been a diet in her nurseries except when a child was ill. There had been trouble in the past because a child would not eat, but never when one could.

“Lalla’s been brought up to eat what’s put in front of her, ma’am, and so she does, bless her. I don’t hold with interfering with children’s food.”

Aunt Claudia tried to be patient.

“But you see Lalla’s not an ordinary child. As I’ve just been saying to Miss Goldthorpe, we’ve got to treat her with the same care as we would a little race horse.”

“Race horse! I don’t like to speak against poor dumb animals, but I wouldn’t wish it to be said that I would treat a race horse better than one of my children. Same care as a race horse indeed! Lalla couldn’t have had better attention since I’ve had her if she was Princess Anne.”

Aunt Claudia wondered, as she had sometimes wondered before, if Nana were getting too troublesome about her work. It would be awkward getting rid of her, for she had been chosen by Lalla’s mother and there was some money to come to her if she stayed with the family till Lalla was grown up. The lawyer who looked after Lalla’s money was a fairly reasonable man to deal with, but Aunt Claudia had a feeling he might be difficult if she tried to get rid of Nana.

“This is not a discussion, it’s an order. But I shall need your help over tea. It would be easier if you would eat rusks too; it’s a temptation to the child if she sees a loaf on the table.” Aunt Claudia could see by Nana’s face that she was never going to agree to eat rusks, so she hurried on. “Now, to a much more exciting subject. Lalla’s going to give a skating exhibition in January, so this afternoon I’ve told her to talk to Max Lindblom about the sort of display it’s to be. Perhaps you would talk to him too. I thought her very first special skating dress should be white. What do you think?”

Nana, as usual when she had been interviewed by Aunt Claudia, opened the door for her and saw her down the stairs. Then she came back to Lalla’s room and went on with what she had been doing, which was tidying drawers. Suddenly she stopped one of Lalla’s socks in her hand. Little race horse! What a way to speak of a child! Rusks indeed! She said aloud: “I’ve never starved my children yet and I’m not starting now. The moment I see Lalla looking peaky, it’s hot dripping toast for her tea and plenty of it.”