“She thought it was great sport. She was as wet and messed up as you, and she didn’t seem to mind in the least having everyone laugh at her.”

“She wasn’t the one who fell in the pond!”

“Well, from what I could tell, the baron’s daughter doesn’t seem the type to hold such a faux pas against you.”

Matthew nodded. “Yeah, you’re right, now that I think about it. She really is quite a girl. You know, Dad, she opened up more quickly and personally than any German I’ve met since we’ve been here.”

“Her father’s the same. Absolutely personable from the minute I met him. They’re a couple of unusual natives, that’s for sure. What do you say? I’m ready for a few relaxing days in the country.”

“Sounds good to me. When did they want us to come?”

“This weekend. We’ll go Friday afternoon, and come home on Sunday.”

Four days later, Matthew and Thaddeus McCallum found themselves pulling off the country road they had been following and pursuing the course up through the birch entryway to the hilltop estate of Baron Heinrich von Dortmann.

Emerging at the top, they beheld the rearing watery sentinel with suitable detachment and stopped in front of the house. Baron von Dortmann, who had been expecting them, did not wait for anyone else to answer their ring at the door, but burst out personally to greet them with boisterously warm and enthusiastic handshakes and smiles of welcome as they climbed out of their car.

He grabbed up their two bags himself and led them inside.

Half an hour later, after the McCallums had been shown to their rooms, the three Dortmanns greeted their guests again in the ground-floor guest sitting room.

“I would like you to meet my wife, Mr. McCallum,” said the baron in his native tongue. “She does not speak your language, so you will be able to use your German. Marion von Dortmann… Thaddeus McCallum and his son, Matthew.”

“Welcome to our home,” said the baron’s wife, shaking hands with father and son. “My husband has told me about you both.”

“Frau von Dortmann,” said McCallum.

“I hope he did not tell you too much about me,” said Matthew, casting a sheepish glance toward Sabina.

“I’m afraid I do know about the incident of the fishpond,” Frau von Dortmann said with a smile.

Matthew groaned.

“But not to worry. You are among friends. Please, sit down,” she added. “Heidi will be bringing us coffee and tea and cake momentarily.”

“I tell you, McCallum,” said the baron, as the five seated themselves in the overstuffed leather chairs and couches around the large and well-appointed parlor, “my wife and her maids and cooks keep us so well provided for with food it is a wonder we are not all fat beyond belief!”