Tristan had already made up his mind not to enjoy the show by the time he, Siegfried, James, and Helen walked into the auditorium. His every gesture bespoke his state of mind as he subconsciously (more consciously than sub) tried to make it obvious to Siegfried that he wanted to be elsewhere. He plopped down in his forest-green seat with an expression of utter boredom on his face and let out a long, exaggerated sigh. He could tell that all three of his compatriots noticed. For a moment, he thought Siegfried was going to take umbrage, but the elder Farnon didn't say anything, choosing instead to read his playbill.

"My goodness," he remarked to James. "I didn't realize Albert had done so many Gilbert and Sullivan shows. Look at his biography: The Pirates of Blah Blah, The Yeomen of the Blah Blah Blah…"

Or, at least, that's what it sounded like to Tristan. Desperate for something with which to occupy his brain, he decided to focus on the elderly woman sitting directly in front of him. He counted each bluish-white curl on her head. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten…

He had reached forty-two when suddenly the lights dimmed. A hush fell over the auditorium. After a moment, the orchestra in the pit began to play the show's overture. The curtain rose, revealing a group of men wearing kimonos and Japanese makeup and carrying elaborately decorated fans.

"If you want to know who we are," they sang, "we are gentlemen of Japan/on many a vase and jar/on many a screen and blah blah blah…"

Tristan's attention had faded out again. His vision was adjusting to the lack of light, and he could now make out Siegfried, James, and Helen in the darkness. They were all watching the show intently and laughing at the funny lines. Tristan felt as though he was going to fall asleep.

He was only vaguely aware of the entrance of Siegfried's friend Albert Maxwell. Albert was playing Ko-Ko, the Lord High Executioner of Titipu (the fictional Japanese city in which the operetta took place) and entered singing a number called "Behold The Lord High Executioner" with the chorus of men.

Tristan began to yawn softly, and noted with more than a little pleasure that Siegfried seemed to stiffen noticeably each time he did so. "Yawwwwn," he yawned. "Yawwwwwn."

"Behold the Lord High Executioner…"

"YAWWWWWWWWWWN!"

Several heads turned toward Tristan, who blushed furiously (not that anyone could have seen it, of course).

He had meant to yawn again, but just to annoy Siegfried – not the entire audience. To be fair, Tristan thought, it's not that the show is so very bad, it's just the principle of the thing! Siegfried had dragged him to the theatre in the first place. He had forced him to stop reading "The Adventures of Larry the Head Louse".

And as far as Tristan was concerned, there were some crimes for which people must pay.

Ten minutes or so later, Tristan was just about to fall asleep when he was suddenly jolted awake by the sound of female voices. He realized that there had not been even one woman in the show yet, and now lots of them were parading onto the stage. They all wore beautiful kimonos in a rainbow of colors, and like the men, they all carried fans. But there was one girl, near the center of things, who seemed somehow different from the rest.

She was singing the exact same song as everyone else. "Comes a train of little ladies/from scholastic trammels free/each a little bit afraid is/wond'ring what the world can be./Is it but a life of troubles/sadness set to song?/Is its beauty but a bubble/bound to break ere long?…" She was wearing a brightly colored kimono, just like everybody else – hers was a brilliant shade of green. And like every other girl on the stage, she was wearing about three tons of Japanese makeup and a hideous black wig, seemingly so as to remind the audience that she was supposed to be Asian. Like every other girl, she carried a fan. Hers was bright pink, with a butterfly design on it. But there was something that set her apart. Underneath the makeup, Tristan could tell that she had a beautiful face. It was rather hard to tell, but he just knew. He was instantly drawn to her. He sat up straighter in his seat and listened to every note with incredible interest. In the next number, "Three Little Maids From School Are We," the girl had several solo lines, and Tristan became even more drawn to her than before. She had the most beautiful voice he'd ever heard.

As the story progressed, he learned who her character was. She was playing Pitti-Sing, one of three young girls who had just come home from a ladies' seminary. Her older sister, Yum-Yum, had a little bit more to do than she did – Yum-Yum was the romantic lead – but Pitti-Sing had more comedic things to do, which only increased her appeal to Tristan. He had always liked girls who could make him laugh, and this girl certainly could.

When the intermission came, Tristan turned to his brother. "Siegfried, may I take a look at that program?" he said, grabbing Siegfried's playbill out of his hand. (Tristan himself had declined to take a program on the way in.)

Siegfried looked surprised. "What on Earth do you want to look at that for?"

"Oh, don't look so astonished," Tristan snapped. "I happen to have a deep appreciation for the performing arts." He scanned the cast list until he came to a line that read:

Pitti-Sing…………………………………………………………..……Dulcie Dunlop

"Dulcie Dunlop," Tristan whispered.

"What's that, Tris?" said James.

Tristan jumped, having not realized he'd spoken out loud. His heart pounded. What had his whisper sounded like? Had he given himself away so quickly? "Oh, er, nothing," he squeaked, praying that he sounded convincing. However, he was pretty sure that Siegfried had heard, for he was giving him a raised-eyebrow sort of look. Feeling his face getting hot again, Tristan immediately ducked down.

"Something wrong?" asked Helen.

"Oh, uh, no, my shoelace is untied," Tristan said. It wasn't really, but Tristan quickly convinced himself that it hadn't been a lie by untying the lace and then quickly tying it again.

His face was flaming by this point and wouldn't stop, so he took a very long time to tie his shoelace. When he finally sat up again, he could see with his peripheral vision that James, Siegfried, and Helen were all giving him odd looks, but he stared straight ahead, pretending not to notice.

"With laughing song and merry dance/with laughing song and merry dance!/With song…and…dance!"

The cast sang the final note in the show triumphantly, then struck their final pose. The lights went out, and the audience burst into thunderous applause and cheers. Tristan was sure he was clapping and cheering loudest of all.

"Splendid, wasn't it?" remarked Siegfried as Dulcie came out to take her bow.

"Wonderful," Tristan agreed, his smile so wide he felt as though his face would burst. "Absolutely marvelous."

The audience applauded the cast so enthusiastically and for so long that they had to return for what seemed to be an endless series of curtain calls. Once the curtain had come down for the final time, everyone started to get up.

"I really enjoyed that," James said as the group started to inch their way out of their row. "Didn't you, Tris?"

"Oh, yes," Tristan agreed, nodding vigorously. "I loved it."

Siegfried smiled approvingly at his little brother. "I'm glad to hear it, Tristan. I thought you wouldn't appreciate something like this. I'm very happy to know I underestimated you."

No, actually, you didn't, thought Tristan. But he didn't care. His thoughts were completely devoted to Dulcie. He was eager to daydream about her all the way home, and then to continue once he fell asleep.

The Farnons and Herriots had gotten out of their row by this point and were able to move much faster. Tristan was startled when he realized that they were not heading in the direction of the lobby, but rather in the direction of the stage.

"Where are we going?!" he demanded.

"Oh, didn't I tell you?" Siegfried said. "We're going backstage to see Albert. I'd like to say hello."

"Oh, me too!" Tristan said eagerly – perhaps a tad too eagerly, for the statement caused his brother to give him a curious look. "I mean, ah, he did an excellent job."

As he, James, and Helen followed Siegfried backstage, however, Tristan's eagerness began to turn to anxiety. He wanted very much to meet Dulcie Dunlop, but at the same time he was beginning to worry that he'd make a fool of himself in front of her. It had been known to happen in the past.

Lots and lots of people – a crowd consisting of both the cast and the crew – were milling around backstage. Tristan scanned the crowd but saw Dulcie nowhere. He started to feel a little less nervous, but at the same time his heart started to sink.

"Albert, you old devil!" Siegfried exclaimed as he and his old friend found each other. Albert was a short, round little man with a friendly face. He was a little older than Siegfried. "How are you?"

"Wonderful, Siegfried, and you?"

"The same. You did a fantastic job," Siegfried told him.

"Thank you. I'm having a great time," said Albert. He turned to Tristan. "And how are you doing, young man?"

"Fine, thank you," Tristan answered absentmindedly. Albert continued to talk cheerfully to him about various things, but Tristan wasn't listening – he was busy looking for Dulcie. I have to meet her, he thought desperately. I must meet her!

All of a sudden his wish was granted as the young girl came running backstage. She had changed out of her kimono and wig and was now wearing a light pink skirt with a matching top. She had longish, shiny brown hair. Tristan wouldn't have thought it was possible, but she looked even more beautiful than before. She had a purse slung over her shoulder and was obviously getting ready to leave. She patted Albert's shoulder affectionately as she passed him. "I'll see you tomorrow, Albert, all right?"

"All right, dear, tomorrow. Oh, wait – I'd like you to meet some friends of mine." Dulcie turned back around. "This is my old friend, Siegfried Farnon. Siegfried, this is Dulcie Dunlop – she played Pitti-Sing."

Siegfried and Dulcie exchanged hellos.

"This is James Herriot, and his wife Helen," Albert continued. James and Helen both greeted Dulcie. "And this is Siegfried's younger brother, Tristan."

Dulcie came face-to-face with Tristan, and he felt his breath catch in his throat and his heart turn over. He had had many girlfriends before, and he had been very attracted to all of them – but he knew that he had never felt anything like this in his life. He had fallen in love with Dulcie Dunlop.

"Hello," Dulcie said in her voice, which was musical even when she was speaking. Her lips curved in a beautiful smile as she put out her hand.

Tristan held out his hand to shake hers and was just about to make his mouth form the word "hello" when he accidentally stepped backwards onto a piece of scenery. The piece of scenery crashed into another piece of scenery, which in turn crashed into another piece of scenery, which crashed into yet another piece of scenery, which crashed into a shelf high up on the wall and made a bucket on the shelf fall down and topple onto Tristan's head.

"Hello," he said, his voice muffled by the bucket.

Several minutes later, Tristan, Siegfried, James, and Helen were in Siegfried's car, riding home. Tristan had an ear-to-ear grin on his face and was sure it would never come off. He had never felt this happy before in his life. Siegfried, James, and Helen talked all the way home, but Tristan didn't hear anything they were saying – all he could think of was Dulcie's beautiful face, and the wonderful way she had said hello to him. He was so infatuated that he barely felt any embarrassment about his accident afterwards.

Tristan and Siegfried were the last two out of the car when everyone arrived back at Skeldale House. "You know, Tristan," Siegfried said, "I really am glad I took you with me to that show."

"Me too, Siegfried," Tristan said honestly. "Me, too."