7-REVSUE
Carolyn eyed the Captain somewhat apprehensively. She said nothing. Neither did he. He merely folded his arms and fixed her with what he called his "cold, hard stare." Martha cleared her throat and began to rise from the table, but both Carolyn and the Captain stared her into sitting back down again. Carolyn's look was faintly pleading; The Captain's very dominating.
Finally Carolyn found her voice. "Good morning, Captain . . ." she began.
"Madam, I trust you had a restful night and a good beginning to your day," he spoke blandly.
Gritting her teeth at the memory of her nightmare, Carolyn forced a smile onto her face. "Of course," She lied. "I trust you had the same?"
Martha snorted. "A ghost? Having a restful night? Spare me!"
"Am I to find that amusing?" The Captain said haughtily. Then he changed the subject. "I expect you both know what day it is?"
Nodding, Carolyn replied smoothly, "Of course. As Mark Twain wrote, The first of April is the day we remember what we are the other 364 days of the year.' Don't you agree?"
The Captain's face relaxed into a smile. "I had forgotten that. Thank-you, Madam."
"April Fool's Day has been going on a long time, hasn't it?" Martha commented.
"Since the 1500's, I believe." The Captain agreed. "I had heard rumors that it sprang out of a change of the New Year festival in France. Traditionally, the New Year had been associated with the renewal and excitement of spring, and the revitalization of energy. But King Charles the IX, I believe it was, adopted the Gregorian calendar, and decreed that the New Year would begin instead on January 1. There were supposedly many people who either preferred the springtime celebration to its replacement or were ignorant of the calendar change, continued to observe the traditional, seasonal New Year. These reactionaries were made the fools of juvenile pranks played by their more obliging compatriots; hence the name April Fools' Day."
"Fancy that," Carolyn said, never having heard this story before. "Captain, I think you should tell the children about this."
"If you insist, Madam."
"Juvenile pranks, eh?" Martha murmured. She shot a look at Carolyn who pretended not to see it.