"In the Land of Green Ginger there is a town called Marmalade, which is inhabited exclusively by guinea-pigs."
From The Fairy Caravan by Beatrix Potter
Chapter 4: The House and Camelia
"I just love the house, Charlie. It's so lovely, like a storybook." As they walked hand in hand from the simple yet enchanting wooden cottage, Madeline kicked her feet and did little dance steps beside Charlie. "I can't wait to move in." She smiled at the sky and let the sun warm her face.
"You know, you don't have to wait." He ventured, smiling at her sideways as they walked.
"Oh, yes I do." She waved a finger at him in mock admonition and imitated Alastor's gruff voice, "I'm not supposed to let you take liberties with me before the wedding."
"That's not what I was thinking." He caught her eye and then blushed. "Well, I can't say I haven't thought..." He continued, "But that's not my intention. I can wait. Er, not forever, but... I mean, I'm not a complete animal."
"Oh no?" she laughed. "Well, I am!" Madeline grinned and winked at him. "I just don't think I could control myself if I moved in just yet." She licked her lip flirtatiously.
He blushed more and smiled to himself, looking at his feet and thought he'd better change the subject. "Er, we're almost there. Um, you'll like Camelia. She's a very decent person and I've told her all about you. She is very pleased to have you stay with her before the wedding. She doesn't understand much English, though. I don't suppose you've studied the Romanian language book I sent?"
"Um," she said stupidly.
He laughed and shook his head. "Well, this should be interesting."
They reached a small cottage surrounded by an ornately carved wooden fence. A tall willowy woman with long blonde hair wearing brightly colored embroidered robes had her wand out and she was tending to the various flowers in her garden. She looked up and smiled as they came into the little gate.
"Salut!" she said to them in greeting.
"Salut!" returned Charlie.
Madeline smiled brightly. "Salut," she said a bit timidly. Then she whispered, "You didn't tell me she was so beautiful, Charlie." He gave her hand a loving little squeeze.
"Camelia, this is Madeline, my wife-to-be," said Charlie in Romanian.
"Charlie, you didn't tell me how pretty she was," replied Camelia. Then She switched to English. "Very nice to meet you, Madalayn.
Madeline giggled. "It's actually Madeline," she said, pronouncing it slowly. "To rhyme with paladin!" she said smartly. "But I like the way you say it," she added quickly. "It's very nice, and I like your garden!" She was talking quickly now. "And you look nice. I think we'll be great friends," she said while thinking she felt a little short and plain and awkward, and utterly non-magical in comparison and what else? Stupid maybe?
"Oh," said Camelia. She was completely lost and smiled nervously.
Charlie smirked. "Er, I guess I'll leave you two to get acquainted. I have to go down to the nesting site for a while. I'll meet you at the house for dinner later my derry-dol." He kissed Madeline's cheek, then turned to Camelia. "Thanks so much. Don't mind Madeline. She's a chatterbox." He made a motion with his hand like a mouth talking quickly.
Madeline frowned playfully at Charlie. "Hey, I caught that."
Charlie grinned, leapt over the fence and trotted off down the path.
"Would you like some tea?" enquired the tall and graceful witch.
"Tea would be great!" answered Madeline. "Wow," she said as she followed Camelia into the house. "Your house is so neat and orderly and...elegant. And you are so lovely! I had expected you to look like a lady wrestler all big muscled...you know, because you work with dragons..." Her voice faded away because she realized she was blathering.
The witch gave her an odd look, but said nothing as she got out the teapot and cups. Madeline felt a thick silence lumbering around the room while she stood looking at her feet and biting the side of her thumb nail.
"Wow, Er..." Then she muttered under her breath, "Her awkward comment hung in the air in much the same way that bricks don't."
"Excuse me?" Camelia said timidly.
"Nothing, er...Douglas Adams," she said with a wave of her hand and a half a smile. "Muggle writer...yeah..."