everything must be realised in the head. Really, something must be left to the Lord, there always is and always will be.’

‘Yes,’ said Hermione, reassured like a child, ‘it should, shouldn’t it? And Rupert — ’ she lifted her face to the sky, in a muse — ’he CAN only tear things to pieces. He really IS like a boy who must pull everything to pieces to see how it is made. And I can’t think it is right — it does seem so irreverent, as you say.’

‘Like tearing open a bud to see what the flower will be like,’ said Ursula.

‘Yes. And that kills everything, doesn’t it? It doesn’t allow any possibility of flowering.’

‘Of course not,’