[Estelyn Telcontar]

The Lady Alícë was weary of sitting inside with her relative. ‘Shall I always be left behind when adventure comes?’ she thought bitterly. ‘May I not now spend my time as I will?’

Suddenly there appeared a great lord, bearing the shield of the White Rabbit, together with many mighty fighting men. She greeted them all and was glad of their coming, but on the White Rabbit most of all her eyes rested. They told of their great battles against the wicked Queen of Hearts, and she heard of all that had passed, and her eyes shone.

At last she said: ‘Lords, you are weary; I shall prepare a fair housing for you.’

But the Lord of the White Rabbit said, ‘Nay, lady, be not troubled, for I ride on an errand most urgent and dare not be late. For I must needs take the road that leads on from this place, to the Hole of the Wonderland.’

‘But this is madness,’ she said. ‘Is it then your errand to seek nonsense? For that is all that you will find on that road.’

‘It is not madness, lady,’ he answered; ‘for I go on a path appointed. But those who follow me do so of their free will. I shall enter the Hole, alone, if needs be.’

Then they said no more, but her eyes were upon the Lord of the White Rabbit, burning with curiosity. When he left, she watched, and perceiving where the Hole was, followed him without considering how she should return.

She found herself falling down, into the very depths of the earth. As she fell, she wondered what her fate would be. ‘I do not fear either pain or death,’ she thought.

‘What do you fear?’ a voice echoed back from the hollows of the tunnel.

‘A cage,’ she thought – or was she speaking aloud? ‘To stay in dull reality, where only the grass doth rustle in the wind, and the pool doth ripple to the waving of the reeds, until age and lack of usage cause my imagination to wither, and all chance of dreaming wild dreams is gone beyond recall or desire.’

And as she yet spake, she landed upon the ground, unharmed. Arising, she followed the Lord of the Rabbit down a great hallway, lit with many lamps. Great was her consternation when she tried to open the doors on both sides, finding them locked. Then Alícë stood still as a figure carven in stone, her hands clenched at her sides, but the lord was lost to her view. She turned, stumbling as one that is blind, and searched for the way back to her lodging.