Book One, Chapter 2 Summary

Theo recounts in his diary his childhood with Xan. Their mothers were sisters; however, Theo's mother was a middle-grade civil servant, while his aunt married a baronet, Sir George Lyppiatt. While Theo was raised in a semi-detached Victorian house in Richmond Park, Xan lived in a manor house in Dorset, called Woolcombe, where Theo spent his summers after his father died of stomach cancer.

There is a rivalry between the sisters, which is also hinted at between the cousins. For example, Theo's mother gave him an unfashionable name so that Xan was not the only child to be named after forefathers. In addition, an overheard conversation between their grandparents questioned whether Theo might go further in life than Xan. Theo was a good student and reasonably popular, whereas Xan was inconsistent with his schoolwork and had no other companions...