"Nancy, did your mom really say that?" someone pressed. It was Iris, Phoebe Huxley's arch-rival, a malicious look on her face.
"Um, Mommy said... vir... um... tue... comes... first... Big Brother?"
'Nancy decided to give her big brother a chance to shine. After all, she was just a six-year-old girl; she couldn't afford to seem too unnaturally clever.'
Howard Thorne was stunned. 'When did Mom ever say that? Nancy's just talking nonsense.' He had no idea what "vir-something comes first-something" meant. After all, he'd never even managed to memorize "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep."
"It's 'Of all virtues, filial piety is first.' Mom said so. It means we should let Grandpa and Grandma eat any tasty food first," Patrick Thorne, her normally quiet second brother, suddenly spoke up, causing Nancy to see him in a new light.
'So my second brother is the hidden scholar! Yes, I'll have to focus on cultivating him.'
Nancy nodded vigorously. "Mommy thaid, Byron thmiles... firtht..."
