hat If?

ome time ago Baron Von Lodge was the head of a small country near Switzerland known as Lilliland.

Professor Hamblin, formerly of Cambridge University, was the Baron’s chief advisor as well as former tutor to the Baron and Lady Angela of Alpine Castle.

While the Baron and Lady Angela were maturing, the Professor would play a game called “What If?” The game was somewhat historical in that it imagines how history would be different if a particular event never took place.

One day they played the game and the question was “What if Lilliland never was? The treaty that was signed never happened and there was no charter and Lilliland never happened.”

After much deliberation, the question seemed to be very elusive in that an answer was just not there.

Finally in desperation, they all decided to entertain the question again at their next meeting.

Lady Angela later said that she felt that if Lilliland never came to be, it would have been part of Northern Italy. That’s where most of her ancestors lived and it seemed only natural. Her ancestors were very wealthy sea merchants and built Alpine Castle, which is where she resided.

Professor Hamblin thought that if Lilliland never existed, it would have become a part of France. Many Lilliland citizens had relatives and ancestors that lived in France.

Both the Professor and Lady Angela were awaiting the Baron’s point of view. The Baron did not agree with his fiancée, Lady Angela, or his advisor, Professor Hamblin.

The Baron thought that if there were no Lilliland, the land would be Swiss with a popular ski resort as its main point of interest. After all, in the wintertime everywhere you look you see people with their skis. They talked about skiing and dressing for skiing all the time.

Lady Angela thought for a minute and remembered that she had three different pairs of skis in her closet and plenty of warm ski clothing.

It seemed the Baron had won the debate.