Philippa, impatient and commanding, threatened anyone passing to be struck with a wooden axe, revealing her frustration and readiness to take drastic action. When Lymond appeared, he humorously dropped to his knees, visibly amused and caught off guard by her assertiveness. Philippa remarked that she had never seen him laugh before, highlighting the rarity of his genuine amusement.

Lymond, still gasping from laughter, dismissed the moment as amusing but questioned its significance, jokingly suggesting hitting d'Harcourt to see if he would laugh. Their exchange reflects a rare moment of levity and camaraderie between the characters in Dorothy Dunnett's "The Ringed Castle."