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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/28459-8.txt b/28459-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..71f21f0 --- /dev/null +++ b/28459-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,13759 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of In Brief Authority, by F. Anstey + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: In Brief Authority + +Author: F. Anstey + +Release Date: March 31, 2009 [EBook #28459] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IN BRIEF AUTHORITY *** + + + + +Produced by David Clarke, Mary Meehan and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) + + + + + + + + + + IN BRIEF AUTHORITY + + BY F. ANSTEY + +AUTHOR OF "VICE VERSÂ," "A FALLEN IDOL," "THE PARIAH," "THE GIANT'S +ROBE," "LYRE AND LANCET," "THE BRASS BOTTLE," "THE TALKING HORSE AND +OTHER TALES," "SALTED ALMONDS," ETC. + + +LONDON +SMITH, ELDER & CO., 15 WATERLOO PLACE +1915 + +[All rights reserved] + +Printed by BALLANTYNE, HANSON & CO. +at the Ballantyne Press, Edinburgh + + + + +To +Peggy + + + + +AUTHOR'S NOTE + + +It may be as well to mention here that the whole of this book was +planned, and at least three-fourths of it actually written, in those +happy days, which now seem so pathetically distant, when we were still +at peace--days when, to all but a very few, so hideous a calamity as a +World-War seemed a danger that had passed for the present, and might +never recur; when even those few could hardly have foreseen that England +would be so soon compelled to fight for her very existence against the +most efficient and deadly foe it has ever been her lot to encounter. + +But, as the central idea of this story happens to be inseparably +connected with certain characters and incidents of German origin, I have +left them unaltered--partly because it would have been difficult, if not +impossible, to substitute any others, but mainly because I cannot bring +myself to believe that the nursery friends of our youth could ever be +regarded as enemies. + +F. ANSTEY. + +_September 1915._ + + + + +CONTENTS + +I. "THE SKIRTS OF HAPPY CHANCE" + +II. RUSHING TO CONCLUSIONS + +III. FINE FEATHERS + +IV. CROWNED HEADS + +V. DIGNITY UNDER DIFFICULTIES + +VI. CARES OF STATE + +VII. A GAME THEY DID NOT UNDERSTAND + +VIII. "A STEED THAT KNOWS HIS RIDER" + +IX. THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE + +X. THE BLONDE BEAST + +XI. A WAY OUT + +XII. UNWELCOME ANNOUNCEMENTS + +XIII. WHAT THE PIGEON SAID + +XIV. BAG AND BAGGAGE + +XV. "RIVEN WITH VAIN ENDEAVOUR" + +XVI. "A CLOUD THAT'S DRAGONISH" + +XVII. THE REWARD OF VALOUR + +XVIII. A PREVIOUS ENGAGEMENT + +XIX. SERVANTS OF THE QUEEN + +XX. AT THE END OF HER TETHER + +XXI. "WHOSE LIGHTS ARE FLED, WHOSE GARLANDS DEAD" + +XXII. SQUARING ACCOUNTS + +EPILOGUE + + + + +IN BRIEF AUTHORITY + + + + +CHAPTER I + +"THE SKIRTS OF HAPPY CHANCE" + + +On a certain afternoon in March Mrs. Sidney Stimpson (or rather Mrs. +Sidney Wibberley-Stimpson, as a recent legacy from a distant relative +had provided her with an excuse for styling herself) was sitting alone +in her drawing-room at "Inglegarth," Gablehurst. + +"Inglegarth" was the name she had chosen for the house on coming to live +there some years before. What it exactly meant she could not have +explained, but it sounded distinguished and out of the common, without +being reprehensibly eccentric. Hence the choice. + +Some one, she was aware, had just entered the carriage-drive, and after +having rung, was now standing under the white "Queen Anne" porch; +Mitchell, the rosy-cheeked and still half-trained parlour-maid, was +audible in the act of "answering the door." + +It being neither a First nor a Third Friday, Mrs. Stimpson was not, +strictly speaking, "at home" except to very intimate friends, though she +made a point of being always presentable enough to see any afternoon +caller. On this occasion she was engaged in no more absorbing occupation +than the study of one of the less expensive Society journals, and, +having already read all that was of real interest in its columns, she +was inclined to welcome a distraction. + +"If you please, m'm," said Mitchell, entering, "there's a lady wishes to +know if she could see you for a minute or two." + +"Did you ask her to state her business, Mitchell?... No? Then you should +have. Called for a subscription to something, I expect. Tell her I am +particularly engaged. I suppose she didn't give any name?" + +"Oh yes, m'm. She give her name--Lady 'Arriet Elmslie, it was." + +"Then why on earth didn't you say so before," cried the justly +exasperated Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, "instead of leaving her ladyship on +the door-mat all this time? Really, Mitchell, you are _too_ trying! Go +and show her in at once--and be careful to say 'my lady.' And bring up +tea for two as soon as you can--the _silver_ tea-pot, mind!" + +It might have been inferred from her manner that she and Lady Harriet +were on terms of closest friendship, but this was not exactly the case. +Mrs. Stimpson had indeed known her for a considerable time, but only by +sight, and she had long ceased to consider a visit from Lady Harriet as +even a possible event. Now it had actually happened, and, +providentially, on an afternoon when Mitchell's cap and apron could defy +inspection. But if it was the first time that an Earl's daughter had +crossed Mrs. Stimpson's threshold, she was not at all the woman to allow +the fact to deprive her of her self-possession. + +A title had no terror for _her_. Before her marriage, when she was Miss +Selina Prinsley, she had acted as hostess for her father, the great +financier and company promoter, who had entertained lavishly up to the +date of his third and final failure. Her circle then had included many +who could boast of knighthoods, and even baronetcies! + +And, though Lady Harriet was something of a personage at Gablehurst, and +confined her acquaintance to her own particular set, there was nothing +formidable or even imposing in her appearance. She was the widow of a +Colonel Elmslie, and apparently left with only moderate means, judging +from the almost poky house on the farther side of the Common, which she +shared with an unmarried female cousin of about her own age. + +So, when she was shown in, looking quite ordinary, and even a little +shy, Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson rose to receive her with perfect ease, +being supported by the consciousness that she was by far the more +handsomely dressed of the two. In fact her greeting was so gracious as +to be rather overpowering. + +"Interrupting me? Not in the very _least_, dear Lady Harriet! Only too +delighted, I'm sure!... Now _do_ take off your boa, and come nearer the +fire. You'll find this _quite_ a comfy chair, I think. Tea will be +brought in presently.... Oh, you really _must_, after trapesing all that +way across the Common. I can't _tell_ you how pleased I am to see you. +I've so often wished to make your acquaintance, but I couldn't take the +first step, could I? _So_ nice of you to break the ice!" + +Lady Harriet submitted to these rather effusive attentions resignedly +enough. She could hardly interrupt her hostess's flow of conversation +without rudeness, while she had already begun to suspect that Mrs. +Stimpson might form an entertaining study. + +But her chief reason, after all, was that the prospect of tea had its +attractions. Accordingly she attempted no further explanations of her +visit just then, and was content to observe Mrs. Stimpson, while she +rippled on complacently. + +She saw a matron who might be about fifty, with abundant pale auburn +hair, piled up, and framing her face in a sort of half aureole. The eyes +were small and hazel green; the nose narrow and pointed, the wide, +full-lipped mouth, which wore just then a lusciously ingratiating smile, +showed white but prominent teeth. The complexion was of a uniform +oatmealy tint, and, though Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson was neither tall nor +slim, she seemed to have taken some pains to preserve a waist. + +"Most fortunate I happened to be at home," she was saying. "And if you +had called on one of my _regular_ days, I shouldn't have had the chance +of a _real_ talk with you. As it is, we shall be quite _tête-à-tête_.... +Ah, here _is_ tea--you must tell me if you like it weak, dear Lady +Harriet, and I shall remember the _next_ time you come. Yes, you find me +all alone this afternoon. My eldest daughter, Edna, has gone to a +lecture at her Mutual Improvement Society, on a German Philosopher +called Nitchy, or some such name. She's so bookish and well-read, takes +such an interest in all the latest movements--runs up to town for +_matinées_ of intellectual dramas--_quite_ the modern type of girl. But +not a blue-stocking--she's joined a Tango Class lately, and dances most +beautifully, I'm told--just the figure for it. We got up a little +Costume Ball here this winter--perhaps you may have heard of it?--Ah, +well, my Edna was generally admitted to be the _belle_ of the evening. A +perfect Juliet, everybody said. I went as her mother--Lady Capulet, you +know. I _did_ think of going as Queen Elizabeth at one time. I've so +often been told that if I ever went to a Fancy Dress Ball, I ought to go +as her--or at all events as _one_ of our English Queens. But, however, I +didn't. Mr. Stimpson went as a Venetian Doge, but I do _not_ consider +myself that it was at all suitable to him." + +She did not say all this without a motive. She knew that a local +Historical Pageant was being arranged for the coming Summer, and that +Lady Harriet was on the Committee. Also she had heard that, after +rehearsals had begun, some of the principal performers had resigned +their parts, and the Committee had some difficulty in finding +substitutes. + +It had struck her as not at all unlikely that her visitor had called +with a view to ascertaining whether the services of any of the Stimpson +household would be available. If she had, it was, of course very +gratifying. If she had merely come in a neighbourly way, there was no +harm in directing her attention to the family qualifications for a +Pageant performance. + +Her hearer, without betraying any sign of the mirth she inwardly felt, +meekly agreed that Mrs. Stimpson was undoubtedly well fitted to +impersonate a Queen, and that the costume of a Venetian Doge was rather +a trying one, after which her hostess proceeded: "Perhaps you are right, +dear Lady Harriet, but the worst of it was that my boy Clarence, who +would have made such a handsome Romeo, insisted on going as a _Pierrot_! +Very likely you have seen Clarence?... Oh, you would certainly have +noticed him if you had--always so well turned out. He's got quite a good +post as Secretary to an Insurance Co., in the City: they think so +highly of him there--take his advice on everything--in fact, he +practically _is_ the Company! And only twenty-two! It's _such_ a relief, +because there _was_ a time when it really seemed as if he'd never settle +down to any regular work. Nothing would induce him to enter my husband's +business--for I must tell you, Lady Harriet, we _are_ in business. +Sauces, pickles, condiments of every sort and description--_wholesale_, +you know, _not_ retail, so I hope you aren't _too_ dreadfully shocked!" + +Lady Harriet remarked that she saw nothing to be shocked at--several of +her relations and friends were in business of various kinds, which gave +Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson the opening she required. "Society has changed +its views so _much_ lately, has it not?" she said. "Why, the youngest +partner in Mr. Wibberley-Stimpson's firm is a younger son of the Earl of +Fallowfields--Mr. Chervil Thistleton, and an Honourable, of _course_! I +daresay you are acquainted with him?... Not? Quite a charming young +man--married a Miss Succory, a connection of the Restharrows, and such a +sweet girl! You may have met her?... Oh, I thought--but I really hardly +know her _myself_ yet," (which was Mrs. Stimpson's method of disguising +the fact that she had never met either of them in her life). "When he +came into the warehouse he was perfectly amazed at the immense variety +in pickles and sauces--it was quite a revelation to him. Only he can't +_touch_ pickles of any kind, which is a pity, because it prevents him +from taking the interest he might in the business.... Just _one_ of +these hot cakes, dear Lady Harriet--you're making such a wretched +tea!... I should like you to see my youngest child, Ruby. She's gone out +to tea with some little friends of hers, but she may be back before you +go. So much admired--such lovely colouring! But just a _little_ +difficult to manage. Governess after governess have I had, and none of +them could do anything with her. My present one, however, she seems to +have taken to. Miss Heritage, her name is--at least she was adopted as a +baby by a rich widow of that name, and brought up in every luxury. But +Mrs. Heritage died without making a will, and it seems she'd muddled +away most of her money, and there were claims on what she left, so the +poor girl had to turn out, and earn her own living. Such a sad little +story, is it not? I felt it was really a charity to engage her. I'm not +sure that I can keep her much longer, though. She's far too good-looking +for a governess, and there's always a danger with a marriageable young +man in the house, but fortunately Clarence has too much sense and +principle to marry out of his own rank. I do think that's _such_ a +mistake, don't you, dear Lady Harriet? Look at the Duke of Mountravail's +heir, the young Marquis of Muscombe--married only last month at a +registry office to a girl who was in the chorus at the Vivacity! I hear +she comes of quite a respectable family, and all that," admitted Mrs. +Stimpson, who derived her information from her Society journals. "But +still, can you _wonder_ at the poor Duke and Duchess being upset by it? +I've no doubt you are constantly coming across similar instances in +Smart Society." + +Lady Harriet disclaimed all acquaintanceship with Smart Society, which +Mrs. Stimpson protested she could not believe. "I am sure you have the +_entrée_ into _any_ set, Lady Harriet, even the smartest! Which reminds +me. _Have_ you heard anything more about that mysterious disappearance +of the Dowager Duchess of Gleneagle's diamonds during her journey from +the North last week? A tiara, _and_ a dog-collar, I was told. +Professional thieves, I suppose, but don't you think the Duchess's +maid?--Oh, _really_? I made _sure_ you would be a friend of the +Duchess's--but, of course, Society is so much larger than it used to +be!" + +"You are a far better authority than I can pretend to be about it," Lady +Harriet owned smilingly; "and really you've given me so much interesting +information that I had nearly forgotten what I came to see you about. +It's--well, I wanted to ask----" + +"I think I can _guess_, Lady Harriet," put in Mrs. Stimpson, as her +visitor paused for a second. "I've heard of your difficulties about +getting players for the Pageant, and I'm sure I, and indeed _all_ the +family, would feel only too honoured." + +"It's most kind of you," Lady Harriet interrupted, rising, "but--but +that isn't why I've troubled you. It's only that I'm thinking of +engaging Jane Saunders as house-parlourmaid, and she tells me she was in +your service, so I called to ask about her character, don't you know." + +For a moment Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson wished she had been less +precipitate, but she soon recognised that no real harm had been done. +"Saunders?" she said, "yes, she left me last month. Do sit down again, +dear Lady Harriet, and I'll give you all the information I possibly can. +Well, when that girl first came, she had everything to learn. It was +quite evident she'd never been in service before with gentlefolks. +Actually brought in letters in her _fingers_, Lady Harriet, and knocked +at sitting-room doors! And _no_ notion of cleaning silver, and I like to +see mine come up to table without a speck! However, after being with me +for a while, she improved, and I can conscientiously say that she became +quite competent in time. That is, for a household like _ours_, you know, +where things are done in quite an unpretentious style." + +"I don't think we are at all pretentious people either," said Lady +Harriet, rising once more. "And now, Mrs. Stimpson, you have told me all +I wanted to know, so I must tear myself away." + +"Must you _really_ be going? Well, Lady Harriet, I've _so_ much enjoyed +our little chat. There are so few persons in a semi-suburban +neighbourhood like this, with whom one can have anything in common. So I +shall hope to see more of you in future. And if," she added, after +ringing for Mitchell, "I _should_ find I've forgotten anything I ought +to have told you about Saunders, I can easily pop in some morning." Lady +Harriet hastened to assure her that she must not think of giving herself +this trouble--after which she took her leave. + +"Rather an amusing experience in its way," she was thinking. "Something +to tell Joan when I get back. But oh! _what_ an appalling woman! She's +settled _one_ thing, though. It will be quite impossible to take Jane +Saunders _now_. A pity--because I rather liked the girl's looks!" + +Meanwhile the happily unconscious Mrs. Stimpson had settled down in her +chair again with the conviction that she had made a distinctly +favourable impression. She allowed her eyes to wander complacently round +the room, which, with its big bay window looking on the semi-circular +gravel sweep, and its glazed door by the fireplace leading through a +small conservatory, gay with begonias, asters, and petunias to the +garden beyond, was not merely large, by Gablehurst standards, but +undeniably pleasant. She regarded its various features--the white +chimney-piece and over-mantel with Adam decorations in _Cartonpierre_, +the silk fire-screen printed with Japanese photographs, the +cottage-grand, on which stood a tall trumpet vase filled with branches +of imitation peach blossom, the _étagères_ ("Louis Quinze style") +containing china which could not be told from genuine Dresden at a +distance, the gaily patterned chintz on the couches and chairs, the +water-colour sketches of Venice, and coloured terra-cotta plaques +embossed on high relief with views of the Forum and St. Peter's at Rome +on the walls, and numerous "nick-nacks"--an alabaster model of the +Leaning Tower of Pisa, a wood carving of the Lion of Lucerne, and groups +of bears from Berne--all of which were not only souvenirs of her +wedding-journey, but witnesses to Continental travel and general +culture. + +She could see nothing that was not in the most correct taste, as Lady +Harriet must have observed for herself, together with the hammered +copper gong, the oak chest, and the china bowl for cards in the hall. +Strange that Saunders should have been the humble means of bringing +about so unexpected a meeting, but Providence chose its own instruments, +and now the seed was sown, Mrs. Stimpson felt she could rely on herself +for the harvest. + +And so she took up the latest number of _The Upper Circle_, and read, to +the accompaniment of alternate duologues and soliloquies by thrushes and +blackbirds in the garden, until gradually she drifted into a blissful +dream of being at a garden-party at Lady Harriet's and entreated, not +merely by her hostess, but Royalty itself, to accept the _rôle_ of +Queen at the County Pageant! + +She was in the act of doing this gracefully, when the vision was +abruptly ended by the entrance of her elder daughter. Edna was by no +means bad-looking, in spite of her light eyelashes and eyebrows, and the +fact that the _pince-nez_ she wore compressed her small nose in an +unbecoming ridge. Her eyes were larger than her mother's, though of the +same colour, and her hair was of a deeper shade of auburn. Her costume +was of a kind that may be described as the floppily artistic. + +"I never heard you come in, my dear," said her mother. "Did you enjoy +your lecture?" + +"Quite; I took pages and pages of notes. Nietzsche's _Gospel of the +Superman_ is certainly most striking." + +"And _what_ is his Gospel exactly?" + +"Oh, well, he teaches that the ideal man ought to rise superior to +conventional prejudices, and have the courage to do as he thinks right +without deferring to ordinary ideas. To be strong in willing what he +wants--all that sort of thing, you know." + +"Dear me!" said Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson dubiously. "But, if everybody +acted like that, would it be quite--er--nice?" + +"There's no fear of any of the men in Gablehurst being Supermen, at all +events!" said Edna. "They're all perfect slaves to convention! But the +lecturer explained the Nietzschean theories in such a way that he made +us feel there was a great deal to be said for them.... No tea, thanks. I +had mine at the Fletchers. It looks," she added, with a glance at the +tea-cups, "as if you had been entertaining some one, Mother--who was +it?" + +"Only Lady Harriet," replied Mrs. Stimpson, with elaborate carelessness. + +"_What_ Lady Harriet?" was the intentionally provoking query. + +"Really, Edna, one would think there were dozens of them! _The_ Lady +Harriet: Lady Harriet Elmslie, of course." + +"Oh," said Edna. "And what did _she_ want?" + +"Well, she _came_ to ask after Saunders' character, but she stayed to +tea, and we really struck up quite an intimate friendship, discussing +one thing and another. She's so quiet and unassuming, Edna--absolutely +no _hauteur_. I'm sure you will like her. I told her about you all, and +she seemed _so_ interested. Quite between ourselves, I shouldn't be at +all surprised if she got us invited to take part in the Pageant--she's +on the Committee, you know." + +"If I _was_ invited, Mother, I'm not at all sure I shouldn't refuse." + +"You must please yourself about that, my dear," said Mrs. Stimpson, who, +perhaps, felt but little anxiety as to the result. "_I_ shall certainly +accept if the part is at all suitable." + +She might have said more, if Ruby had not suddenly burst into the room. +Ruby was certainly the flower of the family--an extremely engaging young +person of about ten, whose mischievous golden-brown eyes had long and +curling lashes, and whose vivacious face was set off by a thick mane of +deepest Titian red. + +"Oh, Mummy," she announced breathlessly, "I've got invitations for +nearly all my animals while we're away at Eastbourne! Mucius Scævola's +the most popular--everybody asked him, but I think he'll feel _most_ at +home with Daisy Williams. Vivian and Ada Porter will simply love to +have Numa Pompilius, but nobody seems to want Tarquinius Superbus, so I +shall turn him out in the garden, and he must catch worms for himself." + +"Dearest child," said her mother, "what are these new animals of yours +with the extraordinary names?" + +"They're the same old animals, Mums. I've rechristened them since I +began Roman History with Miss Heritage. Mucius Scævola's the Salamander, +because they're indifferent to fire, like he was--though Miss Heritage +says it wouldn't be kind to try with Mucius. Numa Pompilius is the +Blind-worm--he used to be Kaa--and the Toad has changed from Nobbles to +Tarquinius Superbus." + +"I can't understand how you can keep such unpleasant pets as reptiles," +said Edna. + +"Because I like them," said Ruby simply. "And Bobby Williams has +promised, as soon as it gets warmer, to come out on the Common with me +and catch lizards. _Won't_ it be lovely?" + +"I hope you won't put one of them down anybody's neck, then, as you did +to Tommy Fletcher." + +"That was Mucius," Ruby admitted cheerfully. "But I didn't mean him to +go so far down. And he was very good--he didn't bite Tommy anywhere." + +"Little ladies don't play such tricks," said her Mother. "I hope Miss +Heritage doesn't encourage your liking for these horrid creatures?" + +"Oh, she doesn't mind, so long as I don't take them out of the aquarium, +but she hates touching them herself." + +"Did she come in with you?" her mother inquired, and was told that Miss +Heritage had done so, and had gone upstairs, whereupon Ruby was ordered +to go and take off her things, and stay quietly in the schoolroom till +it was time to come down. + +"I don't know if you noticed it, Mother," Edna began, as soon as Ruby +had consented to leave them, "but Miss Heritage had a letter by the +afternoon post which seemed to upset her. I went rather out of my way to +ask her if she had had bad news of any kind, but she did not think +proper to take me into her confidence. Perhaps she might be more open +with _you_." + +"My dear," said Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, with much dignity, "I take no +interest whatever in Miss Heritage's private correspondence." + +"Nor I," declared Edna. "I only thought that if she is in any +trouble--She's so secretive, you know, Mums. I've tried more than once +to get her to tell me what cosmetic she uses for her hands--and she +never will own to using any at all!" + +"I'm sure, Edna, you've no reason to be ashamed of your hands." + +"Oh, they look all right just now," said Edna, examining them +dispassionately. "But they _will_ turn lobster colour at the most +inconvenient times. Hers never do--and it _does_ seem so unfair, +considering--" She broke off here, as Daphne Heritage entered. + +"Well, Miss Heritage?" said Mrs. Stimpson, as the girl hesitated on +seeing Edna. "Did you wish to speak to me?" + +"I did rather want your advice about something," said Daphne, who had a +paper, and a small leather case in her hands; "I thought I might find +you alone. It doesn't matter--it will do quite well another time." + +"Don't let _me_ prevent you, Miss Heritage," said Edna. "If you don't +wish to speak to Mother before me, I've no desire to remain. I was just +going up to change in any case." + +She went out with a slightly huffy air, which was not entirely due to +baffled curiosity, for she admired Daphne enough to resent being quietly +kept at a distance. + +"It's about this," explained Daphne, after Edna had made her exit--"a +bill that has just been sent on to me." She gave the paper to Mrs. +Stimpson as she spoke. "I don't know quite what to do about it." + +She looked very young and inexperienced as she stood there, a slim +girlish figure with masses of burnished hair the colour of ripe corn, +braided and coiled as closely as possible round her small head, but +there was no trace of timidity or subservience in her manner. In the +slight form, with the milk-white skin, delicate profile and exquisite +hands, there was a distinction that struck her employer as quite +absurdly out of keeping with her position. + +"The only thing to do about a bill, my dear," said Mrs. Stimpson, "is to +pay it. But nearly thirty pounds is a large sum for you to owe your +milliner." + +"It's for things Mother--my adopted mother, you know--ordered for me. +Stéphanie was always told to send in the account to her. But this seems +to have been overlooked, and the executors have sent it on to me. Only I +can't pay it myself--unless you wouldn't mind advancing me the money out +of my salary." + +"I couldn't possibly. You forget that it would represent over a year's +salary, and it's by no means certain that you will be with me so long." + +"I was afraid you wouldn't," said Daphne, with a little droop at the +corners of her extremely pretty mouth. "So I brought this to show you." +She held out the leather case. "It's the only jewellery I've got. It +belonged to my father, I believe; he and my real mother both died when I +was a baby, you know--and I never meant to part with it. But now I'm +afraid I must--that is, if you think any jeweller would give as much as +thirty pounds for it." + +Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson opened the case, which was much more modern than +the kind of badge or pendant it contained. This was a fairly large oval +stone of a milky green, deeply engraved with strangely formed letters +interlaced in a cypher, and surrounded by a border of dark blue gems +which Mrs. Stimpson decided instantly must be Cabochon star sapphires of +quite exceptional quality. The gold chain attached to it was antique and +of fine and curious workmanship. + +She was convinced that the pendant must be worth considerably more than +thirty pounds, though she was no doubt right in telling Daphne that no +jeweller would offer so much for an ornament that was quite out of +fashion. "Besides," she said, "I don't like the idea of any governess of +mine going about offering jewellery for sale. Have Edna or Ruby seen you +wearing this thing?" she asked with apparent irrelevance. + +It appeared they had not; Daphne had never worn it herself, and she had +only remembered its existence that afternoon, and found it hidden away +at the back of her wardrobe. + +"Well," said Mrs. Stimpson, "it is most unpleasant to me to see a young +girl like you owing all this money to her milliner." + +"It isn't very pleasant for _me_," said Daphne ruefully; "but if you +won't advance the money, and I can't or mustn't sell the pendant, I +don't very well see how I can help it." + +"I'll tell you what I'll do," said Mrs. Stimpson. "I really _oughtn't_ +to--and under ordinary circumstances I couldn't afford it, but, as it +happens, a great-uncle of mine left me a small legacy not long ago, and +I haven't spent quite all of it yet. So I don't mind buying this for +thirty pounds myself." + +"Will you really?" cried Daphne. "How angelic of you!" + +"I think it is," said Mrs. Stimpson; "but I feel myself responsible for +you, to some extent. So I'll write you a cheque for the thirty pounds, +and you can send it off to this milliner person at once." She went to +the writing-table and filled up the cheque. "There," she said, handing +it to Daphne, "put it in an envelope and direct it at once--you'll find +a stamp in that box, and it can go by the next post." + +"By the way, my dear," she added, as she was leaving the room, "I +needn't tell you that _I_ shall not breathe a word to a soul of our +little transaction, and I should advise you, in your own interests, to +keep it entirely to yourself." + +"I was quite wrong about Mrs. Stimpson," Daphne told herself +reproachfully, after she had slipped the letter containing bill and +cheque into the letter-box in the hall. "She _can_ be kind sometimes, +and I've been a little beast to see only the comic side of her! I +daresay she won't even _wear_ that pendant." + +But Mrs. Stimpson had every intention of wearing it that same evening. +It is not often that one has the opportunity of doing a kindness and +securing a real bargain at a single stroke; and she knew enough about +jewels to be fully aware that, if the ornament was a trifle +old-fashioned, she had not done at all badly over her purchase. + +"It really suits me very well," she thought, as, after putting the last +touches to her evening demi-toilette, she fastened the pendant round her +neck. "Even better than I expected. It was lucky Miss Heritage came to +_me_. A jeweller would have been sure to cheat her, poor child!" + +And she went down to the drawing-room feeling serenely satisfied with +herself. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +RUSHING TO CONCLUSIONS + + +Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, as she sat in the drawing-room, where the +curtains had been drawn and the lamps lighted, was occupied with a +project which she was anxious to impart to her husband as soon as he +returned. Some time before a dull rumble from the valley had informed +her that his usual train was approaching Gablehurst station, and now she +heard the click of the front gate, the crunch of his well-known step on +the gravel, and the opening of the hall door. + +"I want to speak to you for a moment, Sidney," she said, opening the +drawing-room door. "Come in here before you go up to dress." (Mrs. +Stimpson insisted on his dressing for dinner. It was customary in all +really good society, and also it would prevent him from feeling awkward +in evening clothes--which it never did.) + +"Very well, my dear," he said, entering. "Any news with you?" which was +his invariable question. + +Mr. Stimpson was short and inclined to be stout. What remained of his +hair was auburn and separated in the middle by a wide parting; he had +close-cut whiskers of a lighter red, which met in his moustache, and if +his eyes had been narrow, instead of round and filmy like a seal's, and +his mouth had been firm, and not loose and slightly open, he would not +have been at all a bad caricature of his Majesty King Henry the Eighth. + +"Nothing--except, but I'll tell you about that afterwards. Sit down, do, +and don't fidget.... Well, I've been thinking, Sidney, that we really +ought to ask the Chevril Thistletons to a quiet little dinner. Not to +meet any of our _usual_ set, of course! We could have the dear Rector, +who, if he _is_ Low Church, is very well connected--and Lady Harriet +Elmslie." + +Mr. Stimpson showed no enthusiasm at the suggestion. "Lady Elmslie, +Selina!" he cried. "But we don't _know_ her ladyship!" + +"I do wish you would learn to use titles correctly, Sidney! Lady +_Harriet_ Elmslie--not Lady _Elmslie_! And you shouldn't speak of her, +except to servants, as 'her ladyship'; that's only done by inferiors." + +"Well, my love, whatever may be the correct way of speaking of her, the +fact remains that we haven't the honour of her acquaintance." + +"That's just where you're mistaken! We _have_, or at least _I_ have;" +and she described how she had come to enjoy that privilege. + +"Well," he admitted at the conclusion, "she certainly seems to have made +herself exceedingly affable, but it doesn't follow that she'd come and +dine, even if we asked her." + +"She would if it was to meet the Thistletons." + +"Perhaps so, my love, but--er--we don't know that _they_ would come." + +"Of course they would, if they knew we were expecting Lady Harriet. For +goodness' sake, Sidney, don't swing your foot like that--you know I +can't bear it. All _you_ have to do is to find out from Mr. Thistleton +what evenings the week after next would be most convenient, and _I'll_ +undertake the rest!" + +"I--I really couldn't do that, Selina. I'm a proud man, in my way, and I +don't care about exposing myself unnecessarily to a rebuff." + +"Why should you be rebuffed? After all, he's only a junior partner!" + +"True, my love, but that doesn't make him less stand-offish. He may be +_in_ the business, but he's not _of_ it. I doubt myself whether even old +Cramphorn would venture to invite him to dinner, and if he did, I'd bet +a tidy sum that the Honourable Mr. Chevril Thistleton----" + +"Mr.--_not_ the Honourable _Mr._ Thistleton, Sidney," corrected his +wife, who had studied all such _minutiæ_ in a handbook written by a lady +of unimpeachable authority. "The term is _never_ employed in ordinary +conversation, or on visiting cards. But, if you won't show a proper +spirit, I shall write myself to Mrs. Thistleton and propose one or two +dates." + +"It would be no good, my love," said Mr. Stimpson, brought to bay, +"because, if you _must_ know, I--er--_did_ approach the subject with +Thistleton--and--well, his manner was not sufficiently encouraging to +induce me to try it again. Not so fond of being made to feel as if I was +no better than one of our own clerks. I get quite enough of _that_ from +old Cramphorn!" + +"You should _assert_ yourself more, Sidney, if you want people to +respect you." + +"I'm always asserting myself--but old Cramphorn never listens! Just goes +on his own way. Won't hear of any changes--what was good enough when the +firm started a hundred years ago is good enough for _him_--now I'm all +for _new_ ideas myself--Progress and so forth!" + +"That's what has kept us back," said Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson; "we should +have been in a far better set here than we're ever likely to be now if +you hadn't given yourself out as a violent Radical, when it's well known +that all best Gablehurst people are Conservatives, and several who are +not really entitled to be anything of the kind. As it is, I suppose I +must be content to pass my life in this suburban hole and mix with none +but second-rate people. But I certainly cannot expect Lady Harriet to +come here and meet them, so there's an end of it. If she imagines I've +no desire to pursue her acquaintance, it can't be helped, that's all! +And now you had better go up and dress." + +The whole family were assembled by the time Mr. Stimpson +re-appeared--his wife was in her armchair by the standard lamp. Edna was +at the writing-table revising her notes of the afternoon's lecture, and +Clarence was seated close by, while Ruby was whispering earnestly to +Daphne on one of the chintz couches. + +"All of you down before me, eh?" said the head of the family after the +usual salutations had been exchanged. "But I went up long after +everybody else. And not late after all--I've taught myself to dress in +well under ten minutes, you see!" + +"Wish he'd taught himself not to wear a white tie with a dinner jacket!" +grumbled Clarence to Edna in an undertone. + +"Couldn't you _tell_ him about it?" she replied. + +"I could--but what'd be the good? He'd only turn up next time in a +tail-coat and a black bow!" said Clarence gloomily. "The poor old +governor's one of the people who never learn----!" + +Clarence's own type was that for which the latest term is "knut." He was +accepted both by his family, his intimates, and himself as an infallible +guide on things in general. When consulted as to matters on which he +happened to be entirely ignorant, and these were not a few--he had +formed the habit of preserving a pregnant silence, as of one who could +say a good deal on the subject if he were at liberty to speak. And this +in itself denoted a certain degree of intelligence. + +In appearance he was well built, though only of average height. He had +small green eyes like his mother's; his light sandy hair had a natural +ripple, and his pale face expressed nothing beyond an assured +consciousness of his own superiority. And yet he was not without a +certain sense of humour in matters which did not immediately concern +himself, though, owing to particular circumstances, it was just then +distinctly in abeyance. + +"What time do you get back from the City to-morrow afternoon, my boy?" +his father asked. + +"Not going up at all, Pater," said Clarence. "Told them I shouldn't." He +was thinking that after dinner would be quite time enough to break the +news that, on receiving a severe wigging for general slackness, he had +lost his temper, and offered to resign his post--an offer that had been +accepted with disconcerting alacrity. + +"Ah, Sidney," said Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, "_Clarence_ knows how to +assert himself, you see!" + +"I merely asked," Mr. Stimpson explained, "because I'm taking a Saturday +off myself, and I thought we could have a round or two of golf +together, eh, my boy?" + +"I don't mind going round with you before lunch," said Clarence. +"Engaged for the afternoon; but, if you'll take _my_ advice, Governor, +you'd better practise a bit longer with the Pro before you attempt to +_play_. No good trying to run till you can walk, don't you know, what?" +(He had learnt to terminate his sentences with "what" as a kind of smart +shibboleth.) "Hullo, Mater!" he broke off suddenly, as he noticed the +pendant on her ample bosom, "where did you get that thing? Out of a +cracker?" + +"Certainly not, Clarence; I am not in the habit of wearing cheap +jewellery. And this cost a considerable sum, though I daresay it is +worth what I paid for it." + +"Did you go much of a mucker for it, Mater?" + +"If I did, Clarence, I was well able to do so, thanks to dear old Uncle +Wibberley's legacy." + +"I must say, Mother," said Edna, "it's far the most artistic thing I've +ever known you buy." + +"It isn't _everybody's_ taste," remarked Mr. Stimpson, "but I should say +myself that it wasn't a bad investment. Where did you come across it, my +love?" + +"My dear Sidney," replied Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson with much majesty, "as +I purchased it with my own money, where I came across it, and what I +paid for it are surely matters that only concern myself." + +Daphne, who could hardly avoid hearing this conversation, was impressed +by the tact and delicacy it displayed. It never occurred to her that +Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson's reticence might be inspired by other motives +than a generous desire to spare her feelings. "She really is quite a +decent sort!" she told herself. + +Clarence had not been unobservant of her--indeed it would not be too +much to say that he had been acutely conscious all the time of Miss +Heritage's presence. + +Ever since she had become a member of the household he had alternated +between the desire to impress her and the dread of becoming entangled in +the toils of an artful little enchantress. It was true that since her +arrival in the family she had made no effort whatever to enchant him; +indeed, she had treated him with easy indifference--but this, his +experience of her sex and the world told him, was probably assumed. She +could hardly help knowing that he was something of a "catch" from her +point of view, and scheming to ensnare him. + +Perhaps Clarence, with his now dubious prospects, felt himself rather +less of a catch than usual; perhaps it occurred to him that being +moderately ensnared would be pleasantly exciting, since he would always +know when to stop. At all events, he lounged gracefully toward the sofa, +on which she and Ruby were sitting: "I say, Miss Heritage," he began, +"you mustn't let my Kiddie sister bore you like this. She's been +whispering away in your ear for the last ten minutes." + +Daphne denied that she was being bored. + +"Of _course_ she isn't!" said Ruby; "I was finishing the story I began +telling her when we were walking home. We'd got to where Daphne first +meets the Fairy Prince." + +"Then it's all about Miss Heritage, is it?" + +"I call the heroine 'Daphne' in my story, after her--but, of course, she +isn't Miss Heritage _really_." + +"You don't seem to think it very likely that Miss Heritage will ever +come across a Fairy Prince, eh!" commented Clarence, and wondered the +next moment whether he mightn't have said something to commit himself. + +"I hope not," said Ruby, slipping her hand affectionately through +Daphne's arm, "because then she'd leave me, and I should never see her +again!" + +"I shouldn't worry about it just yet, darling," said Daphne, smiling. +"Fairy Princes are only to be found in their own country--and it's a +long way from here to Fairyland." + +Clarence was noticing, not for the first time, that her full face was +shaped like a shield, also that two fascinating little creases came in +it when she smiled, and her pretty grey eyes had a soft sparkle in them. +"I must be jolly careful," he told himself. + +"I should prefer, Miss Heritage," said Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, who had +overheard the last sentence, "that Ruby was not encouraged to fill her +head with Fairy tales. I don't think them good for her." + +"Oh, come, Mater!" protested Clarence, unable to resist the _rôle_ of +Champion. "Where on earth is the harm of them." + +"Surely, Clarence," Edna put in instructively, "there is _this_ +harm--they give such an utterly false impression of what life really +_is_! That's why I've never been able to take any interest in them." + +"More likely," said Clarence, "because you've got no imagination." + +"If I hadn't," retorted Edna, "I should hardly have got through the +Poetry I have. Most of Browning and Alfred Austin, and all Ella Wheeler +Wilcox! It's only the lowest degree of imagination that invents things +that couldn't possibly have happened!" + +"They may have left off, Edna, but they happened _once_," declared Ruby. +"I know there _used_ to be Fairyland somewhere, with Kings and Queens +and Fairy Godmothers and enchanted castles and magicians and Ogres and +Dragons and things in it. And Miss Heritage believes it, too--_don't_ +you, Miss Heritage, dear?" + +"I'm much mistaken in Miss Heritage, my dear," said Mr. Stimpson +gallantly, "if her head isn't too well screwed on (if she'll allow me to +say so) to believe in any such stuff. All very well for the Nursery, you +know, but not to be taken seriously, or ... why, what's that? Most +extraordinary noise! Seems to come from outside, overhead." + +They could all hear a strange kind of flapping whirr in the air, it grew +nearer and louder and then suddenly ceased. + +"Aeroplane," pronounced Clarence, drawing the window curtains and +looking out. "Miles away by now, though. Terrific pace they travel at. +Too dark to see anything." + +He returned to the hearthrug, and the moment afterwards, the silence +outside was broken by a shrill, clear call which seemed to come from +silver trumpets. + +"Very odd," said Mr. Stimpson, "some one seems to be playing trumpets on +the gravel-sweep!" + +"If it's one of those travelling German bands," said his wife, "you'd +better send them away at once, Sidney." + +But, whoever they were, they had already entered the hall, for almost +immediately the drawing-room door was thrown open and two persons +wearing tabards and gaily plumed hats entered and sounded another +blast. + +"'Pon my word, you know," gasped Mr. Stimpson, "this is really----" + +The heralds stepped back as a third person entered. He was wearing a +rich suit of some long-departed period, and, with his furrowed face and +deep-set eyes, he rather resembled an elderly mastiff, though he did not +convey the same impression of profound wisdom. He gazed round the room +as though he himself were as bewildered as its other occupants, who were +speechless with amazement. Then his eye fell on Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, +and he hesitated no longer, but, advancing towards her chair, sank with +some difficulty on one knee, seized her hand, and kissed it with every +sign of deep respect. + +"Heaven be praised!" he cried in a voice that faltered with emotion, "I +have at last found the Queen we have so long sought in vain!" He spoke +with some sort of foreign accent, but they all understood him perfectly. +As he knelt they heard a loud crack which seemed to come from between +his shoulders. + +"Braces given way," whispered Clarence to Edna; "silly old ass to go +kneeling in 'em!" + +"Really, sir," said Mr. Stimpson, "this is most extraordinary +behaviour." + +"You don't understand, Sidney," said Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, who had +recovered from her first alarm and was now in a gratified flutter; +"remember what I told you about Lady Harriet and the Pageant! Pray, get +up, sir," she added to the stranger, "I haven't the advantage of knowing +your name." + +"I am the Court Chamberlain," he said, "and my name is Treuherz von +Eisenbänden." + +It was unknown to Mrs. Stimpson, but she concluded that he was some +Anglo-German commercial magnate, who would naturally be invited to join +the Committee for any such patriotic purpose as a Pageant. + +As to the excessive ceremony of his manner, that was either the proper +form for the occasion, or, what was more likely, Mr. Troitz, or whatever +his name was, having come fresh from a dress rehearsal, could not divest +himself as yet of his assumed character. The important point was that +her interview with Lady Harriet had borne fruit already, and in the +shape of a pressing invitation to play the distinguished part of +"Queen!" The advantages thus offered for obtaining a social footing +amongst county people made it easy to overlook any trifling +eccentricities where the intention was so obviously serious. "Well, Mr. +Troitz," she said graciously, "since the Committee have been kind enough +to ask me, I shall be very pleased to be your Queen." + +"And if I may say so, Sir," said her husband, "there are few ladies in +the vicinity who would prove more competent. In fact----" + +"That will do, Sidney," said his wife; "if Lady Harriet and the +Committee did not consider me competent to be the Queen they would not +have asked me." And Mr. Stimpson said no more. + +"Pardon," Mr. Treuherz said, looking at him with solemn surprise, +"but--who is _this_?" + +"This is my husband, Mr. Troitz--let me introduce him." + +"Your husband. Then, he will be the King!" + +"The King?" cried Mr. Stimpson, "why, really, I'm not sure that would be +altogether in my line." + +"Nonsense, Sidney. Of _course_ you will be the King if they want you! +And this is my son, Clarence, Mr. Troitz. My daughters, Edna and Ruby." + +"A Crown Prince!" cried Treuherz, and bent low to each in turn. "And +two--no, I mistake--_three_ Princesses! Ah, it is too much for me +altogether!" + +It was almost too much for Ruby, who giggled helplessly, while even +Daphne had to bite her lip rather hard for a moment. + +"The other young lady," corrected Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, "is merely my +daughter Ruby's governess--Miss Heritage. But if you like to find a +place for her as one of my ladies of honour or something, I have no +objection to her accepting a part," she added, reflecting that Miss +Heritage's manners and appearance would add to the family importance, +while it would be a comfort to have an attendant who could not give +herself such airs as might a girl belonging to a county family. + +"Naturally," said Treuherz, inclining himself again. "Any member of your +Majesty's household you desire to bring." + +"Very well; I suppose, Miss Heritage, you have no objection? Then you +will accompany us, please. And now, Mr. Troitz, about when shall we be +wanted?" + +"When?" he replied. "But now! At once. Already I have the car waiting!" + +"Now?" exclaimed Clarence; "rum time to rehearse--what?" + +"Who said anything about rehearsing, Clarence?" said his mother +impatiently. "It's necessary for them to see us and talk over the +arrangements. It's not likely to take long." + +"But it'll do later, my love," put in Mr. Stimpson, who did not like the +idea of turning out without his dinner. "Fact is, Mr. Troitz, we were +just about to sit down to dinner. Why not keep the car waiting a bit and +join us? No ceremony, you know--just as you _are_!" + +"Sire, I regret that it is impossible," he said. "I have undertaken to +convey you with all possible speed. If we delay I cannot answer for what +may happen." + +"You hear what Mr. Troitz says, Sidney," said Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, +alarmed at the idea of another being chosen in her absence. "What _does_ +it matter if we do dine a little late? Children, we must go and put on +our things at once--your warmest cloaks, mind--we're sure to find it +cold motoring. Sidney and Clarence, you had better get your coats on--we +shall be down directly." + +Mr. Treuherz and the heralds stood at attention in the hall. While +Clarence and his father struggled into their great-coats, neither of +them in a very good temper, Mr. Stimpson being annoyed at postponing his +dinner for what he called "tomfoolery," and Clarence secretly sulky +because his parent could not be induced to see the propriety of going up +to change his tie. + +"I haven't _yet_ made out, Mother," said Edna, as they came downstairs, +"exactly where we're going to--or what we're expected to do when we get +there." + +"It will either be The Hermitage--Lady Harriet's, you know--or Mr. +Troitz's country house, wherever _that_ is. And, of course, the +Committee require to know what times will suit us for rehearsing." + +"I wish you'd settle it all without _me_," complained Edna. "I'd much +rather stay at home, and run over my lecture notes.... Well, if I must +come, I shall bring my note-book with me in case I'm bored." And she ran +into the drawing-room, and came back with the note-book, rather as an +emblem of her own intellectual superiority than with any intention of +referring to it. However, as will be found later, the manuscript proved +to be of some service in the future. + +Daphne and Ruby were the last to join the party in the hall, Ruby wildly +excited at the unexpected jaunt and the prospects of not going to bed +till ever so late, and Daphne, though a little doubtful whether Mrs. +Stimpson was quite justified in bringing her, inclined to welcome almost +any change from the evening _routine_ of "Inglegarth." And then, after +Mrs. Stimpson had given some hurried instructions to the hopelessly +mystified Mitchell, the whole family issued out of the Queen Anne porch, +and were conducted by Treuherz, who, to their intense confusion, +insisted on walking backwards to the car, while the heralds performed +another flourish on their silver trumpets. It was pitch-dark when they +had got to the asphalt pavement outside their gates, but they could just +make out the contours of the car in the light that streamed across the +hedge to the stained glass front-door. + +"Jolly queer-looking car," said Clarence. It was certainly unusually +large, and seemed to have somewhat fantastic lines and decorations. + +"Oh, never mind about the car!" cried Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, who was +inside it already, a vague, bundled-up shape in the gloom. "It's part of +the Pageant, of course! Get in, Clarence, get in! We're late as it is! +and if there's a thing I detest, it's keeping people waiting!" + +"All right, Mater!" said Clarence, clambering in. "I can't make out what +the dickens they've done with the bonnet--but we seem to be moving, +what?" + +Slowly the car had begun to glide along the road. Mr. Treuherz was +seated in front, probably at the steering-wheel, though none was +visible. The heralds sat in the rear, and the car was of such a size +that there was abundant room for the family in the centre. Some yards +ahead they heard a curious dry rustle and clatter, and could distinguish +a confused grey mass of forms that seemed to be clearing the way for +them, though whether they were human beings it was not possible to tell +till they passed a lighted street-lamp. + +"Why, goodness gracious!" exclaimed Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, "they look +like--like _ostriches_!" + +She was mistaken here, because they were merely storks, but, before she +could identify them more correctly, they all suddenly rose in the air +with a whirr like that of a hundred spinning looms--and the car rose +with them. + +"Stop!" screamed Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, "Sidney, tell Mr. Troitz to +stop! I _insist_ on knowing where we are being taken to!" + +Treuherz glanced over his shoulder. "Where should I conduct your +Majesties," he said, "but to your own Kingdom of Märchenland?" + +Mrs. Stimpson and her husband would no doubt have protested, demanded +explanations, insisted upon being put down at once, had they been able; +but, whether it was that the car had some peculiarly soporific tendency, +or whether it was merely the sudden swift rush through the upper air, a +torpor had already fallen on the whole Stimpson family. It was even +questionable if they remained long enough awake to hear their +destination. + +Daphne, for some reason, did not fall asleep till later. She lay back in +her luxuriously cushioned seat, watching the birds as they flew, spread +out in a wide fan against the dusky blue evening sky. Gablehurst, with +its scattered lights, artistic villa-residences, and prosaic railway +station--its valley and common and wooded hills, were far below and soon +left behind at an ever increasing distance. But she did not feel in the +least afraid. It was odd, but, after the first surprise, she had lost +all sense of strangeness in a situation so foreign to all her previous +experience. + +"So we're being taken to Märchenland," she was thinking. "That's the +same as Fairyland, practically. At least it's where all the things they +call Fairy stories really happened, and--_why_ I can't imagine--but Mr. +and Mrs. Stimpson have been chosen King and Queen! And the poor dear +things have no idea of it yet! Oh, I wonder" (and here, no doubt, the +little creases came into her cheeks again, for she laughed softly to +herself), "I _wonder_ what they'll say or do when they find out!" And +while Daphne was still wondering, her eyelids closed gently, and she, +too, was sleeping soundly. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +FINE FEATHERS + + +Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson was the first of her party to recover +consciousness. When she did, she was greatly surprised to find that it +was broad daylight, and that she was lying on a grassy slope, behind +which was a forest of huge pines. Close beside her were the recumbent +forms of her husband and family, which led her to the natural conclusion +that the car must have met with an accident. + +"Sidney!" she cried, shaking him by the shoulder. "Speak to me! +You're--you're not _seriously_ hurt, are you?" + +"Eh, what?" he replied sleepily, and evidently imagining that he was +comfortably in bed at home; "all right, my dear, all right! I'll get up +and bring in the tea-tray presently. Lots of time.... Why, hullo!" he +exclaimed, after being shaken once more, as he sat up and rubbed his +eyes. "How do we all come to be _here_?" + +The others were awake by this time. "And now we're here," put in +Clarence, "where _are_ we, eh, Mater?" + +"It is no use asking _me_, Clarence. I know no more than you do. The +last thing I remember was our all getting into the car to go and see the +Pageant Committee. I've a vague recollection of ostriches--but no, I +must have been dreaming _them_. However, the car seems to have upset +somehow, only I don't see it about anywhere." + +"No," said Mr. Stimpson, "or old Thingumagig, or those fellows with the +trumpets either." + +"Dumped us down here, and gone off with the car," said Clarence. "Looks +as if we'd been the victims of a practical joke, what?" + +"They would never dare to do that!" said his Mother. "I expect they have +missed their way in the dark. Very careless of them. I don't know what +Lady Harriet and the Committee will think of me. They'll probably ask +somebody else to take the part of Queen before we can get there--for I'm +sure we must be a good hundred miles away from Gablehurst!" + +"The Baron said that he was taking us to Märchenland, Mrs. Stimpson," +said Daphne; "and I'm _almost_ sure that that is where we really are." + +"And where may Märchenland be?" inquired Mrs. Stimpson sharply. "I never +heard of it myself." + +"Well," said Daphne, "it's another name for--for Fairyland, you know." + +"Fairyland indeed!" replied Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson with some +irritation. "You will find it difficult to persuade me to believe that I +am in _Fairyland_, Miss Heritage! To begin with, there is no such place, +and if there was, perhaps you will kindly tell me how we could possibly +have got to it?" + +"Through the air," explained Daphne patiently. "That car was drawn by +_storks_, you see--not ostriches." + +"When you have _quite_ woke up, Miss Heritage," said Mrs. Stimpson, "you +will realise what nonsense you are talking." + +"Whatever this place is," said Clarence, "it don't look English, +somehow, to _me_. I mean to say--that town over there--what?" He +pointed across the wide plain to a cluster of towers, spires, gables, +and pinnacles which glittered and gleamed faintly through the shimmering +morning haze. + +"It certainly has rather a Continental appearance," observed his father. + +"If it has," said Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, "it is only some buildings or +scenery or something they have run up for the Pageant. So we haven't +been taken in the wrong direction after all." + +"_I_ believe, Mummy," chirped Ruby, "Miss Heritage is right, and this +_is_ Fairyland." + +"Don't be so ridiculous, child! You'll believe next that we came here in +a car drawn by flying storks, I suppose!" + +"D'you know, Mater," said Clarence, "I'm not so sure we mayn't have. +What I mean is--there's some sort of flying machine coming along now. I +grant you it isn't drawn by storks, but they're _birds_ anyhow, and +there seems to be some one in the car too." + +"Nothing of the kind!" declared Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson obstinately. "At +least one may fancy one sees anything with the sun in our eyes as it is. +Well, upon my word!" she added, still incredulously, as an iridescent +shell-shaped chariot attached to a team of snow-white doves _volplaned_ +down from a dizzy height to a spot only a few yards away, "I really +could not have--who, and what can this old person be?" + +The occupant of the chariot had already got out of it, and was slowly +coming towards them, supporting herself on a black crutch-handled staff. +As she drew nearer they could see that she was a woman of great age. She +wore a large ruff, a laced stomacher, wide quilted petticoats, and a +pointed hat with a broad brim. Her expression was severe, but not +unkindly, while she evidently considered herself a personage of some +importance. + +"She looks exactly like the Fairy Godmother in the pictures," whispered +Ruby. + +"Whoever she may be," said her Mother, scrambling to her feet with more +haste than dignity, "I suppose I shall have to go and speak to her, as I +presume I am the person she has come to meet." + +However, it was Daphne who was addressed by the new-comer. + +"The Court Chamberlain, Baron Treuherz von Eisenbänden, has brought me +the glad tidings of your arrival, my child," she said in a high cracked +voice, "and, as the high official Court Godmother to the Royal Family, I +felt that I should be the first to bid you welcome." + +This was more than Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson could be expected to stand +without a protest. + +"Pardon me," she said, throwing back her cloak as though she were in +need of air, "pardon me, Madam, but I think you are mistaking my +daughter's governess for _me_. I am Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson!" + +The old lady turned sharply, and as her eyes fell on the matron's +indignant face and heaving bosom, she instantly became deferential and +almost apologetic. "You must forgive me, my dear," she said, "for not +recognising you before. But at my age--I may tell you I am nearing the +end of my second century--one is apt to forget the flight of Time. Or it +may be that Time in your world flies more quickly than in ours. I did +not stay to hear more from the Baron than that he had succeeded in +finding our Queen, and, to be quite plain with you, I was unprepared to +find you so mature." + +Then, thought Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson confusedly, she _had_ been brought +here for the Pageant after all. But what very odd people seemed to be +getting it up! + +"Baron--whatever his name is, appeared to be quite satisfied that I was +suited to the part," she said coldly. "Of course, if you require someone +younger----" + +"There can be no manner of doubt, my dear, that you are the Queen we +have been seeking, so the mere fact that you are rather older than some +of us expected is of no importance whatever." + +"Thank you," said Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson. "I do not consider myself +more than middle-aged, and have generally been taken for younger than I +am, Mrs. ----, I haven't the pleasure of knowing your name." + +"Here they call me the Fairy Vogelflug; in the neighbouring Kingdom of +Clairdelune my name is Voldoiseau. I have officiated as Court Godmother +to the reigning Royal families in both countries for many generations." + +"I _thought_ you were a Fairy Godmother!" cried Ruby; "and I'm sure +you're a _good_ Fairy, and can do all sorts of wonderful things." + +"I used to, my child, in my younger days, but my powers are not what +they were, and I seldom exercise them now, because it exhausts me too +severely to do so. Once there were several of us Court Godmothers, but I +am the only one left, and my health is so poor that I can do little for +my God-children but give them moral teaching and wise counsel. However, +such good offices as I can still render shall be entirely at your +service." + +"You are very kind," said Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, resenting the other's +air of patronage, "but all my children are already provided with +God-parents. As you tell me you are a Fairy," she continued, "I suppose +I must accept your word for it--but it will take a great deal more than +that to make me believe that we are in Fairyland." + +"I thought," said the Fairy, "you already knew that the name of this +country is Märchenland." + +It should be said here once for all that the Wibberley-Stimpsons found +no difficulty in understanding, or making themselves perfectly +intelligible to any Märchenlanders, although they always had a curious +feeling that they were conversing in a foreign language. + +"Whatever the country is called," said Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson +aggressively, "I should like some explanation of that Baron Troitz's +conduct in entrapping us into coming here. I was distinctly given to +understand that I had been chosen to be the Queen at our local Pageant, +and that we were being taken to talk over the arrangements with the +Committee. Now he has gone off in the most ungentlemanly way, and left +us stranded and helpless here!" + +"You must have misunderstood the good Baron," said the Fairy Vogelflug; +"and he is far too loyal to desert you. He has merely hastened on to +Eswareinmal, the city whose walls and towers you see yonder, to prepare +for your reception. As you probably know, he has devoted himself with +the most untiring zeal to his mission of seeking you out and restoring +you to your inheritance." + +"He never said a word about that to me--not a word. If I am really +entitled to any property in this country, I should be glad to know +where it is situated, and what is its exact value." + +"Then," said the Fairy, "I may inform you that you are entitled, as the +daughter of your late Father--our long-lost and much-lamented Prince +Chrysopras--to no less a possession than the Crown of Märchenland." + +"You--you don't _say_ so!" gasped Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson. "The Crown +of--Sidney, did you hear _that_." + +"It's some mistake, my dear," he said. "Must be! ... My wife's father, +Ma'am, though in some respects--a--a remarkable character, was never a +Prince--at least that _I've_ heard of." + +"It doesn't at all follow, Sidney," said his wife in a nettled tone, +"that anything you don't happen to have heard of is not a fact. There +always _was_ a mystery about poor dear Papa's origin. He was most +reticent about it--even with me. And I know it was rumoured that +Prinsley was not his real name. So it would not surprise me in the least +if Mrs. Fogleplug turned out to be right, though I cannot say till she +gives us further particulars." + +"I will do so most willingly," said the Fairy. "But as it will take me +some time to relate them, I should strongly advise you all to sit down." + +They seated themselves round her in a semicircle, and presently she +began: + +"You must know," she said, "that our mighty and gracious Sovereign, the +late King Smaragd, was twice wedded. By his first wife he had an only +son, Prince Chrysopras, a gallant and goodly prince, beloved not only by +his father, but by the whole nation. Well, after mourning his first wife +for a longer period than is customary, King Smaragd took to himself +another, who was much younger than himself, besides being marvellously +beautiful." + +"And of course she hated the poor Prince," said Ruby. "Stepmothers +always do in the stories." + +"I have not said she hated him," said the Court Godmother, who did not +like her points to be anticipated. "On the contrary, she treated him +with every mark of affection, and was constantly bestowing on him gifts +of the costliest description. One day she presented him with a wondrous +mechanical horse, fiercer and more mettlesome than even the steeds that +are born in Märchenland." + +"Motor-bike, what," suggested Clarence sapiently. + +"A mechanical horse is what I _said_," repeated the Fairy, "resembling +others in shape and beauty, but made of metal. Prince Chrysopras, being +a skilful and fearless horseman----" + +"Indeed he was!" put in Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson. "He used to ride +regularly in the Row, almost to the last. On 'Joggles,' such a dear +brown fat cob. He was one of what I believe was known as 'The Liver +Brigade' ... a fact which for some reason I can't pretend to fathom +seems to be causing you amusement, Miss Heritage." + +Daphne, whose sense of humour was occasionally an inconvenience to her, +had certainly found the notion of a Fairy Prince in the Liver Brigade a +little too much for her gravity. However, she attributed her lapse to +the name of the horse. + +"It was the name they gave it at the Livery Stables," said Mrs. +Wibberley-Stimpson. "And I really cannot see myself--but we are +interrupting this good lady here." + +"You are," said the Fairy. "I was about to say that Prince Chrysopras +was greatly delighted by his Royal Stepmother's gift, and at once leapt +on the back of the strange steed." + +"What I call asking for trouble," commented Clarence. + +"_I_ know what happened!" Ruby struck in eagerly. "It flew right up into +the air with him, and poor Grandpapa fell off." + +"If he had, none of you would be here at the moment," said the Fairy. +"Don't be in such a hurry, my child. He was much too good a rider to +fall off. But the horse flew up and up with him till both could no +longer be seen. The remains of the steed were found long afterwards on a +mountain top. But nothing more was ever seen of the Prince, who was +supposed to have perished in one of our lakes." + +"Then he must have fallen off after all," insisted Ruby. + +"No, no, Ruby," said her mother, with a sense that, where the credit of +her family was concerned, nothing was too improbable for belief; "the +horse flew with him to England, or _somewhere_ in Europe--or else he +couldn't have met your dear grandmother, whom none of you ever saw, for +she died long before you were born. And I expect that, after he got off, +the horse flew back again, and was just able to get to Märchenland +before the machinery broke down. And dear Papa very naturally would not +care for people to know that he had got there by such peculiar means, +which accounts for my never having heard of it before." + +"Exactly," said the Fairy Vogelflug; "but King Smaragd only knew that +his son was lost to him, and when he discovered that the horse was +enchanted, and that his Queen had bribed the Hereditary Grand Magician +to construct it, his anger knew no bounds." + +"Enough to annoy anybody," said Mr. Wibberley-Stimpson. "I should +certainly----" + +"He ordered," the Fairy went on, without appearing to feel any interest +in what Mr. Stimpson would have done in similar circumstances, "both the +Queen and the Grand Magician to be enclosed in a barrel, the inside of +which had been set with sharp nails, and rolled down into the lake from +the top of the mountain." + +"I should say myself," remarked Mr. Stimpson, "that that was going a +little too far. But he certainly had great provocation." + +"He also commanded that all wizards and enchanters should renounce their +practices for ever, and adopt some other calling, or be banished from +the Country." + +"There," said Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson approvingly, "I think he was _so_ +right. I would never encourage any of those clairvoyant people myself. +And did he marry a third wife at all?" + +"Not if he was wise!" said Clarence. + +"No, although it grieved him sorely that he had no heir to succeed him. +But towards the end of his days, he dreamed repeatedly that his son was +yet living. He beheld him in these visions a wanderer in some far-off +land, earning his bread as a musician, for in Music he had rare skill." + +"I fancy he must have given it up when he took to Finance," said Mrs. +Wibberley-Stimpson, "though he kept his taste for it. I well remember +his buying a beautiful orchestrion which used to be in the Picture +Gallery." + +"Well," pursued the Fairy, "in further dreams it was revealed to the +King that his son was married to one, who, though not of his own race or +rank, was both gently born and very fair to see." + +"Pollentine was the maiden name of your Grandmother on _my_ side, my +dears," explained Mrs. Stimpson to her family. "She must have been +good-looking as a girl, judging by a daguerrotype I had of her. Her +father was a highly distinguished Auctioneer and Estate Agent in East +Croydon, as I daresay was also revealed in the King's dream." + +"Of that I can say nothing," replied the Court Godmother; "but I know +that further visions showed him his son as a widower with an only +daughter, and later still that he was no longer living. And so much was +the King impressed that he caused a search to be made for this +grand-daughter of his in every country that is known to us. Even when he +lay on his death-bed he did not give up hope that she would be found, +and so he left his Kingdom in charge of his trusted favourite Marshal +Federhelm as Regent, with strict injunctions to continue seeking for the +missing Queen." + +"And how," inquired Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, "did the Marshal manage to +find me out?" + +"It was not he. He soon convinced himself that all further endeavours +were useless. No, it is to the devotion of our worthy Court Chamberlain, +the Baron Treuherz von Eisenbänden, that your discovery is owing. He had +grieved so deeply to see Märchenland without a Sovereign that, after the +example of 'Faithful John,' the founder of his family, he had placed +iron hoops round his chest to keep his heart from breaking." + +"We heard 'em go," said Clarence; "thought it was only his braces." + +"At length," continued the Fairy, "the Baron went in secret to Xuriel, +the Astrologer Royal, and induced him to consult the stars. Which Xuriel +did, and by much study and intricate calculation he succeeded in +ascertaining the exact spot in the other world where the Queen would be +discovered, and even the means by which she might be recognised." + +"Ah," said Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, "I shall begin to believe in +Astronomy after this. But even now I don't _quite_ understand how Baron +Troitz got to 'Inglegarth.'" + +"That was by _my_ assistance. I placed my travelling car at his service, +with the wise storks that fly straight to any place to which they are +directed, even though they may never have heard of it before. Happily +for Märchenland, Xuriel's calculations have proved correct, except that +he did not foresee that the Baron would bring back two Sovereigns +instead of one." + +"What--is the Gov'nor going to be King?" inquired Clarence. "My hat!" + +"That would be ridiculous, Clarence," said his mother, "when your Father +hasn't a drop of Royal blood in his veins! He can't even rank as Prince +Consort!" + +"Not so, my dear, not so," corrected the Fairy, "by the custom of +Märchenland, anyone who weds the Sovereign shares the throne, and your +husband will be as truly the King of this Country as you will be its +Queen." + +"Oh, is _that_ the rule?" said Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, not best +pleased. "Well, Sidney, I trust you will show yourself equal to your +position, that is all." + +"I trust so, my love," he replied uneasily. "It--it's come on me at +rather short notice. However!" + +"If Daddy and Mums are King and Queen," asked Ruby, "will Edna and me be +Princesses?" + +"Undoubtedly you will," said the Court Godmother. + +"Then Clarence will be a Prince. So you see, Miss Heritage, dear, you +_have_ met a Prince after all!" + +"Shut up, Kiddie!" said the new Crown Prince in some confusion. + +"And what will Miss Heritage be, Mummy?" + +"Miss Heritage will be what she was before, my dear--your governess." + +"But I shan't want one any more--we're in Fairyland now--and Fairy +Princesses haven't got to do lessons. Oh, Mums, couldn't you make Miss +Heritage a Princess too? Do!" + +"Why not?" said the Fairy, glancing at Daphne, whose colour had risen +slightly. "Anybody might very well take her to be one as it is." + +"Miss Heritage," said Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, "has, I am sure, too much +good sense to expect a title of any kind. She will continue to be my +daughter's instructress, and I may possibly find a place for her as +Mistress of the Robes or something; but it's much too early to say +anything definite at--Really, Edna," she broke off suddenly, "how you +can sit there calmly reading as if nothing had happened!" + +"I was merely running through my lecture-notes again, Mother," said +Edna. "If I _am_ a Princess," she added, for the benefit of the Court +Godmother, "that is no reason why I shouldn't go on cultivating my +mind." + +"Now you're a Princess, my dear," replied her mother, "it doesn't +signify to anybody whether your mind is cultivated or not." + +"It signifies a great deal to _me_, mother," said Edna, and resumed the +study of her notes with an air of conscious merit. + +"I must say _one_ thing, Mrs. Fogleplug," Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson +proceeded; "it would have been more considerate if I had been given +proper notice, and a reasonable time to prepare for such a complete +change as this. I do feel _that_." + +She did; it was a great deprivation to her to have lost the opportunity +of mentioning casually to her Gablehurst friends--and Lady Harriet +especially--that she would shortly be leaving them to occupy a throne. + +"Precisely my own feeling," said Mr. Stimpson, thinking regretfully how +the news would have made that confounded fellow Thistleton sit up, and +of the sensation it might have produced in the train to the City. "It +is, to say the least of it, unfortunate that I had no time to +communicate with the other members of my firm." + +"And there's Clarence, too!" said his fond mother. "His Company will be +quite helpless without him!" + +"They may be in a bit of a hole at first," he admitted, thankful now +that he had said nothing about his resignation, or the readiness with +which it had been accepted. "Still, no fellow is indispensable. What?" + +The Fairy explained that haste had been unavoidable, as it might have +been injurious to the storks if they had remained longer in a climate to +which they were unaccustomed. + +"But why send storks to fetch us at all?" demanded Mrs. +Wibberley-Stimpson. "Why not some more modern conveyance?... There they +are again with the car--coming back for us, I expect.... Yes, I can make +out Baron Troitz and the trumpeters--and there seems to be a gentleman +in armour with them." + +"The Regent, Marshal Federhelm," said the Fairy. "He is coming to offer +his congratulations." + +"Is he?" cried Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, scrambling to her feet again in +some dismay. "A Regent! I--I wish I knew the proper way of addressing +him!" + +The storks by this time had brought the car to ground, and were now +standing about on one leg with folded wings and an air of detachment. +The Marshal alighted and advanced slowly towards the Stimpsons while the +heralds sounded their trumpets. + +He made a formidable and warrior-like figure in his golden half-armour +of a kind unknown to antiquarians, and great jack-boots of gilded +leather. He was tall, and the towering mass of waving feathers that +crowned his helmet made him look taller still. His vizor was raised, +showing a swarthy, hook-nosed face, with quick, restless eyes like a +lizard's, a fierce moustache, and a bristling beard that spread out in a +stiff black fan. + +"_You_ had better speak to him, Sidney," whispered his wife, overcome by +sudden panic; "I really can't." + +"Er--" began Mr. Stimpson nervously, "I believe I have the pleasure of +addressing the Regent. We--we're the new King and Queen, you know, and +these are the other members of the family." + +The Marshal seemed a little taken aback at first, but he promptly +recovered himself, and bending so low that his feathers brushed Mrs. +Wibberley-Stimpson's nose, he placed in her hand a small velvet-covered +baton studded with gold stars. + +"Oh, thank you very much, I'm sure," she said. "It's quite charming. Has +it got an address or anything inside it?" + +"The symbol of my authority, your Majesty," he said, with soldierly +curtness. "I have long desired to surrender it to hands more worthy to +govern than mine." + +"Very handsome of you to say so," replied Mr. Stimpson; "but I daresay +you aren't altogether sorry to get out of it, eh?" + +"It is too lofty a position, Sire, for a rough, simple warrior like +myself," he said. "Nothing but a sense of duty to my country would have +made me accept the Regency at all." + +"I am sure," said Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, "we shall find you have +carried on the Kingdom for us as satisfactorily as possible." + +"The people appeared to think so, your Majesty. But I am forgetting the +chief purpose I am here for. I have the honour to announce that the +procession will shortly be on its way to escort your Majesties to your +Coronation, which is to take place this morning in the great church of +Eswareinmal." + +"_Coronation!_" Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson almost screamed. "Before we have +so much as had our breakfast! And in these things we are wearing now! I +never heard of anything so preposterous!" + +"I don't care much myself," said Mr. Stimpson, "about being crowned on +an empty--without having had something to eat--if it's only an egg." + +"If they're going to crown the Guv'nor in a dinner-jacket and white +tie," Clarence muttered to Edna, "we shall never hear the last of it, +that's all!" + +"There is nothing to make a fuss about, my dear," said the Court +Godmother to Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, as though she were addressing a +froward child; "look behind you, and you will see that everything you +may require is already provided." + +They looked and saw two velvet Marquees, one striped in broad bands of +apple-green and mazarine blue, the other in pale rose and cream, which a +party of attendants had just finished putting up. "In those pavilions," +continued the Fairy, "you will find not only food prepared for you, but +robes such as are fitting for a Coronation. You will have plenty of time +both to eat and change your dress before the procession can possibly +arrive." + +"She's not likely to have got our measurements right," grumbled Mrs. +Wibberley-Stimpson to her eldest daughter, as they moved towards the +rose-and-cream Pavilion. "I should have much preferred to be fitted by a +Court dressmaker. Such a mistake to rush things like this! I rather like +that Marshal, Edna; there's something very gentlemanly and +straightforward about him, though I can't see why he shouldn't wear a +proper uniform instead of that absurd armour." + +"Shan't be sorry to get some breakfast, my boy," Mr. Stimpson remarked, +as he and Clarence were making for the other marquee; "I feel a bit +peckish after being so long in the night air." + +"I should like a tub first, Guv'nor." + +"I'm afraid," said Mr. Stimpson, "that's expecting too much in these +parts." + +However, on entering, they discovered, in addition to the delicacies and +gorgeous costumes laid out for them, two great crystal baths filled with +steaming water which exhaled a subtle but delicious perfume. + +"Doing us proud, eh, Guv'nor?" was Clarence's comment on the general +luxuriousness; and his father admitted that "everything seemed to have +been done regardless of expense." + +While the male and female members of the Royal Party were enjoying the +privacy of their respective tents, the Marshal outside was expressing +his sentiments to the Court Chamberlain with much vigour and freedom. + +"Well, Baron," he began, "this is a great service you have done +Märchenland, and I hope you are feeling proud of yourself!" + +"Oh, as for that, Marshal," modestly replied the ingenuous Baron, "I +have done no more than my duty." + +"The devil take you and your duty," growled the Marshal. "Why, in the +name of all the fiends, couldn't you have left things as they were?" + +"But, Marshal," the Baron protested, "when our learned Astrologer Royal +discovered the whereabouts of our lawful Queen, you were loudest in +approval of my expedition!" + +"How could I oppose, after you had been gabbling and cackling about it +to the whole Court, and it had even reached the ears of the people? +Besides, I was given to understand that this daughter of Chrysopras's +was a mere girl. If she _had_ been--But what have you brought us?--a +middle-aged matron with a husband and family!" + +"I own it was not what I had expected," said the Baron; "but since it +was so, what could I do but bring them all?" + +"Do? Left them where they were, of course--come back and said that that +little fool of a Xuriel had made a miscalculation, as he generally +does!" + +"I should have been a traitor had I thus denied my Queen. For, as you +have seen, she bears on her breast the very jewel of her father the +Prince, even as the stars foretold." + +"Undoubtedly she is his daughter," the Marshal admitted reluctantly. It +never occurred to him for a moment--nor would it occur to any of his +countrymen--that the pendant was anything but absolutely conclusive +proof of Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson's right to the throne. Märchenland +notions of what constitutes legal evidence have always been and remain +elementary. + +"But it's pretty plain," he went on, "that the young fool must have made +a most unworthy marriage to have begotten one so utterly lacking in all +queenliness and dignity." + +"She will soon acquire both," the Court Chamberlain affirmed stoutly, +"as she becomes more accustomed to her position." + +"She may," declared the Marshal, "when a frog grows feathers. And this +consort of hers! _Is_ he a fit Monarch for Märchenland? Even _you_, +Baron, can hardly say that for him! I may not have been beloved as +Regent, but at least I have made my authority respected. But what do +such a couple as this know about ruling a country? They'll make a +hopeless hash of it!" + +"Without guidance, perhaps," the Baron admitted; "but they will have the +inestimable advantage, Marshal, of our experience and advice." + +"Ha!" said the Marshal. "So they will--so they will! I was forgetting +that!" + +"No doubt they will submit to our guidance," went on the Baron, "and +thus we shall be able to save them from any dangerous indiscretions." + +"Just so," agreed the Marshal, with the flicker of a smile. + +The Court Chamberlain, at all events, spoke in all sincerity. His +hereditary instinct alone would have been enough to ensure his loyalty +to his new Sovereigns, whatever he might think of them in private. And +they were his own "finds," which gave them an added value in his +estimation, as will easily be understood by any collector of +curiosities. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +CROWNED HEADS + + +"'Pon my word, my love," Mr. Stimpson exclaimed, as his wife came +out of her pavilion in her Coronation Robes and chain, attended +by the Court Godmother, "I should hardly have known you! You look +majestic!--abso-lute-ly majestic!" + +"I wish I could say the same of _you_, Sidney," she replied; "but, as I +have told you more than once, legs like yours never ought to be seen +except in trousers.... Considering my own and my daughter's robes are +ready-made, Mrs. Fogleplug, they might be worse. As for Miss +Heritage's--well, I should have thought myself that something simpler +would have been more appropriate." + +Daphne was naturally much less sumptuously dressed than the Members of +the Royal family, but still, in her quaint double-peaked head-dress, +fantastically slashed bodice, and long hanging sleeves, with her bright +hair, too, waving loosely over her temples, its rich masses confined at +the back by a network of pearls, she was dainty and bewitching enough to +attract more than her due share of attention--Clarence's she attracted +at once, while he was sustained by an agreeable conviction that his +be-jewelled doublet, silken hose, white plumed velvet hat, and azure +mantle set off his figure to unusual advantage. + +"Tophole, Miss Heritage!" he said, strolling up with graceful languor. +"I'm not joking--you really _are_, you know! Wish _my_ kit suited me +half as well! Can't help feeling a most awful ass in it, what?" + +"Really?" she said carelessly. "How unpleasant for you! But perhaps if +you left off thinking about it----!" + +"Oh, I don't say it's so bad as all _that_!" + +"I didn't suppose it _was_, quite." + +Now this was not by any means the sort of deferential tribute he had +counted upon, and he was a little ruffled by her failure to respond. + +"Didn't you," he replied distantly, if somewhat lamely. "You'll excuse +me mentioning it, Miss Heritage, as it's only in your own interests, but +I believe it's considered the proper thing when you're addressed by--by +Royalty, don't you know, to throw in a 'Your Royal Highness' +occasionally. Of course, Court Etiquette and that may be all tosh, but I +didn't make it, and all I mean to say is--it won't do to let it slide." + +"Your Royal Highness will not have to rebuke me a second time," said +Daphne, sinking to the ground in a curtsey which it is to be feared was +wilfully exaggerated. "I'm afraid, sir," she added, as the two little +creases in her cheeks made themselves visible, "that wasn't as low as it +ought to have been, but your Royal Highness must make allowances for my +want of experience." + +"Oh, you'll soon get into it," he said, "with practice." + +"And I shall have plenty of that, your Royal Highness." + +Was she trying to pull his leg? he thought, as he moved away, and +decided that she was most unlikely to venture on such presumption. No, +it had been necessary to remind her of the deference due to him, and she +would not forget the lesson in future. Perhaps he might unbend +occasionally in private, but, on second thoughts, that would be more +dangerous than ever now. + +Ruby had seized Daphne and was embracing her in a burst of violent +affection. "Oh, Miss Heritage, darling," she cried, "you do look such a +duck in that dress--doesn't she, Mummy?" + +"I see no resemblance, my dear," said her mother coldly, "between Miss +Heritage and any description of poultry. And, as the procession will be +here in another minute, you had better take your place quietly by me.... +Really, Ruby," she added in an undertone, as the child obeyed, "you must +remember you're a Princess now. It isn't at all proper for you to be +seen pawing your governess about in public." + +"I _wasn't_ pawing her about, Mums!" protested Ruby; "only hugging her. +And if I mayn't do that, I don't want to be a Princess at all!" + +By this time the procession had arrived. It was headed by a band of +knights in resplendent but rather extravagant armour, carrying lances +with streaming pennons. After them rode the Courtiers on gaily +caparisoned steeds, followed by a bevy of Maids of Honour on +cream-coloured palfreys. A company of soldiers came next, some of whom +bore heavy matchlocks of an ancient period, and the rest pikes and +halberds. However, they marched with as proud and confident a step as +though their weapons were of the very latest pattern--which very likely +they thought they were. Following them was a State Coach, a huge, +cumbrous vehicle with unglazed windows; it seemed to be of pure gold, +and was drawn by sixteen milk-white horses in blue trappings. + +After the procession had halted, the Court Chamberlain formally +presented the members of the Royal Household, whose mere titles sounded +impressively on the ear of their new Mistress. There were Prince Tapfer +von Schneiderleinheimer and Prince Hansmeinigel; Baron Müllerbürschen, +Baron von Bohnenranken, and Count von Daumerlingstamm; Princess +Rapunzelhauser, Princess Goldernenfingerleinigen, and Princess +Flachspinnenlosburg; Baroness Belohnte von Haulemännerschen, Baroness +Kluge Bauerngrosstochterheimer, and Countess Gänsehirten am Brunnen, and +many others scarcely less distinguished. Never before had Mrs. +Wibberley-Stimpson been in such aristocratic company, and for the moment +she entirely forgot how immeasurably she was now their social superior. +She had held her own triumphantly with Lady Harriet, but that was +different. There was only one of _her_--and that one a quite ordinary +and insignificant personality compared with these imposingly splendid +lords and ladies-in-waiting. + +Mrs. Stimpson intended to be graciously cordial, but somehow her manner +was dangerously near being obsequious. "Most _honoured_, I'm sure, +Prince!" she found herself repeating, as she ducked instinctively. "So +very kind of you to come, Baron!... It's more than delightful to meet +you, dear Princess--I didn't quite catch your name!... _Such_ a +privilege to make your acquaintance, Countess!" + +She hoped they would take this as condescension on her part, and they +were undeniably surprised by their Sovereign's excessive affability. + +"Well," said Mr. Stimpson, as these amenities became exhausted and he +perceived that no one was taking any notice of him, "what about making a +start, hey, Mr. Marshal?" + +"If your Majesties and the Princess will deign to enter the coach, we +can set forth at once," was the reply. + +"Get in, children, get in!" cried Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson. "You and +Ruby, Edna, must sit with your backs to the horses, and there will be +plenty of room for Clarence between you." + +"With all respect, Sir," said the Marshal, as Clarence was preparing to +get in. "It is the custom on such an occasion as this for the Crown +Prince to ride on the right of the Coach. I have arranged that a horse +shall be at your Royal Highness's service." + +"Thanks awfully," said Clarence, as he glanced at a spirited chestnut +mare which two squires were endeavouring with some difficulty to soothe, +"but--er--I think I'd rather drive." He was reflecting, as he took his +seat in the coach, that he would really have to take a few riding +lessons shortly, in private. + +"Isn't Miss Heritage coming with us, Mummy?" called Ruby from the +window. + +"In the State Coach, my dear! Of course not!" + +"But why not, Mater?" protested Clarence. "There's lots of room." + +"Because I could not think of allowing it, Clarence. Perhaps Mrs. +Fogleplug will be kind enough to give her a lift in--in her own +conveyance." + +"Unfortunately," replied the Court Godmother, "my car will not hold more +than one person." + +"Well, Miss Heritage must find her way to the Palace, then! There's no +necessity for her to be present at the Coronation." + +"Surely, my dear," said the Fairy, "you would not deprive her of such a +privilege! I will have another saddle placed on that mare so that this +fair maid of yours may ride with your other ladies in waiting." + +"Of course, Mrs. Fogleplug, if you're _bent_ on Miss Heritage making a +public exhibition of herself," said Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, "I have +nothing to say. I don't suppose she has ever been on a horse in her +life!" + +"Oh, but I have, Ma'am!" Daphne pleaded eagerly. "I've ridden ever since +I was a child. And I'd love to ride that mare, if I may!" + +"Oh, very _well_, Miss Heritage, ve-ry well. But remember, if you break +your neck, _I_ shall not accept any responsibility," which Daphne took +as a permission. As soon as Mr. and Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson had taken +their seats, the sixteen milk-white horses began to pull and strain till +eventually the great coach was on the way. + +"Mummy," cried Ruby a little later, "I can see Miss Heritage! She's +riding close behind. And oh, she _does_ look so sweet on horseback!" + +"Put your head in,--do, child!" said her mother sharply. "Whatever will +the people think if they see a Princess hanging half out of the window +like that!" + +Ruby sat down rather sullenly. Clarence would have liked to put his own +head out if it had been consistent with his dignity as a Prince. As it +was, he could only hope that Daphne would come to no harm. "Really!" +continued Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, "what with one's governess riding +behind one's coach, and those two ridiculous bird-cars probably flapping +overhead, this is _quite_ unlike any Coronation Procession _I_ ever +heard of!" + +"More like a bally Circus," remarked Clarence. "Only wants a couple of +clowns with bladders on horseback and a performing elephant." + +"_I_ consider," said his mother, "that a State procession should have +more solemnity about it.... How horribly this coach jolts! It _can't_ +have any springs!... There you are again, Edna, buried in that +note-book! you might show a little interest in what is going on!" + +"I'm sorry, mother, but it all seems to mean so little to me." + +"Then all I can say is--good gracious, _what_ a lurch! I quite thought +we were over!--all _I_ can say is that it's unnatural to be so +abstracted as you are. We're getting close to Eswar--whatever they call +it. If you look round you will see the walls and towers." + +Edna adapted her _pince-nez_ and turned perfunctorily for a moment. +"_Quite_ quaint!" she said, and resumed her reading. + +"Picturesque, _I_ should call it," corrected her mother. "Sidney, +doesn't it put you in mind of dear lovely Lucerne?" + +"Very much so, my love," he replied, "or--er--Venice" (neither of which +cities, as a matter of fact, did Eswareinmal resemble in the least). +"Hullo! what are we stopping for _now_, eh?" + +It seemed they had arrived at the principal gates of the Capital, where +the Burgomaster and other civic dignitaries were assembled to welcome +and to do them homage, which they did with every sign of respect and +loyalty. As Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson felt unequal to the efforts of +responding, that duty devolved on her husband, who presented himself at +the window of the coach, and made what the reporters, had any been +present, would no doubt have described as "a few gracious and +appropriate remarks." + +"You needn't have said that about 'doing our best to give satisfaction,' +Sidney!" complained his wife after the coach had thundered over the +drawbridge, and was lumbering under the massive archway into a narrow +and crowded street, "for all the world as if we had been a butler and +housekeeper applying for a situation!" + +"It _was_ a little unfortunate, perhaps, my dear," he admitted; "but it +is so difficult to know what to say when one has to speak impromptu." + +"It ought to be easy enough to know what _not_ to say," she retorted. +"Dear me, what hosts of people!" she went on, as her irritation merged +into complacency. "And _how_ pleased they all seem to see us! But no +doubt, after a bachelor Regent, a whole Royal family--I love to see +their happy smiling faces!" + +"Grinning mugs would be nearer the mark, Mater," said Clarence; "never +saw such a chuckle-headed lot of bumpkins in my life!" + +"I will thank you to remember, Clarence," she replied, "that they are my +loyal subjects, and will be _yours_ at some time to come." + +"I can _wait_ for 'em," he said; "and if they're so jolly loyal, why +ain't they cheering more?" + +Slowly the golden coach progressed through winding streets of gabled or +step-roofed houses with toppling overhanging stories, then along one +side of a great square, packed with people in costume, the women +recalling to Mrs. Stimpson's mind, quite inappropriately, the waitresses +at the Rigi Kulm hotel on a Sunday. Then, through more narrow streets, +to a smaller square, where it stopped at some steps leading to the huge +West portal of a magnificent buttressed Church. + +"All change here--for the Coronation!" said Clarence. "I'd better nip +out first, eh, Mater?" + +"Your father and I get out first, naturally, Clarence," said Mrs. +Wibberley-Stimpson, and descended majestically, Mr. Stimpson following +with somewhat less effect owing to an attack of cramp in his left leg. +Four small pages stepped forward in pairs to carry Mr. and Mrs. +Stimpson's trains, which they found a distinct convenience, and, hand in +hand, they passed through the great, elaborately niched and statued +doorway into the nave. The interior was thronged by all the notables of +Märchenland, including the venerable President of the Council and his +Councillors. Above, the light struck in shafts through the painted +windows of the clerestory, tinging the haze of incense fumes with faint +colours. On the high altar twinkled innumerable tapers. "_Roman!_ as I +suspected!" whispered Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson on seeing them, and +sniffing the scented atmosphere. (She had attended St. John's at +Gablehurst, because the vicar, although Evangelical, was well-known to +be of good family.) Under a crimson canopy in the choir were two golden +chairs which they understood they were expected to sit upon, and +occupied accordingly. A mitred and coped ecclesiastic, who appeared to +be some kind of Bishop, then shepherded them benevolently through a +series of mystic rites that, besides being hopelessly unintelligible, +seemed unreasonably protracted. However, they reached the climax at +last, and amidst the tumultuous acclamations of the spectators the +previously anointed heads of King Sidney and Queen Selina, as they must +henceforth be described, received their respective crowns. + +"Ha, well," remarked King Sidney, when he and the rest of the Royal +family were once more in the coach, and on their way towards the palace +that was to be their future home, "we got through it most successfully +on the whole. Perhaps the Bishop was a little too lavish with the +anointing part of the ceremony. Still, taken altogether, it was--ah--a +very solemnising affair." + +"It would have been more so, Sidney," said the Queen, "if you hadn't +kept on dropping your sceptre and tripping over your train. I don't +wonder the Bishop got flustered. But I do wish we could have had it +properly done by the dear Archbishop of Canterbury!" + +"Bit out of his diocese, Märchenland, what?" said the Crown Prince. + +"I'm aware of that, Clarence; and, of course, we're legally crowned, +whoever did it.... Sidney, it's only just struck me, but I'm sure we +ought to be bowing. Bow, children, all of you--take the time from me. +Sidney, why aren't _you_ bowing?" + +"I can't, my love. It's difficult enough to keep my crown on as it is!" + +"You can hold it on with one hand, can't you? You simply _must_ bow if +you don't want to be unpopular! So must _you_, children. Keep _on_ with +it!" + +"Give us a rest, Mater," said Prince Clarence, after they had been +nodding like Chinese mandarins for some minutes. "My neck's beginning to +wilt already!" + +Queen Selina herself was not sorry to stop. "It's certainly very +fatiguing at first," she admitted; "we must practise it together in +private.... Was that old Mrs. Fogleplug's dove-chariot that passed us +just now? I'm afraid I shall have to put her in her place. She's rather +inclined to forget herself--not only addressed me as 'my dear,' but +actually attempted to kiss me after the Coronation!" + +"So she did _me_!" said the Princess Royal, "but I hope I showed that I +thought she was taking a liberty." + +"She's a very worthy, well-meaning old creature, no doubt," remarked the +Queen; "still, a Fairy Godmother in these days is really _rather_--I +shall have to get her to retire--on a pension." + +"She'll stick on," said Prince Clarence, "you see if she don't. Means to +boss the whole show." + +"I shall soon let her see that I intend to be mistress in my own +Kingdom," said the Queen. "I could wish, I must say, that it was just a +little more up to date! Everything so dreadfully behind the times! I +haven't seen a shop yet with a plate-glass front, and not a single +pillar-box!" + +"Poor sort of place for Suffragettes, what?" observed Clarence. + +"Frivolity apart, Clarence," remarked the Queen, "I can see already that +there is much to be done here before the country can be called really +civilised. We must set ourselves to raise the standard by introducing +modern ideas--enlighten people's minds, and all the rest of it. And you +must do _your_ share, Sidney, as I shall do mine." + +"Certainly," said the King; "I'm agreeable. All for progress myself. +Always have been.... I fancy that must be our Palace up there. A truly +palatial residence--replete, I've no doubt, with every convenience we +can require." + +The State Coach, after making a leisurely circuit of the two sides of +the principal square, was now beginning the ascent of the steep zigzag +road to the Palace, which stood on the terraced height of the plateau +that commanded the city. The party in the coach caught glimpses of its +massive but ornate towers with fantastic spires and turrets, and its +great arched and columned wings of rose-tinted marble. As it was rather +larger than Windsor Castle, King Sidney's commendation was fairly +justified. + +But Queen Selina's mind was occupied in computing the probable number of +rooms, and the maids that would be required to "do" them, while she +wondered aloud whether they could possibly afford to keep such a place +up. + +"Depend upon it, my dear," said the King, "the--ah--State will provide +an ample allowance for all our expenses. I must go into that as soon as +an opportunity occurs, and find out exactly what our income will be." + +Little more was said after this, as the great coach creaked and groaned +slowly up the winding road, and then rolled through the golden gates +into the courtyard of the Palace. + +On the steps of the chief entrance were Marshal Federhelm, Baron von +Eisenbänden, and the Court Godmother, who, with the rest of the Royal +household, had hastened on ahead to receive them. The Marshal ushered +them into the Hall of Entrance, which was immense and cool. There they +found the ladies and gentlemen-in-waiting drawn up in curtseying and +bowing ranks. The colours of their gay costumes would have been +dazzling, had they not been somewhat toned down by the subdued light +from the windows, which were paned with transparent agate set in +tracery of a flamboyant type. At the back rose a colossal staircase of +jasper. On either side were lofty doors leading to vestibules, +corridors, and reception halls. + +Judged by Gablehurst standards, the general effect of the interior was +hardly 'home-y' or cosy enough to be perfectly satisfactory, as Queen +Selina seemed to feel, for the only comment she made was: "_No_ china +punch-bowl for visiting-cards, I see!" + +"I say," the Crown Prince inquired of the Marshal, "who's the small +sportsman in the extinguisher hat?" he referred to an unassuming little +man with long, lint-coloured hair and pale, prominent eyes, whose +shiftiness was only partly concealed by large horn spectacles. He wore +black and crimson robes embroidered in gold with Zodiacal signs. "Looks +like the Editor of Old Moore's Almanack." + +"That, Sir," replied the Marshal, "is the learned Xuriel, our Astrologer +Royal. Will your Majesties permit me to present him?" And, the Royal +assent being given, he went across to fetch the sage. + +"Xuriel, my friend," he said in his ear, with a slightly ironical +intonation, "the august Sovereigns who owe their discovery to your +learning and research are naturally anxious to express their +acknowledgements. So come along and be presented, and perhaps you will +produce a better impression if you can manage to look a little less like +a hare with the ear-ache." + +It was not, however, the prospect of being presented to Royalty that was +disturbing the Astrologer Royal, but an unpleasant suspicion that the +ex-Regent was, for some reason or other, a little annoyed with him. + +"Your Majesties will be interested to hear," explained the Marshal, +after making the presentation, "that Master Xuriel was at one time +noted for his skill as a magician." + +"My studies in Magic were never carried very far, your Majesties," +protested the Astrologer, wriggling uncomfortably. "I--I did very little +at it. And, even before it was decreed that all enchanters and sorcerers +should either leave the Kingdom or take up some other profession, I had +discovered that astrology was my true vocation." + +"And you were right," said the Marshal heartily, "as results have shown. +And doubtless there is no truth in the rumour that you still retain some +proficiency in the Black Art." + +"Absolutely none, your Majesties!" the Astrologer Royal declared. "What +small skill I ever possessed, I have already forgotten; all my magic +spells have long since been discarded." + +"So I should hope," said Queen Selina severely. "Mr. Wibber--I mean, his +Majesty and I are, of course, no believers in Magic, but we are +determined not to allow any superstitions practices here in future--are +we not, Sidney?" + +"Certainly, my dear, certainly. Most undesirable. Of course, we don't +object to ordinary conjuring--anything harmless of that sort. But take +my advice, Sir, and stick to Astrology for the future--much more +gentlemanly pursuit!" + +The Astrologer Royal promised to observe this recommendation, and just +then the Court Chamberlain announced that a meal had been prepared for +the Royal Family in the King's Parlour, to which he offered to conduct +them at once. And, as the lengthy business of the Coronation had given +them all excellent appetites, they readily welcomed the proposal. + +Princess Ruby, catching sight of Daphne in one of the groups, had begged +that she might be included, which the Queen reluctantly granted as an +exceptional indulgence. + +Daphne would gladly have excused herself had that been possible; she was +becoming painfully conscious of finding Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson as a +Queen irresistibly ludicrous. Once already that morning she had only +just escaped detection, and she was horribly afraid now that something +might happen which would lead her to betray herself by unseemly +laughter. She could only pray inwardly that it would not, as she +followed with Ruby to the King's Parlour. + +This was a lofty hall with windows opening on to the terrace; the walls +were composed of great slabs of malachite, and twisted columns of the +same supported a ceiling of elaborately carved pink jade. At one end was +a dais, where a table was spread with what King Sidney referred to +somewhat disappointedly as "a cold snack," though he did it ample +justice nevertheless. + +The Marshal sat on his right hand; at his back stood the Court +Chamberlain, while chubby-faced little pages served cakes of bread on +bended knee, and filled the golden goblets with Märchenland's choicest +wines, which the King considered "a trifle on the sour side." The Royal +Household looked on from a distance--to the exquisite discomfort of the +Queen. + +"I really can't enjoy my food, Sidney," she complained in an undertone, +"with every mouthful I take watched by all those members of the +nobility!" + +Suddenly she coloured with annoyance as she found she was being +addressed in a gruff, strangled voice from a quarter it was difficult at +first to locate. "Mr. Troitz," she demanded, "_who_ is that +ill-mannered person who seems to be trying to talk to Me with his mouth +full?" + +"The voice, your Majesty," he replied in the most matter-of-fact tone, +"appears to proceed from the boar's head." + +"How dare you try to impose on me by such a story? It's that wretched +little astrologer man. Ventriloquism and Conjuring always go together, +and I'll be bound he's underneath the table now!... Well," she said, +after she had satisfied herself by looking, "if he's not there, he's +somewhere in the room!" + +The Court Chamberlain assured her that the Astrologer Royal was not only +absent, but incapable of such a liberty; it really _was_ the boar's head +that had spoken, as animals in Märchenland would on rare occasions--even +after suffering decapitation. + +"There was Falada, Mummy," cried Ruby eagerly. "Don't you remember? The +horse that talked poetry after its head had been cut off and nailed over +the arch! Miss Heritage can tell you all about it." + +But Miss Heritage could not--she was far too deeply engaged in wrestling +with an inward demon of unholy mirth that threatened at any moment to +gain the mastery. + +The head began again. But whatever felicitations, predictions, or +warning it was striving to utter were rendered practically inarticulate +by a large lemon that had been unfeelingly inserted between its jaws. + +"Have the boar's head removed at once, Mr. Troitz," ordered Queen +Selina. "I cannot and will not have it interrupting the conversation +like this. It couldn't happen at all in any _civilised_ country. Why, +we shall have the cold tongue beginning next, I suppose!..." + +It was here that poor Daphne's demon got the upper hand. + +"You seem slightly hysterical, Miss Heritage," remarked the Queen. +"Horse-exercise evidently has a very bad effect on your nerves, and I +must forbid you to ride in future." + +Thus was Daphne punished for her breach of etiquette. But Queen Selina +had no suspicion, even then, of its real extent. She was incapable of +conceiving that she could possibly seem ridiculous to one so infinitely +her inferior. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +DIGNITY UNDER DIFFICULTIES + + +The luncheon, after the removal of the too loquacious boar's head, +proceeded, to Daphne's intense relief, without any further incident, and +at its conclusion Queen Selina suggested a move to the terrace. One side +of it faced the City far below; another the slope of the road leading +immediately to the Courtyard, while from the third side steps descended +by lower terraces to the Palace Gardens, which were apparently +boundless. Beyond them, however, was a neglected region of groves and +thickets, a sort of Wilderness, which stretched from the Garden +boundaries to the edge of a plateau below which lay a wild valley, with +a chain of wilder peaks and crags forming the horizon. But none of the +Court had ever cared to explore the Wilderness, if they were even aware +of its existence, so no more need be said of it at present. + +The Royal Family leaned upon the parapet of the terrace, whence they had +a bird's-eye view of the big square immediately below, and the +picturesquely irregular buildings, above whose gabled red roofs grim +watch-towers and quaint spires or cupolas rose here and there. Down in +the square swarms of tiny figures were clustering round the public +fountains, which spouted jets that, as they flashed in the afternoon +sun, were seen to be of a purple hue. + +"Must be wine," remarked the Crown Prince. "If it's the same tap we had +at lunch, the poor devils have my sympathy!" + +"I think, Sidney," said the Queen, "that we ought all to go for a drive +presently--just round the principal streets. I'm sure the--a--populace +would appreciate it." + +"If you think it's expected of us, my love," he said. "Otherwise--well, +I should have rather liked to see a little more of the Palace; we don't +even know where our own bedrooms are to be yet." + +"The Guv'nor's right there, Mater!" said Prince Clarence. "We'd better +get settled down before we do anything else." + +"Perhaps we had," Queen Selina allowed. "I'll get that good old Mrs. +Fogleplug to take us round the house." And after sending for the Court +Godmother, she started, accompanied by the family and several of her +ladies-in-waiting, on a tour of inspection. + +Possibly the suites of halls, each more magnificent than the last, the +endless galleries and corridors, the walls decorated with sumptuous but +bizarre hangings, the floors inlaid with marble and precious stones +which were probably priceless and certainly slippery--possibly all these +contributed towards the upsetting of Queen Selina's equanimity, but her +manner was deplorably lacking in dignity and repose. She treated her +ladies, for instance, with a politeness that came nearer subservience +than ever. It was: "_Pray_ go first, dear Princess Rapunzelhauser! After +_you_, Baroness!... Please, Countess, I really couldn't _think_ of +preceding you!" at every doorway, till Daphne, as she noted the elevated +eyebrows and covert smiles of the others, felt too much shame for her +Sovereign for any thought of amusement. + +However, the Queen showed more self-assertion in her treatment of the +Court Godmother, which was characterised by some _hauteur_. + +"And now, I suppose, Mrs. Fogleplug, we have seen _all_ the Reception +Rooms. We shall probably have to entertain on rather a large scale, but +they appear to be fairly suitable. What I have _not_ yet seen is a room +where I could receive ordinary callers. I have always made a practice +since I was first married of being 'at Home' on the first and third +Fridays, and though circumstances have altered, I intend to continue +it." + +The Fairy, though she was rather at a loss to understand either the +reason or the necessity for this, said that there was a chamber called +"The Queen's Bower" which would probably meet Her Majesty's +requirements, and led the way to it accordingly. + +It was about sixty feet square, with a high vaulted roof of lapis-lazuli +set with large diamond stars; the walls were decorated with huge +frescoes representing legends, many of which Princess Ruby recognised as +familiar. + +"This will do, Mrs. Fogleplug," pronounced the Queen. "At least it +can be _made_ to do, with a little re-arrangement. As it is, there +are none of the ordinary refinements, such as art-cushions, +cake-and-bread-and-butter stand, occasional tables, and little +silver knick-knacks, which a lady's boudoir of any pretensions to +elegance should have. Just the trifles that express the owner, +and--er--constitute Home. I must have all these provided before I can +use this as a sanctum. I should certainly have expected a Palace like +this to be furnished with more regard to comfort!" + +"I should have expected a billiard-room or two," said Prince Clarence; +"but these Courtier chaps tell me they don't even know what billiards +are! Pretty sort of Palace this!" + +"I think it's a perfectly lovely Palace!" Princess Ruby declared. "It +hasn't got a single piano in it anywhere! I know, because I've asked." + +"I'm sorry to hear it, my dear," said her Mother, "because I +particularly wished Miss Heritage to get you on with your music; and, if +that is impossible, I shall have to consider whether I can keep her at +all." + +"Oh, Mummy, you won't send her away? When you know I've never been good +with anybody before, and never _shall_ be, either!" + +Queen Selina was quite alive to the advantages of retaining Daphne's +services. + +"Well, Ruby," she said, "I shall allow Miss Heritage to stay on, as your +companion" (she had already seen her way to proposing a reduction of +salary), "and she can make herself generally useful to me as well." + +Ruby went dancing back to Daphne. "You're not to be my governess any +more, Miss Heritage, dear," she announced, "because I shan't require one +now. But I've got Mummy to let you stay on as companion. Aren't you +glad?" + +Daphne answered that she was--and she would certainly have been sorry to +leave Märchenland quite so soon. + +"And now tell me, Mr. Chamberlain--Baron Troitz, I mean," the Queen was +saying. "What time do you dine here?" + +"Whenever your Majesties please," was the reply. + +"All the same to us," said the King affably. "No wish to put you _out_ +at all." + +"Then with your permission, Sire, the Banquet will be served an hour +hence in the Banqueting Hall." + +"A banquet!" cried the Queen. "I would rather we dined quietly, without +any fuss, on our first night here." + +"It is the night of your Majesties' Coronation," the Court Chamberlain +reminded her. "The Court would be deeply disappointed if so auspicious +an event were not celebrated in a befitting manner." + +"Oh," said the Queen. "Then it will be full dress, I suppose--with +crowns?" + +"I hope--not _crowns_," put in King Sidney, who had taken the earliest +opportunity of leaving his own in a corner. "A crown is such an +uncomfortable thing to eat in. At least mine is." + +The Court Chamberlain gave it as his decision that crowns should +certainly be worn--at least through the earlier courses of the meal. + +"All you've got to do, Guv'nor," said Clarence, "is to keep yours from +splashing into the soup. A bit of elastic round your chin would do that +all right." + +"And I presume," said the Queen, "we shall wear these robes we have +on?... Oh, we shall find a change of costume upstairs? Then, as there is +not too much time for dressing, I should like to see my room at once, +Mrs. Fogleplug." + +"Sidney," she panted a little later as, escorted by the Marshal and +Baron, and followed by the Court Godmother and the ladies and +lords-in-waiting, they were making the ascent of the grand staircase, +"one of the _first_ things we must do here is to put in a lift. I really +can't be expected to climb all these stairs several times a day!" + +"They do take it out of one, my dear," he admitted. "And a lift would +certainly be a great improvement." + +At the head of the staircase was a long tapestry-hung gallery in which +were the doors opening into the suites of rooms prepared for Royalty. + +Queen Selina, on reaching hers, could not bring herself to allow her +ladies of the Bedchamber to assist at her toilet. "So _very_ kind of +you, Princess, and you, too, my dear Baroness," she protested, "but I +couldn't _think_ of troubling you--I couldn't indeed! I should feel +quite ashamed to let you! I can manage perfectly well by myself--that +is, Miss Heritage will come in after she has attended to Princess Ruby, +and do all I require, and then she can go on and help _you_, Edna." + +"Thank you, Mother," said Edna, "but I should prefer having some one who +is more accustomed to dressing hair." + +After putting Ruby into a robe of golden tissue and silken stockings and +satin shoes, which, being quite as splendid as those she had just laid +aside, afforded the child intense satisfaction, Daphne went to Queen +Selina's Tiring Chamber--a spacious apartment with hangings of strange +colours embroidered with Royal emblems. It was separated by a curtained +arch, through which a glimpse could be caught of the Royal Bedchamber, +with the colossal and gorgeously canopied State bed. + +She found the Queen still in an early stage of her toilette and in a +highly fractious state of mind. + +"I expected you to be here before this, Miss Heritage," she said. "I've +been waiting all this time for you to fasten me up the back, which I +couldn't possibly ask any of my Court ladies to do.... I'm sure _I_ +don't know what goes on next!... Oh, do you think the--er--stomacher +_before_ the ruff?... Very well.... It's impossible to judge the effect +in such a wretched light" (the chamber, it should be said, was +illuminated by a number of perfumed flambeaux stuck in elaborately +wrought silver sconces). "Even at 'Inglegarth' I had a pair of electric +lights over my dressing-table! And how on earth any Queen can be +expected to dress at a shabby tarnished old cheval-glass like this is +more than _I_ can conceive!" + +Upon which a thin but silvery voice immediately responded: + + "As dimly can I understand + How _you_ are Queen of Märchenland!" + +"Upon my word, Miss Heritage!" exclaimed Queen Selina, with an angry +flush on her oatmeal-hued cheeks, "I am surprised at such +impertinence--from _you_!" + +"It--it wasn't me, Ma'am," said Daphne, with an heroic effort to keep +her countenance. + +"As it was certainly not myself, and you are the only other person in +the room, Miss Heritage, your denial is impudent as well as useless!" + +Daphne could only point speechlessly to the mirror. + +"Really, Miss Heritage! This goes beyond all--what _next_!" + + "Reflected here there should have been + A younger and far fairer Queen." + +continued the voice in a doggerel as devoid of polish as the mirror +itself. + +"It _does_ appear to come from--but whoever heard of a looking-glass +talking?" said the mystified Queen. + +"Little Snow-white's Stepmother had a mirror that answered her, Ma'am," +said Daphne, "and she was a queen in Märchenland, I believe. Perhaps +this is the very one!" + +It would, no doubt, have proceeded to make some even more unflattering +comments if Daphne had not, with much presence of mind, turned its face +to the wall. How she knew that this would silence it she could not have +said herself. But it certainly did. + +"I have no reason for believing that any such person as Little +Snow-white ever existed," said Queen Selina; "but whoever that glass +belonged to, I will not have it here. I would have it smashed, if it +wasn't unlucky. But it must be removed to the attics before I come up +here to undress. Really, I never knew such a country as this is! Boar's +heads trying to speak at luncheon, and mirrors making personal remarks, +and everything so strange and unnatural! But you take it all as a matter +of course, Miss Heritage; nothing seems to surprise _you_." + +"I think, Ma'am," said Daphne, "because I've always known that, if I +ever _did_ get to Märchenland, it would be very much like this." + +"Considering that you had no better means of knowing what it would be +like than I had myself," replied the Queen, "I can only ascribe that to +affectation.... Surely there must be more of the Crown jewellery than I +have been given as yet?... Yes, there _may_ be something in that +chest.... Good gracious me! _What_ diamonds! I don't think the dear +Duchess of Gleneagles herself can have anything to approach them!... +Yes, you can put me on a _rivière_, and two of the biggest ropes of +pearls.... It won't do to go down looking dowdy. Dear me," she added, as +she took up the pendant she had bought from Daphne twenty-four hours +before, "to think of my giving so much money for this paltry thing! If I +had known then what I do now, I should never have--but, of course, I +don't mean that I should think of going back on it." + +"I'm afraid, Ma'am," said Daphne, "I couldn't pay it back now; I sent +the cheque last night." + +"I am quite content to bear the loss, Miss Heritage. And, by the way, +you may not be aware of it, but it is hardly correct or usual, in +speaking to me, to call me 'Ma'am.'" + +"I've always understood, Ma'am," said Daphne, "that our own Queen--in +England, I mean----" + +"How the Queen of England may allow herself to be addressed is entirely +her own affair," said Queen Selina handsomely; "I have nothing whatever +to do with _that_. But I am Queen of Märchenland, Miss Heritage, and I +shall be obliged by your addressing me as 'Your Majesty' on _all_ +occasions." + +"Certainly, your Majesty," said Daphne, executing a profound curtsey +with a little smile that she was quite unable to repress. "I assure your +Majesty that your Majesty may rely on my addressing your Majesty as +'Your Majesty' for the future, your Majesty." + +"That is better, Miss Heritage, much better--a little overdone, but +still--And now," she added, "you had better go and see if Princess Edna +wants any assistance. You need not trouble to change your own dress, as, +of course, you will not sit down to dinner with us." + +"She's too priceless!" thought Daphne, when she was outside on the +gallery, and could indulge her sense of humour in safety. "Still, I +don't think I _could_ stand her very long if it weren't for Ruby!" + +"I say, Mater," the Crown Prince called out a few minutes afterwards +outside his Mother's door, "how much longer are you and the Guv'nor +going to be? All night?" + +"You can come in, Clarence," she said. "How soon your Father will be +ready, I can't say. I finished _my_ dressing hours ago." + +King Sidney, following her example, had declined the good offices of his +gentlemen, and there were sounds from his dressing-room on the farther +side of the Bedchamber which indicated that he was in some difficulties +in consequence. + +"My aunt!" exclaimed Clarence as he saw his Mother fully arrayed. +"You've got 'em all on _this_ time, Mater, and no mistake! So've you, +Guv'nor," he added, as King Sidney joined them with rather a sheepish +air. "Only--are you sure you've got yours on _right_? I mean to +say--that ruff looks a bit cock-eyed." + +"It's given me more trouble than any white tie, my boy--but it must do +as it is." + +"Ah, I got that bristly-haired chap--what's his name--Hansmeinigel--to +put on mine for me. Didn't any of yours give you a hand?" + +"They offered to--most kindly," said King Sidney, "but--well, I didn't +altogether relish letting them dress me." + +"They'd have made a jolly sight neater job of it than you have--keep +still a jiff till I've tucked this tape in. There--that's more like it. +And I say, you and the Mater had better hurry--you're keeping the whole +Court waiting for you!" + +"Why didn't you tell us before?" said the Queen in a violent flurry. +"Where--where _are_ the Court?" + +"All drawn up in the Hall at the foot of the big staircase. They can't +make a move till you come down, and lead the way in to dinner, you +know!" + +"I--I'd rather not descend all those steps in public," objected the +King. "Confoundedly slippery. Er--couldn't we go by the backstairs, my +love?" + +"And find ourselves in our own kitchen!" said the Queen. "Certainly not, +Sidney! The grand staircase is the only dignified way down, and you had +better give me your arm at once." + +"Very well, my dear, very well. But I'm pretty sure I shall slip." + +"You must _not_ slip, Sidney! Neither of us must slip. If we did, it +would produce a very bad impression. Still, it will be safer if we go +down one by one, and hold on to the banisters." + +"No, I say," cried the Crown Prince, "you can't do that--might as well +crawl down on all fours! Buck up, both of you. Try and throw a little +swank into it!" + +Their Majesties accomplished the descent amidst the congratulatory blare +of the silver trumpets without actual mishap. But there was nothing in +the bearing of either Sovereign that could justly be described by the +term "swank," and indeed, if any fault could be found, it would have +been in quite the opposite direction. + +Of the banquet itself little need be said here. The numerous courses +were appetising and admirably served, while, to the Queen's relief, none +of the dishes showed any desire to take part in the conversation. + +The members of the Court did more than look on this time, being +entertained, with other guests, amongst whom were the President and +Council, at cross tables below the principal one on the dais. + +Clarence, seated with his family, the Ex-Regent, and the Court Godmother +at the high table, wished more than once that he could have sat by +Daphne, whom he could see at no great distance. He noted her perfect +ease, and the pretty graciousness with which she received the attentions +which her neighbours seemed only too anxious to press upon her. + +"Anyone would think she'd lived with swells all her life," he thought. +"She may have, for anything I know!" But, of course, even if she had, +the fact did not make her his equal now. + +Towards the close of the feast King Sidney, who had long since disposed +of his crown underneath his chair, considered that the occasion demanded +a speech. His effort might have been a greater success if he had +abstained from jocularity, which was not by any means his _forte_. It is +possible that a far happier sample of British humour would have failed +to set Märchenland tables in a roar, but his hearers were either unaware +that he intended to be humorous, or sensible that his purpose had not +been achieved, for they listened in puzzled but depressed silence, while +the effect of his facetiousness on Daphne was to render her hot and cold +by turns. + +The banquet over, the Court Chamberlain deferentially informed the Royal +Party that they were expected to lead the procession to the Ball Room. + +Clarence, who had unfortunately come away from "Inglegarth" without his +cigarette-case, was longing to smoke, and hung behind for that purpose. +But on applying to the Marshal, he was told that only common soldiers +ever smoked in Märchenland. With some trouble a highly flavoured pipe, a +tinder-box, and a pouch containing a dried herb that appeared to be the +local substitute for tobacco were procured for him. However, a very +short experience convinced him that duty required him to put in an +appearance at the State Ball. + +The Ball Room was a long, lofty hall, lit by thousands of candles set in +great golden hoops; the light they gave being multiplied almost to +infinity by the fact that the walls and ceiling were lined with +elaborately engraved looking-glass, which, fortunately perhaps for the +Queen, was dumb. When he entered, the musicians were already fiddling, +piping, and fluting in a gallery high up at one end facing a raised +platform, where his father and mother, looking extremely hot and +uncomfortable, were seated on gorgeous chairs. A stately measure was +being performed, which might have been a _gavotte_ or minuet or _pavane_ +for anything he could say; all he knew was that the figures were quite +unfamiliar to him. + +But Daphne seemed to have learnt them--or had they come to her by +instinct?--for she was dancing in one of the sets. He watched her +lissome form as she moved through the intricate evolutions till he began +to envy the Count von Daumerlingstamm, her elegant but undersized +partner. However, he flattered himself that he would have no difficulty +in cutting out little Daumerlingstamm. + +It seemed to him that that dance would never be over, but the moment it +was, he made his way to Daphne with an air that showed he was fully +aware of the distinction he was conferring. "Enjoying yourself, Miss +Heritage?" he said. "Don't know what that last dance was--but not much +'vim' about it, if you ask _me_. Tell you what--I'll get those fiddler +fellows up there to play something a bit livelier, and you and I'll +show this crowd a two-step, what?" + +"This is a great honour, your Royal Highness," said Daphne, after +sinking demurely in the regulation curtsey. "But I must not accept it +until I have her Majesty's permission." ("Which I'm quite sure she won't +give!" she thought to herself with much satisfaction.) + +"Oh, I say--what rot! The Mater won't mind! And if she does----!" + +"It would be very disagreeable for me, your Royal Highness!" + +"Oh, well," he said, "I'll go and ask her." + +As Daphne had anticipated, Queen Selina's refusal was most emphatic. +"You ought to know, Clarence, that it's utterly out of the question!" +she said. "And I'm surprised at Miss Heritage having the presumption to +expect it." + +"She didn't, Mater. She said I'd better ask you first." + +"Then it seems she has a better sense of her position than you have of +yours, Clarence. I'm told you have been seen walking about with a +disgusting pipe in your mouth, and that several people were remarking on +it. Now you are actually proposing to make yourself conspicuous by +dancing at a State Ball with your sister's companion! I have always +credited you with being a man of the world--but if _this_ is the way you +are going on----!" + +He felt the sting of so unwonted a rebuke. "I daresay you're right, +Mater," he acknowledged. "I'll be more careful after this." + +"I hope you will, I'm sure. As Crown Prince you mustn't _think_ of any +partner under the rank of Baroness. Ask one of the Princesses first, or +you'll give _more_ offence." + +"Right-oh!" was all he said, and, feeling that it would be awkward to +make any explanation or excuses to Daphne, he solved the difficulty by +avoiding her for the rest of the evening. + +Princess Goldernenfingerleinigen, a prepossessing but not very +forthcoming damsel, enjoyed the distinction of being commanded by the +Crown Prince as his first partner. + +He had had no experience in conversing with Princesses, and she did not +exert herself either to put him more at his ease or prevent him from +losing himself frequently in the mazes of the dance. Once or twice he +was oppressed by a painful suspicion that he had seen her making a +little grimace of self-pity at the Countess Gänsehirtin. But elaborately +engraved mirrors are not very trustworthy, and he might have been +mistaken. Still, he was thankful when the dance, in which he was +conscious of having done himself so little credit, came to an end. + +"Edna, old girl," he remarked subsequently to the Princess Royal, "I +call this a rotten ball. Can't stick dancing with any more of these +Princesses!" + +Princess Edna, it appeared, had been no more favourably impressed by the +Courtiers. + +"They've simply _no_ conversation," she complained, "and no ideas about +any serious subjects!" + +"No, _I_'ve noticed that," he said; "and they think they're the only +people who can dance! I tell you what--you and I'll show 'em how we do +the Tango. That'll make 'em open their eyes!" + +It did. As has already been said, both he and Edna, as persons who could +not afford to be out of the movement, had taken lessons that winter in +the recent importation from dubious Argentine dancing-saloons. They +danced it now with conscientious care, Prince Clarence exhibiting as +much _abandon_ as a man could who was dancing with his sister. + +But the Court were not sufficiently enlightened to appreciate the +performance. They evidently considered it not only uncouth and +undignified, but more than a little improper, and their general attitude +conveyed that the couple were committing one of those temporary +indiscretions which it was not only etiquette but charity to pass over +in silence. + +"Capital!" said King Sidney, clapping his hands at the conclusion. +"Uncommonly well they dance together, eh, my dear--never seen them do it +before." + +"And you will never see them do it again, Sidney," replied the Queen; +"for I'm much mistaken if they haven't broken up the Ball!" + +She was not very far wrong, for although, after some minutes of +awestruck silence, dancing was resumed, it was carried on with a +restraint and gloom that soon decided the Royal Family to retire from +the Ball Room. + +The Queen forbore from expressing her sentiments just then either to her +son or daughter, with the latter of whom, indeed, she seldom, if ever, +ventured to find fault. But she felt that her first evening in the +Palace had not been a brilliant success. + +This feeling impelled her to be more ingratiating than ever to her +ladies of the Bedchamber, whose services in disrobing her she was +compelled to accept, though under protest. + +"So _much_ obliged!" she said, as they finally withdrew with glacial +ceremony. "Quite ashamed to have troubled you, really! Good-night, dear +Princess, _good_-night. We shall breakfast at 8.30. But _en famille_, +you know--quite _en famille_--so don't _dream_ of coming down!" + +"I hope, Sidney," she began later, as he joined her in the Royal +Bedchamber, "I hope you have treated the gentlemen who undressed you +with proper consideration. It is _so_ important.... Good gracious! +What's that you've got on? A night-cap?" + +"Those--er--noblemen seemed to consider it the correct thing, my love, +and they've put me on this night-gown, too." + +"I see they have. Embroidered all over with impossible animals. You look +a perfect _sight_ in it!" + +"I'm told they're--er--hippogriffs, my dear, the--ah--Royal Crest or +emblem or something. I should have much preferred pyjamas myself. But it +seems they are not procurable here." + +"Everything in this country is in a disgracefully backward state!" +declared the Queen; "and I can see I shall have hard work to bring it up +to my ideas of what is proper. I shall _begin_ by putting that old Mrs. +Fogleplug in her proper place." + +"I should be careful, my dear," advised King Sidney. "After all, you +know, she's by way of being a Fairy." + +"So she _says_! But, Fairy or no Fairy, she's much too familiar. And if +she cannot conform to my rules, she will have to go, that's all." + +"Well, my dear, I daresay when you put it to her like that," began the +King, who had by this time succeeded in clambering into the immense bed, +and whose head was already buried in an enormous pillow. "As I was +saying," he continued hazily, "put it to her in--in that way, +and--and--no doubt ... very probably ... no reason to suppose ... +any...." But here his voice sank into an unintelligible murmur, until it +rose presently into his first, but not by any means last, snore in the +character of monarch. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +CARES OF STATE + + +Queen Selina was as good as her word. The first thing after breakfast +the next morning she retired to her Bower, and sent a summons to the +Court Godmother, desiring her immediate attendance. King Sidney was +engaged in interviewing the Lord Treasurer on the subject of the Royal +revenue. The Crown Prince and Princess Edna were strolling on the +terrace, and Daphne had discovered the board and pieces of a game +something between Chess and Halma, the rules of which she and Princess +Ruby were learning under the instruction of the Countess von +Haulemännerschen. So that the Queen, having taken care not to disturb +any of her ladies-in-waiting, could count upon being able to deal +faithfully with the obnoxious old Fairy without fear of interruption. + +"Well, my dear," began the latter, as soon as she appeared, "I hope you +passed a comfortable night?" + +"I don't know when I passed a _more_ uncomfortable one, Mrs. Fogleplug. +That is _one_ of the things I wished to speak to you about. After being +accustomed as I have to a spring mattress, all those great feather beds +made it simply impossible to get a wink of sleep!" + +"That," said the Fairy, "is one of the penalties of being of the blood +Royal. An ancestress of yours slept in that very bed, my dear, ages ago, +before even _I_ can remember--or I should rather say she _tried_ to +sleep, but could not, owing to a pea that had somehow got under the +lowest feather-bed of all. It was certainly very careless if the pea has +never been removed." + +"It would also show, Mrs. Fogleplug, that during all those ages the bed +can never have been properly aired. I should have thought it would have +been _your_ business to see to that." + +"Then you would be entirely mistaken, my dear, for it is not. And, as I +notice that you find a difficulty in pronouncing my name correctly, I +may suggest that it would be simpler in future to call me by my proper +title, which is, 'High Court Godmother,' or 'Court Godmother,' if you +prefer it." + +"And while we are on the subject of titles," said Queen Selina, "_I_ may +mention that it is customary to address a Queen as 'Your Majesty,' and +not as 'my dear.'" + +"It has always been my habit with Sovereigns, and I have never heard it +objected to till now." + +"Well, _I_ object to it. But--and this is what I sent for you +about--there are other matters I object to even more. I intend to +regulate my household on a thoroughly modern and English system, and I +cannot have any member of it careering about in the air in outlandish +cars drawn by birds. If you _must_ have a conveyance you must be content +with a brougham or a victoria, for I shall insist on your putting down +both those bird-cars." + +"You seem to forget that, but for one of them, you would never have come +into your Kingdom!" + +"That may or may not be. At any rate there is no further necessity for +them, and--well, it just comes to this, Madam, either they go or you +do." + +The old Fairy's eyes smouldered with anger, and her nut-cracker mouth +and chin champed for a few seconds before she replied. + +"I have occupied rooms in this Palace--when not at the Palace of +Clairdelune--for over a century and a half, and I have no intention of +giving them up. I shall also continue to use the vehicles which I find +most convenient." + +"Oh?" said the Queen, "will you? We shall _see_ about that!" + +"We shall," the Court Godmother retorted. "I don't think you quite +realise yet whom you have to deal with. I may be getting on in years, +but both here and at Clairdelune I am accustomed to being treated with +more deference and respect than you seem disposed to pay me. You see, +they know that, although I have not used the full powers I possess as a +Fairy for many years past, I have not lost them altogether. I might see +fit to employ them once more--on any person who was rash enough to incur +my displeasure. And ingratitude and pride are the failings which I +always made it my particular business to correct. You would find it more +to your advantage to be on good terms with me." There was no mistaking +the veiled threat, and Queen Selina no longer doubted the Fairy's +abilities to carry it out. She was worsted, and her only course was to +give in gracefully. + +"My _dear_ Court Godmother!" she cried, "you _quite_ misunderstood me! +I'd no wish to interfere with any of your habits--not in the very +slightest degree. All I _meant_ was that, perhaps, at your age, a more +ordinary carriage than your present ones might be--er--_safer_, you +know!" + +"I am quite capable of looking after my own safety, thank you. But, +though you are our beloved Prince's daughter, you have been brought up +in ignorance of the ways of this country, so I am the more willing to +overlook treatment to which I feel sure I shall not have to draw your +attention again. And now, as we quite understand one another, my dear, +we will say no more about it. By the way, I hear you haven't sent for +any of your ladies-in-waiting this morning. How is that?" + +"I--I didn't quite like to, Court Godmother. We're--well, hardly +intimate as yet. They are so reserved and distant--especially that +Princess Rapunzelhauser. But, of course, she comes of a very high +family." + +"She is descended from the famous Rapunzel, whose story is no doubt +familiar to you.... No? Well, her father was a poor cottager who was +caught by an old witch stealing radishes from her garden. She let him +off on condition that he gave up to her the child his wife was +expecting. Rapunzel was the child, and in due time was claimed by the +witch, who shut her up in a lofty tower. However, she had the most +wonderful hair, so long that when she let it down from the top window it +touched the ground, and so thick that the Prince whom she subsequently +married was able to climb up by it, and make love to her." + +"Now you mention it, I have some faint recollection--and so Princess +Rapunzelhauser is descended from _her_! Well, that would account +for--but Princess Goldenenfinger--something, now, she _does_ look as if +she had _some_ good blood in _her_ veins." + +"The best in Märchenland. An ancestor of hers was King of one of the +smaller Kingdoms into which the country was divided in those days. One +day when out hunting he found a woodcutter's daughter living all alone +in a hollow tree, and fell violently in love with her." + +"A _woodcutter's_ daughter? Dear me! Then, of course, marriage was out +of the question." + +"Not at all! they were married and had children. Unfortunately there was +an estrangement between the King and Queen later as she was accused of +having murdered them, and condemned to be burnt to death." + +"It only shows what a mistake it is to marry beneath one." + +"_This_ marriage ended happily. It was discovered, just in time, that +the children were alive after all." + +"Still," said the Queen, "it is _not_ a pleasant thing to have happened +in _any_ family. I should like to hear something about the pedigrees of +my other ladies-in-waiting." + +The Court Godmother was quite ready to give her all the information she +could. Princess Flachspinnenlosburg, it appeared, traced her descent +from the incorrigibly lazy daughter of a poor and not over scrupulous +mother; Baroness Belohnte von Haulemännerschen from similarly humble +folk, whose daughter was servant of all work to seven dwarfs, and +afterwards married the King of one of the petty states before mentioned; +Baroness von Bauerngrosstochterheimer's ancestor was a peasant; Countess +Gänsehirten am Brunnen's ancestress a goose-girl--and so on through the +entire list. Queen Selina then became curious as to the origin of the +gentlemen of her Court, and found that many of their forbears were +sullied by the taint of Trade. The founders of both Prince Tapfer von +Schneiderleinberg's and Count Daumerlingenstamm's houses were tailors; +Baron von Bohnenranken derived his title from a speculator who, after a +remarkably unsuccessful venture in cattle, had made a colossal coup in +beans. As for Prince Hansmeinigel, his pretensions to high descent were +even more questionable--at least, if it was actually the fact, as the +Fairy stated, that the first of his progenitors was not only the son of +a poor father, but also suffered the additional social disadvantage of +being a hedgehog from the waist upwards; added to which he seemed to +have cherished an eccentric passion for playing the bagpipes while +riding on a cock. It is true that, after his marriage with a Princess, +he became a less impossible member of Society--still, as the Queen very +rightly felt, there are some things which can never be altogether lived +down. + +"I'm much obliged to you for telling me all this, Court Godmother," she +said, at the end; "_most_ interesting, I'm sure. And so useful to know +who everybody really _is_!" + +It was something of a disillusion to find that her Court was so largely +composed of _parvenus_, but, on the other hand, it enabled her to face +her ladies-in-waiting in future without any distressing sense of +inferiority. + +She was on the point of summoning them when the King suddenly burst into +her bower. "Selina, my love," he began, with suppressed excitement, "if +you'll tell this good woman to go, I've something to say to you." + +"Oblige me, Sidney," replied the Queen, "by not alluding to the High +Court Godmother again as a good woman; we may consider ourselves very +fortunate that she is doing us the honour of residing under our roof, +and you will be good enough to show her proper respect." + +"Oh, sorry, I'm sure; I thought you said--but if _that's_ how it is, I +apologise for interrupting you." + +"I have said all I have to say," said the Court Godmother, "so there is +no need for me to remain any longer." And with that she hobbled out of +the room. + +"I suppose you got your way about those--ah--bird-chariots, my dear?" he +asked, "as you don't seem to have sacked her!" + +"She seemed so upset at the idea of giving them up that I said she might +keep them. I shall certainly not 'sack' her, as you call it. Now I've +come to know her better, I find she is a good, faithful old soul who is +much too useful to part with, and you must be very careful to be civil +to her in future. What was it you wanted to say to me?" + +"The Lord Treasurer and I have been going into our private resources," +he said. "I thought perhaps you might like to come with me to my +Counting-house and--and have a look at 'em, my dear." + +She was only too eager to do so. "Tell me, Sidney," she gasped, as they +hurried through various corridors to the wing in which the King's +Counting-house was situated. "Shall we--shall we have enough to live on +decently?" + +"I don't know what _you_ will think," he replied, with an irrepressible +chuckle, "but I should call it affluence myself--positive affluence, my +love!" + +They arrived at a heavily clamped door, where the Marshal, the +Treasurer, and Prince Clarence and Princess Edna were waiting for them. +"Two steps down," said King Sidney after unlocking the door. + +"And here we _are_!" he cried triumphantly, as they entered. + +The Counting-house was a huge barrel-roofed chamber lighted from windows +protected by elaborate scroll-work bars. Upon shelves all round the +walls, and piled in heaps on the floor, were sacks, "Every blessed one," +explained the King, "chock full of gold ducats! What do you think of +_that_, eh, my love?" + +"I think, Sidney," she replied, "that _I_ am the person who should have +the key." + +"There's one for each of us," he said. "Here's yours. And on that table +there you'll find purses laid out, and a little gold shovel to fill them +with. I've filled mine. Whenever our funds are running low, you see, +we've only to come down here and help ourselves." + +"Good biz!" said the Crown Prince, beginning to fill one of the purses. +"I shall fill my pockets as well--save another journey, what?" + +"Some of us do not possess pockets, Clarence," said his mother. "And I +must make it a rule that no one is to take out more than a purseful at a +time, and only after satisfying me that the money is required for some +legitimate purpose." + +"I don't think such precautions are at all necessary, my dear," said +King Sidney. "Marshal Federhelm seems to have put by a good deal while +he was Regent. And besides, there's plenty more where _this_ comes from, +you know!" + +"And where _does_ it come from?" inquired the Queen. + +"Why, the Treasurer tells me, we've a mine of our own in +the Golden Mountains a few miles from here--a mine that is +practically--ah--inexhaustible. I rather thought of driving over +to see it some day." + +"Let's all go!" said the Crown Prince. "Why not this afternoon? It'll be +something to do!" + +Queen Selina was pleased to approve the suggestion. "We certainly ought +to show that we are interested in industrial concerns," she said. "All +the _best_ Sovereigns do. I can't help wishing, though, that poor dear +Papa could have come with us. He knew so much about gold mines." + +"Just as well for us he can't," said Clarence, "because _he'd_ be the +Boss, then! I say, I've got an idea. Why not take one of those sacks in +the coach with us and chuck money out of the window to the crowd, what?" + +"Look too much as if we were out for a beanfeast, my boy," objected his +father. + +"And what's the matter with a beanfeast? Believe me, it will make us +jolly popular and be a lot better fun than just bowing to the +blighters." + +"And far less fatiguing," said Edna. + +"There's something in what Clarence says," said the Queen. "It _would_ +increase our popularity--and that is so important. Of course we +shouldn't make a _practice_ of it, but we can quite afford it, just for +once--what do you think, Mr. Marshal?" + +The Marshal thought it was an excellent notion. + +The Golden Mountains were not much more than a couple of leagues from +Eswareinmal, and the roads being tolerably good, a lighter vehicle than +the State Coach and six sturdy horses accomplished the journey in very +good time. In the streets they passed through and at various villages +along the valley, crowds had collected, and the enthusiasm with which +they scrambled for the coins that were showered from the carriage +windows proved how fully they appreciated the benefits of an established +Monarchy. + +"Don't throw any more now, children," counselled Queen Selina as they +neared the mine. "We must keep some for the dear miners. Sidney, be sure +to ask some questions about the machinery, and whether they're all happy +and comfortable. And do it tactfully, because I've always heard miners +are such a very independent and intelligent class." + +Perhaps even so short a residence in Märchenland as theirs might have +prepared the Royal party for the unusual. But it was an undeniable shock +to them all to find, on arrival at the mine, not only that the method of +working was primitive to the last degree, but that it was entirely +conducted by diminutive beings who were unmistakable Yellow Gnomes. The +interior of the mine resounded with the blows of pickaxes, but the +inevitable trumpeters had no sooner announced that the Sovereigns had +left their coach than all work was suspended. The miners swarmed up from +their tunnellings, literally tumbling over one another in their haste to +behold the countenances of Royalty. + +"They seem--ah--a remarkable lively lot," observed King Sidney as some +of the Gnomes turned somersaults and Catherine wheels around their +visitors, while the more retiring stood unassumingly in the background +on their heads. "A bit undersized, and, judging from their complexions, +I should say the work had affected their livers. But it _may_ only be +due to the gold-dust." + +"They don't seem to realise a bit who we _are_!" complained Queen +Selina. "Sidney, _did_ you see that? One of the little wretches has +just taken a flying leap over my very head!" + +The Baron, who had followed in another coach, explained that these +demonstrations were merely intended to express loyal delight. + +"Oh, if you _say_ so, Baron," she said. "But anyone might easily mistake +it for impertinence. If it was not hopeless to expect an intelligent +answer from people who seem unable to stay right side up for a single +moment, I should like to know what wages they receive and what they live +on." + +The Court Chamberlain informed her that the Gnomes got no wages and +required little in the way of food, their favourite diet, he believed, +being earth. + +"Revolting!" was her comment. "No wonder they look so unwell! Still, +their living cannot cost much, so I should think, Sidney, if we gave +the--er--foreman a gold piece to be divided amongst them, that would be +amply sufficient." + +King Sidney thereupon presented a ducat to the most important-looking +Gnome, who immediately let it drop indifferently. + +"Wonder why he did that?" said the King. "Doesn't he think it's enough?" + +"Knows too much about how it's made, I expect," said Clarence. "Like the +chap at the Marmalade factory." + +"Well, it's a pity to waste it," said his father, picking up the coin. +"I should like to see them at work before we go." + +His wish having been conveyed to the Head Gnome, the whole band rushed, +yelping and screeching, back into the galleries, seized their picks, and +began hacking at the gold which gleamed in veins of incredible richness +through the rocky walls and roof of the caves. But perhaps their efforts +would have been more effective if they had not been quite so apt to get +in one another's way. + +The visitors then inspected the furnace where the ore was melted, and +the Mint where it was stamped into big fat coins. These were put up in +sacks for transmission to the Royal Treasury, but, as a fresh batch had +been delivered only recently, the supply in hand at the Mint was not +very large just then. + +"I _did_ like those Gnomes!" said Princess Ruby on the way home. "Didn't +_you_, Mummy?" + +"I should have liked them better, my dear, if they had been more like +fellow-Christians. Sidney, I shall _insist_ on their wearing some +civilised costume." + +"By all means, my love, if we continue to employ them. But I rather +think it would be better to get rid of them altogether." + +"Get _rid_ of them, Sidney? What in the world _for_?" + +"Well, you see, my dear, at the last General Election I took a somewhat +prominent part in denouncing the Conservatives for employing Chinese +labour in the South African mines. It would be very awkward if people at +Gablehurst found out that our entire income was derived +from--er--'Yellow Slavery.'" + +"Stuff and nonsense, Sidney! Who do you suppose is likely to _tell_ +them?" + +"You never know how things get about," he said uneasily. "And, as a +consistent Radical, it--it goes against my conscience." + +"Conscience, indeed! My dear good Sidney, if you go and get rid of those +Gnomes, who seem perfectly happy and contented, there'll be no one to +dig the gold!" + +"We could hire full-grown white labourers, my dear. Of course at a +living wage, but, as they would work more systematically, they would +obtain a far larger output, so we should make a handsome profit by the +change." + +"Ah, when you put it like _that_, Sidney, it makes all the difference. I +could see for myself that those hideous little horrors weren't taking +their work seriously." + +"There's to be a State Council to-morrow morning," said the King. "It +would be a good opportunity to inform them that we do not intend to +countenance slavery any longer." + +"That ought to have an excellent effect," Queen Selina replied. "I +shouldn't wonder if it made us more popular than ever.... Why, we're +back in the city already!... How delighted the dear people seem to see +us!... Yes, Children, you can empty the sack. The love of one's subjects +is well worth the money--and it's not as if we were ever likely to miss +it!" + +The next morning after breakfast the King and Queen held their first +State Council, Prince Clarence, of whose business capacity both his +parents had a great opinion, being given a seat at the board. There +were, it appeared, various measures on the _agenda_ which, as the +President explained, were of the highest political importance, being +concerned with the settlement of such matters as the precise number of +cherries that were to be strung on a stick and sold for a groschen at +old women's fruit-stalls; the dimensions of the piece of jam that a +huckster should be permitted to put in his porridge; whether the +watchmen's horns really needed new mouthpieces, and, if so, whether +these should be of ivory or bone. Questions which had to be given the +fullest consideration and debated at prodigious length before the +Sovereigns could be asked to affix their signatures and seals to the +decrees. + +Clarence fidgeted with undisguised impatience, and King Sidney was more +than once under the necessity of raising the golden hand at the end of +his sceptre to his lips in order to conceal an irrepressible yawn. But +at last the state business was disposed of, and the King was able to +introduce his own. It was clear from the vehement wagging of the +Councillors' white beards while he was announcing the Royal intention to +emancipate all Gnomes at present in the Gold mine, that they regarded +the new departure with no great favour. The President himself, although +he admitted that it concerned the Sovereigns more closely than any other +person, pointed out certain objections which he begged their Majesties +to ponder. And Councillor after Councillor rose and protested against +the scheme with the utmost solemnity and prolixity. + +Queen Selina, who was now far more eager than the King to have the mine +reorganised on a more paying principle, would have answered the critics +herself, if Clarence had not induced her to leave the reply in his +hands. + +"Well," he said, rising, "have you all done? No other gentleman wish to +hear himself talk?... All right then. Now I'll have _my_ little say. Of +course, what the venerable old Father Christmas in the chair told you +was perfectly correct. If we choose to set these little beggars free, +it's no business of anybody but ourselves. The Guv'nor--that is to say, +his Majesty--was merely _telling_ you about it--not asking what you +thought about it. Sorry if you don't approve, but we shall get over it +in time. And really, your objections, if you won't mind my saying so, +are absolutely footling. All they amount to is--because Gold Mines here +always _have_ been worked by gangs of Yellow Gnomes, therefore they must +be for all time. Now that's just the kind of fine old crusted pig-headed +Conservativism that's kept this the stick-in-the-mud Country it is! Look +at the sort of business you've been wasting our time in jawing about +to-day--why, in the country We came from, a Rural District Council would +have settled it all in five minutes if they thought it worth bothering +about at all. Street lanterns and watchmen's horns and old women's +sweet-stalls indeed! If you could only walk through--I won't say one of +our Cities, that might be too much of a shock for you--but through an +ordinary suburb such as we lived in, and saw how things were done +_there_, it would open your eyes a bit, I can tell you! You've been +marking time all these centuries while other Kingdoms have been making +progress. I'll tell you about some of the things we've learnt to do and +use, just as an ordinary matter of course--and you haven't so much as +heard of." + +Here he gave them a vivid description of the chief inventions and +discoveries of the last eighty years, from the steam-engine to the +aeroplane, which latter, he declared, put their sixty-stork-power car +completely in the shade. + +"If it is the fact," said the President, "that the inhabitants of your +Royal Highness's Country can work such marvels, you must be even +mightier magicians than were they whom our late King so wisely +suppressed." + +"You're wrong there, old bird!" said Clarence cheerfully; "no Magic +about it whatever. All done by brains and enterprise, but--and this is +what I am trying to knock into your heads--if we'd been governed by a +set of stuffy old fossils like yourselves--if you'll allow me the +expression--we should never have got a blessed thing so much as +started!" + +Many, if not most of the Council were sceptical as to the possibility of +such inventions as Clarence had described, but the good old Baron +assured them that, even during the short time he was in England, and +although it was night, he had witnessed many of them with his own eyes, +thanks to the powerful illuminants which made darkness almost as light +as day. He exhorted his hearers to count themselves fortunate in having +gained Sovereigns who possessed such wondrous powers, since their +faithful subjects would assuredly now enjoy the benefits of them. + +"Aye," said the ex-Regent--though possibly not in such good faith as the +Baron. "We shall indeed have reason to congratulate ourselves if his +Royal Highness will graciously teach us how to construct one of these +fire-and-smoke-breathing engines that draw a line of waggons along roads +of iron, or even a mast that will send messages through a thousand +leagues of air." + +"You don't want _much_, do you, dear old boy?" said Clarence. "You don't +suppose I can show you how to build a railway train when you haven't got +any of the bally materials or appliances, do you?" + +"Your Royal Highness has but to name them, and they shall be procured." + +"They're not to be got here," replied Clarence. "If I tried to tell you +what they were, you wouldn't be any the wiser!" He spoke nothing but the +truth, for he had but the sketchiest acquaintance with the composition +of any kind of machinery. + +"Perhaps His Majesty," suggested the Marshal, who had long ago taken +King Sidney's measure, "is better able to instruct us in these mighty +secrets?" + +"H'm, well, to tell you the truth," confessed the King, "although I've +been in the habit of using railways, motors, electric light, telephones, +and so forth constantly, I can't pretend to more than a general notion +of how they work. Couldn't _make_ any of 'em, you know. Not _my_ line of +business!" + +"If that is indeed the case," said the President, "we find it the more +difficult to understand why his Royal Highness should have reproached us +for an ignorance which is no greater than either his own or your +Majesty's." + +"I wasn't reproaching you," said the Crown Prince, a little awkwardly, +"I was only telling you how differently things are managed where _we_ +come from. But after all, that isn't the point, so we'll say no more +about it. Let's get back to the Gnomes. One of you--I think it was the +gentleman with the grey topknot--objected that there was no other useful +way of employing them, except in the mine. Well, of course, we've +thought all that out," he declared, though, as a matter of fact, the +idea had only just struck him. "We intend to set 'em to work at laying +out a golf links, and when they've done that, we shall keep 'em on as +caddies. They're such nippy little devils that they ought to be jolly +useful.... Ah, naturally, you _wouldn't_ know what Golf is. Well, Golf +happens to be a thing I _do_ know something about. I can teach you +_that_ right enough. It's simply the greatest game going, and you'll be +grateful to me for introducing it. Don't worry," he added, as some of +the Council expressed dissent, "nobody's asking you to learn unless you +like. I shouldn't say myself that any of you--except perhaps the +Marshal--was very likely to shape into a 'plus' man. I fancy _he's_ got +the makings of a golfer in him, though, and, once I've got the course +laid out and given him a lesson or two, I bet you'll see he'll be as +keen as mustard." + +Before the Council broke up, the ex-Regent undertook that, as soon as +Clarence had selected the ground, the Gnomes should be removed from +their present quarters, and placed under the Crown Prince's directions. + +"Never again, Sidney," declared the Queen afterwards, "will you and I +sit through one of those tiresome councils! We'll leave them to manage +their own silly business, and if there's anything that requires our +signatures, they can bring the papers to us, and we'll sign them in our +own rooms. If there should be any difficulty, we can always ask the +Marshal--he's so very sympathetic and helpful." + +"Very," said the King, "oh, very--that is, I half fancied now and +then--but I believe he means us well. Yes, on the whole, my dear, I +think he's a person we can trust." + +"You needn't _think_ about it, Sidney," she replied; "you can feel +absolutely _certain_ that there's _nothing_ that man wouldn't do for +us!" + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +A GAME THEY DID NOT UNDERSTAND + + +With regard to the Royal visit to the Gold Mine, it should be mentioned +that, on returning to the Palace, the Queen and Princess Ruby had met +Daphne in one of the galleries. Ruby ran to her impulsively: "Oh, Miss +Heritage!" she cried, "we've had a ripping afternoon. Such fun throwing +money to the people, and seeing them scramble for it! We saw the Gold +Mine. And all the darling little Gnomes! You _would_ have loved them! I +do wish you had come with us!" + +"I fully intended to have arranged for you to do so, Miss Heritage," +said Queen Selina, with unwonted graciousness. "But with so much to +think of----! Do you happen to know where my other ladies-in-waiting +are?... In the Tapestry Chamber? Then I must get you to show me to it, +for I don't know my way yet about this immense house.... Through here? +Yes, you will accompany me--in fact, I particularly desire you to be +present." + +At her entrance the Maids of Honour all rose from their seats and made +obeisances which, but for the Court Godmother's revelations of their +ancestries, would have occasioned their Sovereign agonies of +embarrassment. But she felt she could face them now without _mauvaise +honte_, and indeed with all the assurance of superiority. + +"You may sit down, _girls_," she said, and although they found it hard +to believe at first that they could be the persons thus addressed, they +sat down. + +"And what are you all about?" she inquired. "Embroidery, is it? The +pattern seems rather large.... Oh, tapestry? I _see_. I prefer a bright, +cheerful paper on the walls to any tapestry myself. Only collects dust. +Now if you were to knit some warm woollen jerseys for those wretched +little Gnomes, who are really in _want_ of them, you would be doing +something useful. But that wasn't what I--ah, to be sure, I remember +now. I looked in to tell you, girls, that I have appointed Miss Heritage +here as my First Lady-in-waiting. You will be careful to address her in +future as 'Lady Daphne,' and treat her in all respects as your equal in +rank.... I don't know why you should look so surprised." (If they did, +it was merely that any such recommendation should be thought necessary.) +"Miss Heritage's parentage may, it is true, be obscure--but not more so, +from all I have been told, than that of most of your own ancestresses. +Indeed, I am much mistaken if she has not a better claim to be +considered a lady than any of them. Not that I think mere birth of any +importance myself, but I object to people giving themselves airs without +some real _ground_ for it. I am not alluding to Lady Daphne, whom I have +always found perfectly well-behaved and unpretentious." + +This was not perhaps the surest way of endearing Daphne to her new +companions, but then Queen Selina was less concerned to effect that than +to make them pay for the excessive deference she had so mistakenly shown +them in the past. + +However, in their simplicity it had never occurred to them that they had +any cause to be ashamed of their descent, and so they never imagined +that their Royal Mistress could insult them with it, and her shafts +missed the target. + +Fortunately for Daphne, too, she was already the object of a secret +_schwärmerei_ that left no room in their sentimental bosoms for jealousy +or ill-feeling. + +But, not being aware of this as yet, she was rendered only unhappy by +this sudden rise in the Royal favour. Her one consolation was the +certainty that it would not be very long before she was again in +disgrace. + +On the afternoon of the day on which the State Council had been held, +the Crown Prince explored the surrounding country with a view to +selecting a golf course. + +He found a district which was in every way suitable for his purpose--a +stretch of undulating land in a valley behind the plateau on which the +Palace stood, abounding in natural hazards, and affording great +facilities for artificial ones--in short, an ideal site for any links. +He began laying it out the next morning. The Gnomes were brought out of +the mine and conducted to the spot. The general idea was conveyed to a +Gnome who seemed, on the whole, less devoid of intelligence than his +fellows, and they all set to work with more activity than immediate +result. However, they seemed to take kindly to their new industry, and +Clarence was very well pleased with them. He had had no experience in +golf-architecture himself, but the nature of the ground was such that it +required but little to turn it into a very sporting course indeed, and, +if the Gnomes did not do much else, they constructed some remarkably +cunning bunkers. + +While they were thus engaged he ordered several sets of clubs to be +made from rough designs of his own by a master artificer in Eswareinmal, +who carried them out with considerable skill and fidelity. The +implements he produced may not have been quite according to Club +standards, but they were fairly serviceable. The balls seemed at first +likely to be the main difficulty, but some were discovered on the +toy-stalls in the market square which, though not of rubber, were +composed of a substance that proved an admirable substitute. They were +certainly open to one objection that, in ordinary circumstances, might +have disqualified them--they cost considerably under a farthing each. +But Clarence got over that by paying a ducat apiece for them. And then, +as the work progressed but slowly, he was forced to wait with what +patience he could until the links were ready for practising on. + +It does not take long for most people to get accustomed to any +surroundings, no matter how novel, and Queen Selina and her family soon +became acclimatised. Now that her household had lost their terrors for +her, she began to enjoy the sensation of being a Queen and inspiring +reverence and awe wherever she went, though she could have wished to be +the ruler of a Kingdom that was not quite so _outré_ as Märchenland. +However, she felt she must take it as it was, and in a short time she +had almost forgotten that there ever had been a period when she had not +occupied a throne. + +Princess Edna, though she frequently protested that her rank had no +charms for her, was ready enough to assert it on all occasions, and +exercised authority over the unfortunate ladies-in-waiting to a degree +that might have rendered their lives a burden to them if they had been +able to take her as seriously as she did herself, which they were not. + +"Mother," she remarked one day, "I've been quite shocked to find how +appallingly ignorant our Maids of Honour are. Fancy, they've never heard +of Shakespeare, or Ibsen, or Bernard Shaw, or--well, anybody!" + +"My dear," said the Queen, "what can you _expect_ from such a set of +giggling, empty-headed minxes?" + +"I know. Still, I feel it a duty to do what I can to improve their +minds. I shall bring down my note-book this afternoon. It's got all my +notes on those lectures on English Literature I attended last Autumn. I +thought I'd read them aloud to them. It would give them a very good +general idea of the subject. Enough, at least, to enable them to talk +about it without exposing themselves." + +"I'm sure, Edna dear, it's most sweet of you to trouble about them." + +"Oh, since I have to live with a Court, I must try and raise it to a +more intellectual level." + +And so that afternoon, while the ladies of the Court were engaged, under +the Queen's supervision, in knitting little woollen garments of +shattering hues for the unsuspecting Gnomes, the Princess Royal produced +her note-book and read aloud extracts which gave an impressionist +bird's-eye view of English Literature from the fourteenth to the close +of the nineteenth Century. + +No doubt the lecturer had given his audience credit for some previous +acquaintance with the subject, and it may be that Princess Edna's method +of note-taking had been a trifle desultory; it was certain that the +ladies-in-waiting found a difficulty in assimilating the scraps of +literary pemmican she dispensed to them. + +They received with polite but languid attention such items as that: +"Shakespeare stands supreme among dramatists for consummate knowledge of +the human heart"; that: "as _Ralph Roister Doister_ is the first pure +comedy, so _The Vicar of Wakefield_ may be termed the first idyllic +English novel"; that: "while Byron possessed more intellect than +imagination, Shelley, on the contrary, was rather imaginative than +intellectual"; and even the statement that: "Browning's 'Ring and the +Book' contains upwards of twenty-one thousand lines" left them unmoved. + +It is true they were more interested in hearing that it was: "after he +had come under the spell of Petrarch and Boccaccio that Chaucer produced +his wondrous Tales," but it appeared their interest was due to some +slight misapprehension. Daphne felt the fearful joy of suppressed mirth +combined with the danger of detection as she heard Edna explaining with +laborious patience that she had _not_ intended to convey that the Poet +had been afflicted by a pair of enchanters with any caudal appendages +whatever. + +But the Princess Royal could not conceal her disgust when her final +extract, which was to the effect that: "during the closing decade of the +Nineteenth Century England became once more a 'nest of singing birds,' +as was apparent from the stream of fresh and melodious strains issuing +from, among other sources, 'The Bodley Head,'" was greeted with a ripple +of girlish laughter from her hearers. It seemed that this +incontrovertible statement of fact had somehow aroused reminiscences of +another head which, if fresh, had not been precisely melodious on the +luncheon board after the Coronation. + +Princess Edna waited with cold dignity until the last giggle was no +longer audible before announcing that she was willing to answer any +questions they might wish to ask her. Upon which Baroness Kluge von +Bauerngrosstochterheimer begged that they might be favoured with the +outline of one of the romances written by the Poet Shakespeare, who they +had been informed by her was so unsurpassed as a story-teller. + +Now Edna was undoubtedly well versed in the Literature of her native +land. She could not only have given with tolerable accuracy the names +and dates of the principal authors of each century, but a list of their +best-known works, and an estimate of the rank assigned to them by modern +criticism. She had even, impelled by an almost morbid conscientiousness, +consulted the works themselves, and could honestly assert that she had +read every single play of Shakespeare's all through, though her private +preference was for a more advanced and psychological form of drama. + +And yet on this occasion she chose to parry the Baroness's very +reasonable request. "Shakespeare," she said, in her most superior tone, +"did not write romances. He wrote _plays_." + +"Will your Royal Highness please," said the Baroness, "to tell us about +one of _them_?" + +For the life of her Edna could not just then summon up a clear +recollection of the plot of any Shakespearian comedy or tragedy--and it +is quite possible that there are many persons as highly educated as she +who might be equally at a loss. + +"With so prolific a writer as Shakespeare," she hedged, "it is difficult +to single out any particular play." + +She was so plainly embarrassed that Daphne felt impelled to come to the +rescue. + +"I think, Ma'am," she said, "they would like the story of _The Merchant +of Venice_!" + +"I should hardly call it suitable myself to such an audience as this," +replied Edna, who was possibly confusing it with _Othello_. "No, Miss +Heritage, I really think something less--less objectionable would +be--There's _As you like it_, now, _quite_ a pleasant play. I think I +can remember the outline of _that_. Let me see. Yes, it's about a girl +called "Rosalind," who dressed up as a boy and ran away into a forest, +where she met Ferdinand--or was it Bassanio?--anyway, the name is of no +consequence. Well, and he carved her name on all the trees, and so they +fell in love, and in the end they were married, you know." + +As drama this appeared to strike the ladies-in-waiting as lacking in +incident, and the Baroness von Haulemännerschen openly declared that an +ancestress of hers who also ran away into a forest had the far more +exciting experience of being poisoned by a jealous Queen and enclosed by +dwarfs in a glass coffin. + +"Oh, very well!" said Edna; "if you are going to compare your own silly +traditions with works of genius, I give you up as hopeless!" + +And this was the beginning and the end of the Princess Royal's attempt +to infuse Culture into Court Circles. + +She had certainly failed signally to inspire her ladies with any +enthusiasm for English Literature, though, strangely enough, Daphne +succeeded later in giving them a more favourable impression of its +quality. + +Edna was, of course, incomparably more widely read, but then Daphne +knew such authors as she had read well enough to be able to give a very +full and clear account of her favourite books, and to repeat many of her +best loved poems from memory. + +It is quite possible that much of the pleasure her companions took in +hearing her do so was due to her own personality. They were not, it must +be confessed, a highly intellectual or cultivated set of young women, +but one and all regarded Daphne with a whole-hearted adoration which +would have given Princess Edna, had she condescended to notice it, a +lower opinion than ever of their intelligence. + +The links were at last in a sufficiently advanced stage for practice at +the first nine of the eighteen holes, and Clarence undertook to instruct +the Marshal in the mysteries of the game. The Marshal, though slightly +handicapped by insisting on playing in a breastplate and high boots, was +so much encouraged by the success which most beginners at golf +experience that he at once became an ardent votary. He tried to make +converts of the Courtiers, but they preferred to keep an open mind and +remain spectators for the present. + +Prince Tapfer von Schneiderleinberg indeed went so far as to say that +golf seemed to him to be without the element of danger which all genuine +sport should possess. He modified that opinion, it is true, after +incautiously standing close behind the Marshal when he was driving off +from the tee, but it did not alter his prejudices against the game. + +King Sidney practised most assiduously in private, and found he improved +in his driving under Clarence's tuition. The Gnomes had been established +in a kind of compound near the links, but their unfortunate tendency to +bolt with the club-bags and purloin every ball they found rather +impaired their usefulness as caddies. Marshal Federhelm treated his with +regrettable inhumanity. + +There was still a good deal of "ground under repair" on the course, but +the day was drawing near when the links could be formally opened. The +Marshal was anxious to celebrate the occasion by challenging his Royal +Master to play him a single, a challenge which was conveyed through the +Crown Prince. + +"Well, what do _you_ think, my boy," asked King Sidney. "Can I beat +him?" + +"I think you ought to, Guv'nor. He fancies himself at it--but he's +pretty rotten." + +"In that case, you can tell him I accept," said the King. + +But on the morning before the day, Clarence, after watching his parent +top and slice and foozle through a whole round without intermission, +became less sanguine. + +"I tell you what it is, Guv'nor," he said, frankly, "the Marshal's been +shaping a bit better these last few days, and it's my belief he can give +you a stroke a hole and win easy." + +"After all," said the King, "I'm not sure there isn't a certain loss of +dignity--playing with my own subject, don't you know." + +"It won't do to let him lick you, certainly," agreed Clarence. + +"Quite so, my boy, quite so. I was thinking--I might be prevented by +sudden business--I could go and sit with the Council, you know." + +"He'd only want you to fix another day for playing him. It's no use, +Guv'nor, you can't get out of it now. Perhaps you'd do better if you +played with a different sort of ball. I must see if I can't get you one +or two." + +And that evening he brought his father half a dozen. "They're specially +marked," he said, "so you can't make a mistake over them, and I fancy +you'll find they travel better than any of the Marshal's." + +"You've got those golf balls I gave you?" he asked the King at breakfast +next morning. "Mind you don't forget to take 'em." + +"I shan't forget, my boy. But what I'm most troubled about is my +swing--there's something wrong with it, only I can't find out what." + +"I think it a great pity myself," said Queen Selina, "that you ever +agreed to play this match at all. If you are beaten it will certainly +lower your prestige. But I am sure the dear Marshal has too much tact +not to let you win." + +"Don't you worry, Mater," said Clarence. "The Guv'nor's going to win on +his own, hands down!" + +"I sincerely hope so. It will be a sad blow to the Throne if he does +_not_." + +These remarks did not help much to steady King Sidney's nerves when he +met the Marshal on the links, where, as Monarch, he naturally had the +honour. A large crowd of onlookers from the Court had collected, and the +players had decided to dispense with caddies under the circumstances. + +The first hole was only about a hundred and sixty yards; a deep gully +lay between, and on either side of the approach were beds of tall +rushes. + +King Sidney addressed his ball for some time in agonising indecision +before he finally drove off. A cloud of sand rose; the ball was nowhere +to be seen, and, taught by experience, he looked behind for it. + +"Jolly good shot!" cried Clarence. "Right on the green!" + +"Is it, my boy?" said the King. "I can't see it there myself." + +"No more can I," Clarence owned, "but I bet you what you like you're on +the pretty, anyway. Your drive, Marshal." + +The Marshal smote a mighty blow, and his ball likewise vanished. +Clarence was of opinion that it had gone over the boundary, but the +Marshal was so certain that it was on the green that he declined to +search for it. + +"Funny," said Clarence disappointedly, as they neared the pin, "I don't +see your ball anywhere, Pater. Nor yet the Marshal's." + +"I fancy mine isn't very far away, my boy," said the King hopefully. + +One of the Courtiers who had gone to the hole, called out to say that he +could see a ball marked with a Royal Crown wedged in by the pin. + +"By George, Guv'nor!" cried Clarence, "you've holed it in one!" + +"Ah," said King Sidney, "I _thought_ I'd got the right direction." + +But the next moment both of them were depressed by the announcement that +the Marshal's ball had also landed in the hole. The Courtier had +naturally mentioned his Sovereign's achievement first, but there could +be no possible doubt that the Marshal had succeeded in equalling it. + +To have holed out at a hundred and sixty yards is not by any means an +unprecedented feat, but that two players should have done it in +succession was at least a rather remarkable coincidence. It was a severe +disappointment to the King, who had serious doubts of his own ability to +repeat such a performance. + +The next hole was a long one, some six hundred yards, over undulating +land with patches of bog; the green was on a hillock protected by +artfully devised bunkers, and the approach was full of difficulties. + +The Marshal was given the honour, and, as before, none could follow the +flight of his ball, though he declared with the greatest confidence that +it was straight for the green. King Sidney's drive did not look very +promising, but Clarence assured him that it was probably a longer one +than he thought. + +But neither player could locate his ball as they trudged on, and, though +it seemed unlikely that either could have reached the green, they did +not stop to search on the way to it. Still, when they arrived there each +of them was obviously astonished by the discovery that the other had +holed out once more. Even had the distance been less, it seemed to them +that this was stretching the long arm of coincidence almost too far, but +they did not say so; in fact, they both thought it wiser to abstain from +any comment at all. The next hole was some three hundred and fifty +yards, with several extremely tricky hazards, but, contrary to all +reasonable expectations, both King Sidney and the Marshal distinguished +themselves by doing it in one. + +At this the King felt bound to make some comment. "Very even game this, +Marshal, so far," he said. + +"Very even indeed, Sire!" said the Marshal curtly, and turned aside to +curse under his breath. + +However, after they had played the fourth and fifth holes with precisely +the same result, King Sidney became suspicious. "Clarence, my boy," he +said, taking him aside. "It strikes me there's something rather odd +about his play. I can't understand it!" + +"_I_ can," said Clarence; "it's plain enough. Haven't you noticed he's +been using a mashie--the _same_ mashie every time? Well, he's bribed or +bullied that pop-eyed little swine of an Astrologer to enchant it for +him--that's what _he's_ done!" + +"What a confounded low, ungentlemanly trick!" spluttered King Sidney in +high indignation. "Just when I was beginning to find my form at last, +too! I shall decline to go on with the match. And what's more, when we +_do_ get a Golf Club started, I'll have him blackballed for it!" + +"I wouldn't make a row about it if I were you," advised Clarence. + +"Not make a row? When he's taking an unfair advantage of me by using +this infernal Magic?--which is unlawful, by Gad, don't you forget +_that_! Why shouldn't I denounce such trickery?" + +"Because," said the Crown Prince, "he might say something disagreeable +about it being a case of Pot and Kettle, don't you know." + +"Let him!" cried the King. "Let him! I defy him to prove that I've had +anything done to _my_ clubs!" + +"Not the clubs," said Clarence; "it's those balls I gave you. I hadn't +meant to tell you, but p'raps I'd better now. I paid that little sweep +to put a spell on 'em. Of course I'd no idea he'd go and overdo it like +this. If he'd been anything of a Golfer he'd have known most of these +holes couldn't be done under three or four. And now he's given you both +away, blast him!" + +"It--it's _most_ unfortunate!" said King Sidney. "I--I don't quite see +what to do about it." + +"Simple enough," said his son, "pretend not to notice anything and play +it out." + +"I suppose I must, my boy, I suppose I must. But I know I shan't play so +well after this--it's quite put me off my game!" + +"No, it hasn't, Guv'nor. You'll play up all right, at least if Xuriel +knows his job." + +Xuriel apparently did know his job, for the King's ball continued to be +as foozle-proof as the Marshal's mashie. + +It would be tedious to describe any further holes. When a bewitched +mashie is pitted against an enchanted ball, there can obviously be none +of the alternations and vicissitudes of Fortune which constitute the +charm of Golf. + +When they were at the turn, having halved every hole up to the ninth, +the Marshal had had enough of it. "We are too well matched, Sire," he +said, "and to proceed would only be to waste your Majesty's time, which +is of far more value than my own." + +"H'm, well, perhaps we'd better call it a draw and have done with it," +said the King. + +The Court had witnessed the game without excitement or astonishment. +They saw no particular reason why the balls should fail to reach the +hole in one stroke, and did not care in the least whether they failed or +not. The only impressions they received were that Golf was too +monotonous and too easy a pastime to have any attractions for them, and +that nothing should induce them to indulge in it against such +invincible champions as his Majesty and the Ex-Regent. + +"I must say, my boy," said the King to his son, as they walked back to +the Palace together, "I wish you hadn't gone to that magician fellow. It +makes it so very awkward for _me_." + +"It would have been a jolly sight more awkward if I hadn't. Just think +of the licking you'd have had, what?" + +"Yes, yes--but there's your Mother. She's so set against Magic of any +kind. I really don't know what I'm to say to her." + +"Well," said Clarence, "I should hope, Guv'nor, you wouldn't be such a +jay as to say anything." + +"It might be only distressing her unnecessarily," said the King. + +"Sidney!" exclaimed the Queen when they met, "I can see by your face +that you've been beaten after all!" + +"Not at all, my love, not at all. Far from it!" + +"Then you've won?" + +"Well--er--not exactly _won_, my dear. We--we finished up all square." + +"Considering how long you've been learning, that's as bad as if you'd +lost. Now, mind what I say, Sidney, you must never attempt to play golf +again after this. I cannot have you making yourself ridiculous!" + +"I think you're right, my dear," he said meekly. "In fact, I had already +decided to give it up." + +Clarence clung to his Golf as long as he could, but he found it dreary +work going round the course alone. None of the Courtiers could be +induced to learn the game, and he felt a natural reluctance to take on +the Marshal as an antagonist, even if the latter had continued to be +keen. But he had conceived a strong distaste for the game, and it was +rumoured that there had been a stormy interview between him and the +Astrologer Royal, who kept his bed for several days afterwards. + +And Clarence, as the Yellow Gnomes were impossible as caddies, had to +carry his own clubs, which he particularly detested. So in course of +time he ceased to visit the links, and thus deprived himself of his only +form of open-air exercise. + +There was nothing much for him to do, except to lounge and loaf +aimlessly about the Palace, with a depressed suspicion that he was not +inspiring the full amount of respect that was due to his position as +Crown Prince. It would have been a distraction to make advances to +Daphne, but, after his somewhat cavalier treatment of her at the Ball, +he could not be sure how they would be received. Moreover, either by her +own management or his Royal Mother's, he was never given a chance of +seeing her except in public. + +He found a resource in gambling with the gentlemen of the Royal +Household. They played for high stakes, but no higher, seeing that he +could replenish his purse as often as it was emptied, than he could well +afford. His visits to the sacks of gold in the King's Counting-house +became more and more frequent, but he would have derived more enjoyment +from cards if he had won occasionally. + +One afternoon when, the usual card-players being absent on some hunting +expedition, he was left to his own devices, he wandered forlornly +through a suite of empty halls till he drifted out upon a balcony that +overlooked the Palace gardens. + +And then, as he stepped through the window, his heart gave a sudden +leap. At the corner of the balcony he had just recognised Daphne. She +was quite alone, and he recognised that the opportunity, half-feared, +half-desired, had come at last. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +"A STEED THAT KNOWS HIS RIDER" + + +Daphne turned and saw Prince Clarence almost immediately, and, after +making the prescribed curtsey, was about to retreat indoors when he +stopped her. + +"I say, Lady Daphne," he remonstrated, "don't run away like that!" + +"Your Royal Highness will be good enough to excuse me," she said; "I +ought to be with Princess Ruby by this time." + +"_She's_ all right--trying to teach the Pages hockey in the Entrance +Court. And--look here, you needn't be so beastly formal--with _me_, you +know." + +"I may remind your Royal Highness that you desired me to observe the +strictest etiquette." + +"Did I? I only meant in public. Let's drop it just now, anyway. I've +been wanting to get a talk with you. You see, you're the only person +here I can really talk to; and if you only knew how awfully hipped and +depressed I'm feeling----" + +"Are you?" she said. "I'm sorry." And there was certainly pity in the +soft grey eyes which rested on him for a moment or two. + +"I give you my word," he went on, "there are times when I almost wish +myself back at the office again. There were things to be done there, +even if I didn't do 'em. Here there's nothing--except cards. It +wouldn't be so bad if the chaps here only knew Auction--I could hold my +own at that. But you couldn't play bridge with the sort of packs they've +got in this God-forsaken country. So they've taught me a bally game they +call 'Krebsgriff,' and I've lost over two sacks of ducats at it already. +Anyone would think after _that_ they'd treat me as a pal, but not a bit +of it!" + +"Perhaps, Sir, they're afraid of being rebuked for such presumption." + +"Perhaps, but I don't think it's that. They're polite enough and all +that, to my face, but they don't look _up_ to me, you know!" + +"Why _should_ they?" Daphne thought, but all she said was, "That's very +sad." + +"Isn't it?" he said; "they don't give me a chance to show what I _can_ +do. I could knock their silly heads off at golf, and they won't even +learn! And now I can't get a game; and this afternoon, when _I_ was +feeling inclined for cards, they all go off to the forest without a word +to me, hunting beastly boars and bears, and I'm left without a soul to +speak to." + +"They might have asked you to do them the honour of coming too," said +Daphne. + +"I couldn't very well have gone if they had. You see, they hunt boars +and that on horseback here, and riding's a thing I've never gone in +for." + +"It's not too late to begin, Sir." + +"Well, to tell you the truth, I did think at one time of taking a few +lessons. But I don't know. You see, it would get about, and--well, +people would think it rather ridiculous." + +"I should have thought--" began Daphne; "no, I mustn't say any more." + +"Oh, go on, Lady Daphne, don't mind _me_! What would you have thought?" + +"Well," said Daphne boldly, "that nothing could be so ridiculous as a +Crown Prince who can't sit a horse." + +"I daresay I could as well as any other fellow, if I tried." + +"No doubt, sir, but if you never _do_ try." + +"I would, if I thought you cared." + +"Of course I care, Prince Clarence," said Daphne. "Naturally, I should +like to see you doing everything that other Princes do. You really +aren't, so far, you know. I suppose I oughtn't to have said that--I +couldn't help it." + +"That's all right," he said. "There's one thing," he added, thinking +aloud, "if I _did_ learn to ride decently, you and I might go out riding +together, what?" + +"It's rather early to talk about that," said Daphne, "when you haven't +even begun to learn." + +"I know, but I _will_ begin. For _your_ sake." + +"No, Prince Clarence, for your own," she replied, "though I shall be +glad, too. And now, I mustn't stay here any longer." + +Why, he asked himself, after she had gone, was she so keen on his +cutting a figure at Court? The answer was obvious--he had interested and +impressed her more than he could have hoped. But that, he shrewdly +perceived, only made it more necessary for him to be wary. She was +certainly a most fascinating girl, but if she had any ambitious designs +on him, she would find that he was quite capable of taking care of +himself. Still, she was right about his riding. Every Prince ought to be +able to ride. It would not take him long to learn. And when he could +ride he would go out hunting. She would think a lot more of him when +she saw him returning in triumph with a few boars and bears as trophies +of the chase. + +Accordingly he took the earliest opportunity of mentioning to his family +that he intended to take lessons in horsemanship, which both the King +and Queen considered an admirable idea. The Marshal was consulted, and +though he opposed it at first, on the ground that anything which might +affect the succession to the throne was to be avoided, he gave way in +the end, and undertook to act himself as Clarence's riding master. +Clarence was prudent enough to stipulate that none of his family should +be present while he was undergoing instruction, and the Court were not +to be informed that he was having any lessons at all until he had +completed the course and become an accomplished equestrian. + +"Well, my boy," said the King, when the Crown Prince entered the Royal +Parlour after his private lessons in the Palace tiltyard. "Well, and how +did you get on, hey?" + +"Never got on at all," Clarence reluctantly admitted. "Not likely I +should, when there wasn't a bally gee in the stables that would let me +come near him!" + +"Clarence!" cried his mother, "you _don't_ mean to say you've been there +all this time without riding a single horse!" + +"I'd have ridden 'em right enough, if they'd let me get on 'em--but they +wouldn't." + +"And pray what was the Marshal about?" inquired the Queen. + +"Well, he was laughing most of the time; it's my belief he'd had 'em all +gingered up beforehand." + +"I'm quite sure, Clarence, he would be incapable of such conduct as +that. Why _should_ he?" + +"_I_ don't know," he said. "But I won't have _him_ about again. I'll get +some one else to teach me." + +"But, my dear boy, nobody can teach you much if you can't even manage to +get on a horse's back. You'll only get hurt if you try any more, and you +will be far wiser to give it up altogether." + +"Not much, Mater!" he declared; "I'm not so easily bested as all that. +Now I've begun I mean to go on with it." + +And he went on; for, to do Clarence justice, want of pluck was not among +his defects. But he was obliged to admit that the Marshal was not fairly +accountable for the horses' behaviour, since they were quite as +unmanageable when he was no longer there. + +They were spirited creatures, but perfectly docile until they caught +sight of Clarence, when they immediately became as vicious as the most +untameable bronco. If he contrived occasionally to get hoisted into the +saddle, he never remained there long enough to put the Royal Chief +Huntsman's instructions into practice, and he began at last to have +serious doubts whether Nature had ever intended him to shine as a +horseman. + +He said nothing of these ignominious experiences to Daphne, partly +because he never found an opportunity, though more from a fear of being +laughed at. But he could not keep them from his family, and so Daphne +came to hear of his repeated failures through Princess Ruby. She did not +laugh at them, however; she was even a little touched. She thought more +of him for his attempts to follow her unlucky suggestion than if he had +never attempted anything at all, and fully believed that if he +persevered he would conquer in the end. + +His Royal Mother was so perturbed and alarmed that at last she made a +confidant of the Court Godmother, who was about to depart on her annual +visit to the Court of Clairdelune. "He _will_ go on with it!" Queen +Selina lamented, "and I _know_ he'll break his neck before long! It does +seem so strange that those horrible horses should behave like this with +Clarence and nobody else. When his poor dear Grandfather was such a good +rider, too! I can't think why they should, Court Godmother, can you?" + +The Fairy Vogelflug thought privately that the reason was not very far +to see. The horses of the Royal stud were, she knew, of an exceptional +aristocratic breed. Now poor Clarence, though of Royal blood on his +mother's side, unfortunately had little of the air and appearance which +these intelligent and observant animals probably connected with a true +Prince. It was more than likely that they had failed to recognise that +he was a Prince at all, and so resented being called upon to carry him. + +But, though she could be out-spoken enough on occasion, she felt that +this was hardly an explanation she could give to his mother. "Well, my +dear," she said, "it's very trying for you, of course. But I don't know +that there's anything _I_ can do." + +"I--I thought perhaps," said Queen Selina, with some natural hesitation, +"that you, as a Fairy, might--er--know some quite simple little spell +which----" + +"As I have told you before," interrupted the Fairy, "I make a point of +using my knowledge of Magic as seldom as I can nowadays. I have my +health to consider. And, in any case, I am acquainted with no spell for +making a Prince into a horseman. Princes in Märchenland," she added, +rather unkindly, "have never needed such aids." + +But, after all, she was anxious that this Royal family, whom she had +been largely responsible for importing, should do her as much credit as +possible, and so she applied herself to think of something that might be +of help to the unfortunate Crown Prince. A means occurred to her at +length, but as she was by no means sure that it would be effectual, she +was careful not to commit herself. + +She did not even mention it till she was on the point of starting for +Clairdelune, and then, before she stepped into her dove-chariot, she +suddenly said to the Queen, _á propos_ of nothing in particular, "By the +way, my dear, that jewel you were wearing when you first came--I haven't +seen you with it for a long while--how is that?" + +"Well, you see, Court Godmother, my Crown jewels seem to suit me so much +better." + +"Then, if you don't want that pendant yourself, you had better give it +to your son." + +"To Clarence?" cried the Queen. "Why, what use would it be to him?" + +"It is a jewel which any Prince might be proud to wear," said the Fairy; +"and I should strongly advise you to see that he wears it. Not merely +now and then, but constantly. It may--mind, I don't say it _will_--but +it _may_ bring him better luck than he has enjoyed as yet." + +"But really, Godmother, I can't quite believe that a thing--" began the +Queen, when the Fairy cut her short unceremoniously. + +"I've no time to stay here arguing about it," she said; "my doves will +be catching cold if they stand about any longer. By all means don't take +my advice if you don't believe in it; I merely thought you might find it +worth trying--but you must please yourself. And now, with your +permission, I'll take my leave of you." + +At a sign from her, the team of doves fluttered up in a snow-white cloud +and winged their flight to the neighbouring Kingdom of Clairdelune, +where she had another Royal Godson, Prince Mirliflor, in whose affairs +she took a keener interest than she could in Clarence's. + +"Old people have such queer ideas," thought Queen Selina, as the chariot +rapidly receded from sight. "As if that twopenny-halfpenny pendant of +Miss Heritage's could--but the Court Godmother will be annoyed if I +don't follow her advice--and it's best not to offend the old creature. +I'll go up and see if it's still in my jewel case." + +It was, and she brought it down in time to intercept Clarence as he was +starting in rather low spirits for another crowded hour of anything but +glorious life in the Riding Court. + +"Clarence, my boy," she said, "I want you to oblige me by wearing this +in future." + +"What--that thing you bought before we came away!" he replied. "I say, +Mater, you _don't_ expect me to go about with a woman's pendant on my +manly bosom!" + +"Your Godmother Vogelflug thinks it is quite a fit ornament for a +Prince," urged his mother, "and--and she as much as said that it would +bring you good-luck." + +"Did she, though? Well, I could do with a bit of that for a change." And +he allowed her to fasten the chain round his neck. "By Gad, makes me +feel like a Good Forester or a Member of the Ancient Order of Buffaloes +or something!" he remarked. + +"Never mind," she said; "and it really doesn't look so very out of +place. But remember, Clarence, if it's to do any good, you must wear it +_always_." + +"Right-oh!" he said; "and now I'll go and take my usual morning toss, +what?" + +Half an hour later, he came into the Royal Parlour, where his family +were assembled, Daphne being with them. He looked round the circle with +a satisfied air, and then said in a tone of studied carelessness, "If +you've nothing better to do just now, all of you, you may as well look +in at the Riding Court in a few minutes, and see how I'm getting on. +I--er--should like Lady Daphne to come, too, and the whole Court. Tell +'em to hurry up. You'll find me down there ready for you." He was gone +before they had recovered from their surprise. + +"Dear me," said the King, "I'm not quite sure that it would be wise to +have the Court looking on just yet, eh, my dear?" + +"I have every confidence in Clarence," said the Queen. "He would not +have suggested that they should attend unless--but perhaps a smaller +audience, of just ourselves, might be less trying for him." + +So it was only the Royal family and Daphne that went down to the Riding +Court, where, to Queen Selina's alarm, some very formidable-looking +jumps had been put up. + +"He's never going to be rash enough to try to get over those!" she said. +"Tell him he's not to run such risks. I can't allow him to!" + +Just then Clarence cantered in on a high-spirited mare, over which he +seemed to have complete control. He put her at obstacle after obstacle, +and surmounted all of them with the greatest ease. To prove that he was +equally at home on any mount, he had several other horses brought in, +and over each he showed the same mastery, and a seat with which Daphne, +who was critical in such matters, could find no fault. + +"You young dog!" said his father, when the exhibition was over and +Clarence had dismounted. "So you've been taking us in all this time, +pretending you couldn't stick on a horse for more than a few seconds, +hey?" + +"Oh, well," he said modestly, "I didn't like to say too much. Fact is, +it's only quite lately that I've felt what you might call at home on a +gee." + +The Stud grooms could have testified how very lately this was if they +had thought proper to do so--which, of course, they did not. + +"It only shows what can be done with a little perseverance," said Queen +Selina. "Clarence, you will be able to ride through the City now!" + +He managed to get Daphne to himself for a few minutes on the way back to +the Palace. + +"Well, Lady Daphne," he began, "I've done what I could to please you, +and I hope you are satisfied, what?" + +"Indeed I am, Prince Clarence," she said warmly, for he had risen +several places in her esteem during the past hour. "And I congratulate +you most heartily. And now things will be ever so much pleasanter for +you, won't they?" As she spoke she noticed the pendant, which, of +course, she recognised immediately. + +"Ah, you're looking at this," he said. "Daresay it strikes you as funny +my wearing it?" + +"Not at all, Sir," she replied; "it isn't really a woman's ornament." +She did not tell him how she knew it was not, for she had not forgotten +her undertaking to say nothing about it. + +"Well, it was the Mater's," he said. "She's made me promise to wear it +always. Thinks it may bring me luck." + +"I hope it will, Prince Clarence," she said, quite sincerely; and, as +the Queen happened to look back just then and summon her sharply to her +side, that was all that passed between him and Daphne on that occasion. + +She was rather pleased than otherwise that he should be the possessor of +the pendant. As has been said, she had never known her father, so there +were no tender associations attaching to it. And she had been a little +afraid that Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson had only bought it out of +consideration for her. It was some relief that she had found a use for +it. Daphne was, of course, quite unaware who her unknown father had been +or that the pendant was a badge of his princely rank; and both the Queen +and her son had no suspicion of the truth. Nor did either of them +connect it with his suddenly acquired mastery of the whole art of +horsemanship, Queen Selina believing that his reports of previous +unsuccess had been intended to increase the surprise of his triumph, +while Clarence naturally found it easy to persuade himself that he had +been learning more from his disheartening failures than he had been +conscious of at the time. He certainly did not hide his new talent in a +napkin, but organised riding excursions of the lords and ladies of the +Royal household, at the head of which he made a very gay and gallant +appearance on a prancing bay palfrey. Only there was one thorn in his +luxuriously padded saddle. He had hoped that he might have the pleasure +of commanding Daphne to ride by his side on these excursions, but, +though she accompanied them, it was never on horseback. Queen Selina, it +seemed, had developed such a preference for her first lady-in-waiting's +society that she was always required to accompany her in the Royal +coach. + +Daphne would willingly have dispensed with this and other signs of the +marked favour with which her Sovereign was overwhelming her just then. +She had no illusions as to the motives. The Queen thought--most +mistakenly, as it happened--that making a favourite of Daphne was the +surest method of snubbing and annoying her other ladies-in-waiting, for +whom she had begun to conceive a hearty dislike. + +The dislike was certainly reciprocated. They resented their Royal +Mistress's insolence as much as they despised her previous +obsequiousness. They accepted the fact that she was their Queen, but, +among themselves, they did not pretend any respect for her, as was +manifest from their habit of referring to her in private as "Mother +Schwellenposch!" Edna, who was scarcely more beloved, was known as +"Princess Four-eyes," in allusion to her _pince-nez_. Daphne found it +hard at times to refrain from joining them in this irreverence, but, +while she saw the Queen's and Edna's weak points as clearly as her +companions--and indeed more clearly than any of them--her sense of +loyalty kept her silent. She might laugh when she was alone, and +frequently did, but that was a relief to her feelings for which she felt +she need not reproach herself very severely. Another reason for Queen +Selina's insistence on Daphne's company in the coach was, as she was +fully aware, the desire to keep her at a safe distance from the Crown +Prince--a needless precaution which had its amusing side for her. + +Still, she often longed to be on a horse instead of being shut up in a +great lumbering vehicle with the Queen and the Princess Royal, even if +Princess Ruby's presence did something to make things less dull. On one +of these expeditions Queen Selina had once more provided herself with a +sack of gold from which she and the Princesses scattered _largesse_. + +"_You_ may throw a little if you like, Miss Heritage," said the Queen +graciously. (She reserved the title "Lady Daphne" for occasions when the +Court was present.) + +"I'd rather not, your Majesty," she replied. "I mean," she explained, +"it's not as if it was _my_ money." + +"I should have thought," said Edna, "that that was all the more reason +for throwing it away." And as she spoke she flung a handful to a stout +old citizen, who glared with indignation--not at her, however, but at +the nimbler and needier persons who had grabbed most of the coins before +he could stoop to pick them up. + +Daphne felt rather ashamed of these proceedings, which seemed to her not +merely undignified, but likely to demoralise the public. But she said +nothing. + +"We're not doing this out of _ostentation_, Miss Heritage," explained +the Queen, who seemed to have divined something of her sentiments. "It's +policy. You may have noticed that we've not been nearly so well received +lately. _Why_, I don't know, unless there's any ill-feeling about those +detestable little Gnomes." + +There was a good deal. The Gnomes, having no employment on the +golf-links, had recently broken out of their compound and found their +way into Eswareinmal, where they made themselves very much at home. They +quartered themselves on several of the householders, and, having +discovered that cooked food was more palatable than earth, they had no +diffidence in helping themselves. In other respects they were +inoffensive and inclined to be sociable, but, even in Märchenland, the +most harmless and playful Yellow Gnome is not considered a desirable +addition to any respectable family. The citizens one and all regarded +their visitors as intolerable nuisances for which they had to thank +their Sovereigns. + +"It was his Majesty's idea to free them," the Queen went on. "I was +always in favour of keeping them in the mine, where they were out of +mischief. And they certainly mustn't be allowed to run about loose any +longer. They ought to learn some sort of discipline. Perhaps the best +thing would be to train them as Boy Scouts.... Have you caught cold, +Miss Heritage? You seem troubled by a most distressing cough." + +King Sidney himself had begun to doubt whether the enfranchisement of +the Yellow Gnomes was quite one of his happiest inspirations. Such +Märchenlanders as had been induced to enter the mine were demanding +wages which left but a small margin for profit, especially when it was +considered that, if their methods of working were more systematic than +their predecessors', they somehow got very much less gold. No sacks at +all had been delivered of late, and the shelves of the Royal +Counting-house were beginning to look ominously bare. + +He forced himself to mention this to the Queen after the drive that +afternoon, and point out the necessity for being rather more economical +than they had been hitherto. "I'm sure, Sidney," she protested, "no one +can say _I_ am extravagant! It was absolutely necessary to have the +whole Palace done up--I had to order some new dresses, as I couldn't be +expected to wear ready-made robes in my position, and one or two tiaras +and things from the Court Goldsmith, whose charges certainly were +disgracefully high. Then the household expenses come to several sacks a +week, try as I _may_ to keep them down!" + +"I daresay, my love, I daresay--but I hear there was another sack +emptied only this afternoon--and we really can't go on like this!" + +"Then I shall have to give up driving out altogether, Sidney. You've no +idea how unpopular you've made us all by releasing those wretched little +Gnomes. The people object to having to associate with them--and I'm sure +I don't wonder. You simply _must_ find some way of getting rid of them!" + +"The Court Chamberlain tells me a certain number could be taken on the +Palace Kitchens as extra scullions." + +"And we shall have them getting upstairs and running about all over the +Palace!" + +"Oh no, my dear; there will be strict orders against that. But, to +return to our expenses, I'm afraid Clarence hasn't been as careful as he +might have been, and I shall have to speak to him very----" + +"No, you will not, Sidney. I won't have you scolding Clarence just when +he's doing so well--riding and going out hunting and making himself a +social leader. You can give him a hint to be less extravagant if you +like--but no more. But the _first_ thing you have to do, is to settle +the trouble about those Gnomes. You'd better ask the Marshal if _he_ can +suggest anything." + +The Marshal's solution was simple but practical. There was, it seemed, a +marshy tract at a considerable distance from the capital which needed +draining and reclaiming--a work which the more able-bodied of the Gnomes +could carry out under strict control. So the majority were deported to +the Märchenlands, the remainder being employed in the Royal Kitchens as +supernumerary and highly incompetent scullions. + +Whether a damp climate would suit the Gnomes' constitutions was not +a matter of general concern. Most of them had been supplied with +jerseys, which, if they made them look more hideous little objects +than ever, had been knitted expressly for them by the Queen and her +ladies-in-waiting--and what more could they possibly want? + +The citizens of Eswareinmal witnessed the exodus of the gnomes with +profound relief, but without any outburst of gratitude to their +Sovereign. It had somehow been allowed to transpire that they owed their +deliverance entirely to the statesmanship of the ex-Regent. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE + + +King Sidney's remonstrances to Clarence on his extravagances were put in +too mild a form to offend. "Perhaps I _have_ got through rather a lot +lately," the Crown Prince admitted. "Not that I spend much on +myself--precious little chance in a bally place like this. It mostly +goes in tips. You see, the peasants about here think anything under a +purse of gold stingy. But it certainly struck me the last time I went to +the Counting-house that what sacks there were looked a bit flabby. When +do you expect some more in?" + +"The Lord Treasurer thinks one or two may be delivered in a week or +so--but we shall want considerably more than that to pay our way, and I +don't see myself where it's to come from." + +"I suppose," said Clarence, "it wouldn't quite do to have the gates +melted down, or the thrones; but there's any amount of other gold +furniture knocking about--what's the matter with coining that?" + +"It _did_ occur to me," confessed King Sidney, "but the Court +Chamberlain says they're only silver gilt, and that's no good _here_, +you know." + +"Well," said Clarence, "it's pretty clear that we shall all be in the +cart if we can't find some way to raise the wind." + +A day or two later he burst into the Royal Parlour where his father was +sitting disconsolately alone. "I've found it, Guv'nor," he announced +triumphantly. + +"Eh, my boy, found, what?" + +"The way to raise the wind. I've been in to see little Pop-Eye--_you_ +know, the Astrologer Royal." + +"Xuriel? I haven't seen him since that--er--match I played with the +Marshal." + +"I daresay not. The _Marshal_ saw him, though--and he hasn't been fit to +be seen in public since. Well, it seems he's been pottering away at +Magic all this time on the quiet--and quite lately he's come upon an old +spell-book of his father's and tried some of the formulas in it. And +he's turned out one little thing that's simply _it_. I bought it of him +on the spot. I'll have it brought in here for you to see." + +When it was brought it was not much to look at, being just an ordinary +round table of the plainest design. + +"Ah, but you wait," said Clarence. "Just say to it 'Little table, be +laid.'" + +"Really, my boy," protested his father, who had evidently forgotten his +Grimm's Fairy Tales, "I can't bring myself to----" + +"Try it, Guv'nor--and see what happens." + +"Oh well, it's all nonsense--all nonsense--but--er--'Little table be +laid.'" + +Instantly the table was covered with a snowy linen cloth and laid with a +daintily prepared meal for one person, including a small flagon of wine +and a knife and even a two-pronged fork. + +"Neat, isn't it?" remarked Clarence. "The little joker wouldn't part +with it at first--afraid of getting into more hot water about it." + +"I don't suppose for a moment the food's genuine," said the King. +"Well," he pronounced, after trying it, "I'm bound to say it's quite +tasty--really very tasty indeed. I think I'll have a little more--ate so +little at lunch. The wine isn't at all bad either--sort of Moselle +flavour. It would be awkward if your mother were to come in just now, +eh?" + +"If you've done," said Clarence, "all you've got to say is: 'Little +table, be cleared.'" + +The King repeated the words, and the table became bare as before. + +"Highly ingenious," he said; "but all the same, my boy, considering the +_cuisine_ we have in the Palace already, it seems a waste of money to +buy it." + +"But there's money in it, Guv'nor--money enough to make us all +millionaires if we go the right way to work it! Listen to me. Xuriel +says he could easily make any quantity of these tables--produce 'em in +all styles and sizes, to dine any number, if you and the Mater will only +give him a free hand." + +"I think you're forgetting, my boy," said King Sidney with dignity, +"that there is a law--a law which your mother and I think a very wise +and salutary one--against the practice of anything in the nature +of--ah--Magic in our dominions." + +"Oh, I know _that_," said Clarence. "But you can alter it easily enough, +can't you?" + +"No doubt we could. But why _should_ we?" + +"Do you mean to say you don't see why? And you've been a business man +all your life! Of course, we shouldn't give Xuriel such a concession as +this except on our own terms. He's willing to let us take two-thirds of +the selling price of every table he sells. And they'll sell like hot +cakes! Why, there won't be a family in all Märchenland that can afford +to be without one. They'll pay any price we like to put on such an +article as this. Just _think_ of it, Dad! No expenses--no risk--and a +bigger income than we could ever hope for from any bally mine. You +_can't_ let a chance like that slip through your fingers!" + +"I quite see the possibilities, my boy!" said the King; "and in +fact--but I can't decide one way or the other till I know what your +Mother thinks of it." + +Queen Selina took an unexpectedly broad-minded view of the scheme as +soon as she fully understood its advantages. + +"Of course," she said, "nothing would induce me to encourage any +enterprise that was based on Sorcery. But the Astrologer Royal is far +too respectable a little man to have anything to do with _that_. And +these tables would be such a boon to so many hundreds! We cannot leave +that out of consideration. The dear people will be so grateful to us for +allowing them to be placed within the reach of the humblest. I daresay +Mr. Xuriel would supply them on the hire system. And as for there being +any Magic about the process--if there _is_, it's quite harmless, and +it's much more probable that it can be accounted for by purely natural +causes which unscientific persons like ourselves can't be expected to +understand. After all, who really _knows_?" + +"And who really _cares_?" added Clarence, "so long as the tables sell. +It's lucky the Guv'nor and I have had a business training. We shall be +able to check Master Xuriel's accounts--he'll do us in the eye if he +can, I'll bet. We'd better start it as a private company. The Patent +Self-supplying Tables Co., Limited. Under Royal Patronage, what?" + +"I cannot have any in the Palace," objected the Queen. "The _chefs_ +would make such a fuss if I did. And another thing, Clarence--it mustn't +on any account be known that _we_ take a share of the profits. A Royal +Family has to be so very careful that its actions are not +misinterpreted." + +"We'll be sleeping partners, Mater," said the Crown Prince, "and I don't +fancy Master Xuriel will be such a fool as to give us away. So far as +the Public'll know, we're interested in the venture on strictly +philanthropic principles." + +"And that will be quite true," added Queen Selina, "for I can +conscientiously say that I wouldn't be connected with it if I didn't +feel it was for the general advantage." + +Thus was the "Patent Self-supplying Tables Co., Ltd.," founded. A large +disused granary in the City was adapted as an Emporium, and the +Astrologer Royal, after working day and night for a week, filled it with +an extensive stock of dining-tables which were graduated to suit the +needs of every class of purchaser. + +As Clarence had predicted, they met with a ready sale, for, although +Märchenlanders had a tradition of the existence of such tables, they had +never expected to be able to procure one for themselves by cash payment. + +It was obvious to all that an article which simplified housekeeping by +rendering both cook and kitchen fire superfluous was cheap at almost any +price, and the demand was so great that Xuriel had to work harder than +ever to keep pace with it. + +And everybody expressed the greatest satisfaction with the tables when +delivered--except, indeed, those citizens who earned their livelihood as +provision-dealers. They protested that they were being ruined by what +they chose to call unfair competition, and even sent a deputation to the +Palace to represent their grievances. + +"Show them into the Hall of Audience," said King Sidney, when he was +told of their arrival, "and tell them I will be with them presently and +hear anything they may have to say." + +After he had done so he addressed them in a paternal manner, but with +sound common-sense. It was very unfortunate, he admitted, but it was one +of these cases where a small minority had to suffer for the benefit of +the community at large. As a constitutional and democratic Monarch, he +could not interfere to restrict the production of articles that +increased the comfort and well-being of the vast majority of his beloved +subjects. The deputation had his sincere sympathy, but he could do no +more than offer them his advice, which was to escape the starvation they +seemed--a little unnecessarily, if he might say so--to apprehend by +immediately investing their savings in these self-supplying tables. He +added that, from all he could hear, he thought it very probable that the +prices would go up very shortly. + +The deputation then thanked him and withdrew. Such dealers as could +afford the outlay followed his advice, and very soon the sacks in the +Sovereign's Counting-house were fuller than ever, and all danger of a +Royal bankruptcy was happily at an end, while the Family had the +additional pleasure of finding themselves popular once more. + +Strictly speaking, the Astrologer Royal had not been authorised to +employ his occult skill in producing any objects but the self-supplying +dinner-tables, though it was rumoured that his industry was not entirely +confined to these. He certainly sold the Crown Prince a sword with which +he could face undismayed the fiercest of bears and boars, while the old +Court Chamberlain bought a silk skull-cap that he found most useful on +occasions when he did not desire to attract attention. But, perhaps from +unwillingness to get Xuriel into trouble, neither of them made any +mention of these purchases. + +Clarence should have been satisfied, for his feats in the saddle and his +daring in the forest, where he slew every wild beast he encountered, had +rendered him a hero in the eyes of the populace, and even of the Court. +And yet he was very far from being satisfied--for what was the good of +his glory if it brought him no nearer Daphne? He hoped it was making an +impression, but he could not be certain, because he never succeeded in +getting a moment alone with her. When she was not in attendance on his +Mother she was either with Ruby or the ladies-in-waiting, or, worse +still, surrounded by courtiers who had not the tact to withdraw on his +appearance. And although she did not seem to show a preference for any +one in particular, that did not prevent him from being furiously jealous +of them all. + +One afternoon Daphne received a message by one of the pages that she was +wanted at once in the Hall of Audience by Princess Edna. But when she +obeyed the summons the only person she found in the hall was the Crown +Prince in hunting costume, with high boots and a plumed hat. + +"It's all right," he called out as she hesitated, "Edna will be here +directly.... You look as if you didn't believe me." + +"I'm afraid I don't, your Royal Highness," said Daphne. + +"Don't you? Well, you're right. It was not Edna that sent for you. It +was me." + +"You might have sent for me in your own name, Prince Clarence." + +"I daresay! And then you'd have got out of coming! I've something I +particularly want to say to you. And I say--_do_ sit down. It's like +this," he proceeded, after Daphne had sat down on one of the benches, "I +never seem to see anything of you now--what with all those Courtier +chaps always hanging about you. I wonder you let 'em. You wouldn't if +you knew as much about 'em as _I_ do. Why, that fellow Hansmeinigel's +ancestor was half a hedgehog--a beastly common ordinary hedgehog, by +Gad!--and as for young Bohnenranken----" + +"Your Royal Highness may spare yourself the trouble of going on," said +Daphne. "I know all about their descent already--from themselves. +They're not in the least ashamed of their ancestors--indeed they're very +proud of them." + +"More than I should be if they were mine. Anyhow, there isn't one of 'em +that's fit for you to make a pal of." + +"You would have more right to say that, Prince Clarence, if I had ever +shown the slightest inclination to treat them as 'pals.'" + +"You can look higher than bounders like them. And I must say I feel a +bit hurt, that you haven't taken more notice of all I've been doing to +please you. I mean, learning to ride as I've done, and leading an active +life, and all that." + +"I really thought your Royal Highness was doing it for your own +pleasure. But of course I've noticed the change, and if I've had any +share in bringing it about, I'm very glad." + +"And is that all I'm to get by it? I want a lot more than that. I want +_you_!" + +"Don't be absurd, Prince Clarence," said Daphne. "You know very well you +would never be allowed to marry _me_, even if _I_----" + +"Oh, of course, I know that. But--but, you see, I--er--well, I wasn't +thinking of _marriage_ exactly." + +"Then," said Daphne, with ominous quietness, "would your Royal Highness +be good enough to explain what you _were_ thinking of exactly?" + +"Well," he said, "_my_ idea was something more in the nature of a--what +do you call it?--a morganatic alliance. Of course even that would have +to be kept dark because of the Mater, but----" + +Daphne rose. "Prince Clarence," she said, "is it because I have been +your sister's Governess that you think you have the right to insult me +like this?" + +"It isn't an insult," he protested; "you don't understand. I assure you +it's quite the usual thing in cases like ours. You'd be none the less +thought of--rather the other way about. So why take this narrow-minded, +prudish view of it? I didn't expect it--from _you_, you know!" + +"Probably," said Daphne, "you don't expect to get your ears boxed--but +you will, if you dare to say any more." + +"Oh, do you think you'd better?" he asked. "I mean--smacking a Crown +Prince's head--well, it's a jolly serious offence, you know--what?" + +"I suppose," she said scornfully, "you think I should deserve to be +_executed_ for it." + +"It would make a good 'par' in the papers," he replied, "if we had any +papers here. Something of this sort: 'The execution of Lady Daphne took +place yesterday in the Market Square. There was no hitch, everything, +including Lady Daphne's head, going off with the greatest _éclat_. The +Crown Prince was expected to be present, but was unavoidably detained +out hunting.'... Ah, you're laughing! You're not so very angry with me +after all!" + +"I was," said Daphne; "but, after all, you don't know any better, and it +really isn't worth while. Still, as it seems I can't expect any +consideration from your Royal Highness, it will be impossible for me to +remain in her Majesty's service." + +He began to realise at last how deeply he had offended her, and to +desire a reconciliation on almost any terms. + +"No, I say," he pleaded, "don't take it like that. I--I made a mistake. +I'll never do it again. I swear I won't! _Now_ won't you stay?" + +Daphne looked at him for a moment before she replied. "I wouldn't stay, +Prince Clarence," she said, "if I didn't believe you really are a little +sorry and ashamed of yourself. And I will only stay now on condition +that you never try to speak to me again except in public." + +He had a sudden sense of what this would be to him--he might almost as +well lose her altogether. There was only one way of obtaining her full +forgiveness and the privilege of being alone with her as often as he +wished. Of course he would have to pay pretty dearly for it--but, hang +it, she was worth making some sacrifice for! He might be able to get +round his people after all.... Yes, he'd take the plunge, whatever it +cost him. + +"But--but look here," he began desperately, "suppose--suppose I ask +you"--he was on the point of adding, "to be my wife," when the words +died on his lips as he saw that his mother had just entered the Audience +Chamber. "Not now," he broke off heartily, "some other time." + +Queen Selina regarded Daphne with cold displeasure for a moment or two +before speaking. "I was not aware, Miss Heritage," she said, "that your +duties required you to be in this part of the Palace at _any_ time." + +"I had a summons, your Majesty," explained Daphne, "which I understood +was from the Princess Royal, to come to her in the Hall of Audience, or +I should not be here." + +"If her Royal Highness had required you at all, Miss Heritage, I think +it more likely, on the whole, that she would have sent for you to my +Bower, where she has been sitting with me all the afternoon. But I will +find out if the message came from her." + +Daphne bit her lip. + +"It did not, your Majesty," she said; "I know now that it was given to +me--by mistake." + +"A mistake, Miss Heritage, which I trust will not happen again. And, as +it is the hour when you should be in attendance on Princess Ruby, I will +ask you to go to her at once." + +"_She_ wasn't to blame, Mater," said Clarence, after Daphne had left the +Hall. "It was all my fault. _I_ sent her that message." + +"It's very chivalrous of you, Clarence, to take the blame on yourself," +replied his Mother; "but don't imagine you can deceive _me_. I know very +well you are much too clever and wideawake to do anything so +compromising. That girl is doing her best to entrap you into some rash +promise. I've suspected it for some time." + +"No, I don't think so, really, Mater. Just before you came in she was +asking me to promise not to speak to her again, except in public." + +"And didn't you see that was just her artful way of leading you on? But +of course you did! As if you could fail to see through such an obvious +trick as that." + +Now Clarence came to think of it, it _was_ pretty obvious. He shuddered +to remember how very nearly he had been taken in by it. But the +shrewdest man is liable to lose his head for the moment. Fortunately he +had recovered his in time. + +"Well, Mater," he said, "I wasn't born yesterday, you know. I flatter +myself I'm up to most moves on the board. And you may depend upon it if +she's had any designs on me--mind you, I don't say she _has_--but _if_ +she has, she sees now that they'll never come to anything. She's given +me up as a hopeless proposition." + +This statement was inspired less by any personal conviction than by the +dread that without such reassurance his anxious Mother might dismiss +Daphne on the spot. + +Queen Selina did not dismiss Daphne, whose powers of keeping Ruby amused +and the ladies-in-waiting in good humour were too valuable to be +dispensed with unless it was absolutely necessary. But she was allowed +to see in many ways that she had fallen from favour. One of these was +she was no longer invited to take part in the daily drives, a +deprivation which would alone have consoled her for much worse +penalties. + +And she was freed from any further importunities from the Crown Prince, +who kept his side of the compact by maintaining a cold and lofty +dignity. Clarence intended this to convey that his eyes were at last +open to her designs, and that it would be useless for her to seek to +beguile him any longer. But as Daphne was quite guiltless of any designs +at all, she was merely grateful to him for leaving her in peace. + +Queen Selina generally left it to the Marshal to direct her excursions, +and he always rode beside the Royal coach. One afternoon he had +conducted her and her eldest daughter by a road across a fertile plain +dotted with pleasant villages and isolated farmhouses, towards the +outlying spurs of a range of mountains. + +On one of these spurs the Queen happened to notice a large castle, whose +grim-looking keep and towers were surrounded by a high and far-extending +wall, while at its rear rose a frowning black crag. + +"Tell me, Marshal," she said, "whose place is that, and who lives +there?" + +"That is Castle Drachenstolz, your Majesty," he said. "It has belonged +for many centuries to a Count who chose, at some time during the +previous reign, to change the original family name to that of von +Rubenfresser. It's present occupant is the last of the race, the young +Count Ruprecht." + +"Really!" said the Queen, "considering the Count is so near a neighbour +of ours, he _might_ have had the civility to call, or at least leave +cards, on us before now!" + +"He would no doubt be happy to present himself at Court, Madam, if he +were not under strict orders never to go outside his Castle walls." + +"But why not?" + +"His parents were accused, whether justly or not I cannot say, of +certain malpractices, and the late King, your Majesty's gracious +grandfather, ordered them both to be put to death. Burnt alive, if I +remember rightly. This youth, being a mere infant at that period, was +allowed to live, but in semi-confinement within his ancestral walls, +with a custodian (who is now removed), and a few old family retainers, +who are the only persons he has ever been permitted to see." + +"And is there anything against the young Count himself?" + +"Nothing whatever," replied the Marshal. "He has been brought up in the +simplest manner and on the strictest principles, and by all accounts, is +a most amiable and excellent young man." + +"It seems rather hard that he should have been a prisoner all these +years," said Princess Edna, "for no fault of his own." + +"It does seem hard, your Royal Highness, and, in fact, while I was +Regent I was on the point of ordering him to be allowed at large, +when--when I was relieved of all responsibility. However, his lot is not +a very severe one. The estate is large, and he can drive or walk +anywhere within its boundaries. I understand that he spends much of his +time in his kitchen garden, where he has brought the art of forcing +certain vegetables to truly wonderful perfection." + +The young Count did not sound from this description particularly +exciting, even to Edna, but still she could not get him and his +undeserved captivity out of her thoughts, and, as soon as she got back +to the Palace, she attacked the King on the subject. + +"It's all very well, father," she concluded indignantly, "but in these +days you simply _can't_ keep that young man shut up for life just +because my great-grandfather chose to have his parents burnt alive--most +likely for no reason at all." + +"_I_ don't want to keep him shut up, my dear. Never heard of him before. +I am quite willing to set him free if I am satisfied that it's the right +thing to do." + +"Of course it's the right thing to do, Sidney," said his wife; "and, +what's more, it will be very popular. Just one of these gracious little +acts of clemency that go home to people's hearts. The Marshal quite +agreed with me about that." + +"Oh, very well," said the King, "I'll send a herald over to tell him he +needn't consider himself a prisoner for the future." + +"We owe him more than that, Sidney," said the Queen; "we ought at +_least_ to ask him over to lunch." + +"Yes, we might do that," agreed Edna; "not that he's likely to accept." + +"He cannot refuse a Royal command, my love," said her mother. + +The Count did not refuse. On the appointed day Clarence and his sisters +saw from one of the windows a dilapidated sable coach drawn by eight +very ancient coal-black horses turn into the Courtyard. + +"Only wants a few undertaker's men in weepers to be a really classy +funeral!" was the Crown Prince's tribute to this equipage. "'Come to +bury Cæsar, not to praise him,' as Hamlet or some other Shakespearian +Johnny says, what?" + +When the young Count von Rubenfresser was ushered into the Royal +presence his entrance made a slight sensation. Nobody had been prepared +for the fact that he was much nearer seven than six feet in height. +Otherwise there was nothing alarming about him; he wore his flaxen hair +rather long and arranged over the centre of his head in a sort of roll; +his china-blue eyes (which Ruby said afterwards was "plain all round, +like a fish's eyes") were singularly candid; he had a clear, fresh +complexion, full red lips, and magnificent teeth. He wore a rich suit of +sable as deep as his coach. "Magog in mourning," Clarence christened him +in an undertone. + +It was curious that he should have inspired Daphne at first sight with a +vague repulsion, and that Ruby should have felt a similar antipathy, +though, with her, it took the form of a violent fit of the giggles--but +so it was. Daphne was thankful that she was able to remain at a distance +from him, as she was not lunching at the Royal Table. + +He was shy at first, as most persons would be if the first meal they had +ever eaten away from their own home had to be consumed in the presence +of Royalty, but he had been evidently trained to observe the ordinary +table etiquette, and as he became more at ease he talked fluently +enough, though at times with a _naïveté_ that was almost childlike, and +increased Clarence's resolve to pull his leg whenever he saw an +opportunity. + +"Your Majesties must pardon my asking the question," he said, in his +thin, piping voice, as he helped himself to a cutlet, "but is this what +is called _meat_?" + +"So we're given to understand by the butcher, Count," replied Clarence. +"Why do you want to know?" + +"Because," he replied, "I've often _heard_ of meat, but this is the +first time I've ever _seen_ it. Do you know," he went on presently, "I +_like_ meat. I shall have some more." + +"I should, if I were you," advised Clarence; "it may make you grow!" +which reduced Ruby to silent convulsions. + +"Do you really think it _will_?" inquired the Count, either not +noticing, or tactfully disregarding, Princess Ruby's lapse from good +manners. "It might. My poor dear Father and Mother were both great +meat-eaters, I believe, before they took to vegetarianism, which was +quite late in life. I cannot remember seeing them, but I've always +understood that they were much taller than I am." + +"You don't say so," returned Clarence. "Must have been most interesting +people to meet." + +"They were, your Royal Highness. Though, unfortunately, I cannot speak +of my own knowledge. As your Majesties may be aware, during the short +time they were spared to me I was too young to appreciate their +society." + +"Well, well, Count," said Queen Selina, perceiving that this was +delicate ground, "it's all very sad, but you must try not to think about +it now. The Marshal tells me you give a great deal of your time to +growing vegetables. How do tomatoes do with you?" + +"I don't pay any attention to tomatoes, your Majesty," he replied, with +a blush that few tomatoes could have outdone. "My efforts have been +chiefly directed to pumpkins. I have reared some particularly fine ones. +I am very fond of pumpkins." + +"Jolly little things, ain't they?" put in Clarence. "So playful!" + +"_Are_ they?" said the Count with perfect simplicity. "I did not know +that. But then I have never attempted to play with _my_ pumpkins." + +"Haven't you?" said Clarence. "Well, you get 'em to play +kiss-in-the-ring with you, and you'll find out how frisky they can be!" + +"I do not know anything about kissing," he confessed, "except that it is +very wrong." + +"Not _pumpkins_," said the Crown Prince. "There's no harm in that! Ask +the bishop!" + +"I say, old girl," he remarked to Princess Edna, after their visitor had +taken his departure, "what on earth induced the Mater to tell that lanky +overgrown lout we should be pleased to see him any time he cared to drop +in? We shall have the beggar running in and out here like a bally +rabbit, you see if we don't!" + +"Not if you intend to go on insulting him, Clarence, as you did to-day +at lunch," replied Edna coldly. + +"Why, I was only ragging him. Who could help ragging such a champion mug +as that?" + +"There is more--far more--in him than you are capable of seeing, +Clarence. And, even from a physical point of view, he is immeasurably +your superior." + +"I admit I shouldn't have a look in with him if we were both candidates +for a Freak Show," he conceded. "On the other hand, no one can say I'm +gone at the knees." + +"It's a pity, Clarence, that you're so narrow as you are!" she said. + +"D'you mean round the chest or calves?" he asked. "Because I'm quite up +to the average measurements." + +"I meant, so insular in your prejudices. You were almost _rude_ to the +poor Count. When he was our guest, too!" + +"I expect," he said, "that if he's ever our guest again, I shall be a +bit _more_ insular. I can't stick the beggar, somehow!" + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE BLONDE BEAST + + +The Count was not slow to take advantage of his _permis de circuler_; +his coal-black horses and coach were soon a familiar spectacle in the +streets of Eswareinmal, where he had discovered the delights of +promiscuous shopping. He ordered a self-supplying dinner-table of the +best quality--to be paid for by monthly instalments--from the Astrologer +Royal, with whom he struck up a sort of friendship. Nor did he neglect +to avail himself of his general invitation to the Palace, where he +dropped in so frequently as almost to justify Clarence's prediction. +Queen Selina gave him occasional hints that she had not expected him +quite so often, but hints were thrown away on the Count's ingenuous +nature--he seemed to take it for granted that he was always welcome. + +Princess Edna certainly never discouraged his visits. She had been +struck from the first by his great stature and powerful physique, which +were just what she imagined that Nietzsche's ideal Superman would +possess. It has already been mentioned that she had been attending +lectures on the Nietzschean philosophy. + +Those were the days--not so very long ago, though they seem remote +enough now--when a certain class of high-browed and serious persons +accepted works of modern German philosophers as containing a new gospel +which none who desired intellectual freedom, enlightenment, and +efficiency could afford to neglect. The theories of "the Will to Power" +and of Might being equivalent to Right are already hopelessly +discredited in this country by recent exhibitions of the way in which +they work out in practice. But it was not so then, and Edna, who liked +to feel that she was one of the elect and in the advance guard of +Culture, readily imbibed as much of the Nietzschean doctrine as could be +boiled down for her in a single lecture. She would not, of course, have +thought of regulating her own actions on such principles, any more than, +in all probability, did their author himself. But she was very anxious +to see some one else do so, and the young Count seemed to have been +formed by Nature for Nietzsche's typical "Blond Beast," if he only chose +to divulge his possibilities. Unfortunately, he did not seem even to +suspect them; he remained quite oppressively mild and amiable. She very +nearly gave him up in despair once when he timidly presented her with a +pair of mittens which he had knitted for her himself. However, a day +came when she saw him under a less discouraging aspect. + +They were at lunch, to which he had invited himself as usual, and Ruby +had asked her brother how it was that in all his hunting expeditions he +had never managed to slay a dragon. + +"Never saw one to slay, Kiddie," he replied. "They seem scarce about +here." + +The Court Chamberlain, from behind the King's chair, took it upon +himself to explain that there were no longer any dragons in existence, +the few that remained having been exterminated by the late King's +orders. + +"Oh!" exclaimed Ruby, "I _did_ so want to see a dragon! And now I never +shall!" + +"If you wish it, little Princess," said Count von Rubenfresser kindly, +"you shall see mine." + +"_Yours!_" cried Ruby, quite forgetting her dislike for him in her +excitement. "Have you _really_ got a dragon--a real _live_ one?" + +"A real live one--and almost full-grown," he replied. "My poor dear +Father had a pair, but they were killed. Mine is the last of the breed. +I discovered it myself when I was a child in a cave close to the castle. +At that time it was only an egg." + +"Hatch it yourself?" inquired Clarence. + +"Only partially," said the young Count; "the sun did the rest." (It was +perhaps as well for Daphne that she was not at the table just then.) "I +begged that its life might be spared, and it was. So Tützi and I have +grown up together." + +"Tootsie!" remarked Clarence _sotto voce_, "what a dashed silly-ass name +for a dragon!" + +"And will you show us him?" asked Ruby eagerly. "Mummy, couldn't we go +to the Count's castle and see his dragon? This afternoon?" + +"I should rather like to see it myself," said her Father. "No idea there +_were_ such things. What do you say to our driving back with the Count +and having a look at it, eh, my love?" + +"I think, Sidney," replied the Queen, "we certainly ought to do so." + +So, to Ruby's delight, the State coach was ordered to take the Royal +Family to Drachenstolz, and the party set out shortly after lunch. +Clarence accompanied them on horseback, while the Count followed in his +sombre vehicle. Daphne was left behind, and the Court, although invited +to join the party, begged with singular unanimity that they might be +excused. + +On arriving at the Castle the visitors were first taken over the +interior, which was ill-lighted and rather depressing, after which the +Count led them through a spacious courtyard to the kitchen-garden, where +the Queen deigned to compliment him on the huge size of the vegetable +marrows and pumpkins that were ripening in the sun. + +"If there _should_ be a Harvest Festival at the Church, Count," she said +graciously, "I'm sure some of those would come in very nicely for it!" + +They then passed over a rough tract of ground towards a rocky cliff that +formed part of the Castle boundary. In this cliff was a deep cavern, on +one side of which was a stout staple with a chain attached, only a +portion of which was visible. Here their young host stopped and gave a +low whistle. Instantly there was a rattle of the chain, and the next +moment all but the Count and Ruby hastily retreated as a great horny +head with distended nostrils and lidless eyes was protruded from the +opening. + +"Don't be alarmed!" said the Count, calmly unfastening the chain and +leading the creature out into the open. "Tützi is perfectly tame, as you +can see." + +It may or may not have been full-grown, but it was large enough at all +events to be a fairly fearful wildfowl, with its huge leathery wings, +crested spine, formidable talons, and restless tail. The colour of its +scales was extraordinarily rich, ranging from deepest purple and azure +through vivid green to orange and pale yellow, and fully justified King +Sidney in remarking--from a safe distance--that "it appeared to be in +very good condition." + +But there was no doubt about its tameness. It suffered Ruby, who showed +no fear of it whatever, to stroke it on its plated beak, and even to +scratch it behind its bristly ears, with every sign of satisfaction. + +"Ruby!" shrieked the horrified Queen, "come away at _once_! I'm sure it +isn't safe to tease that dreadful thing!" + +"I'm _not_ teasing him, Mummy," replied Ruby, whose eccentric _penchant_ +for reptiles was now being gratified beyond her wildest dreams. "He +_loves_ being tickled. Can't you hear him purring?" + +As the noise the brute was making would have drowned that of the most +powerful dynamo, the question was almost unnecessary. Count Ruprecht +next made his dragon exhibit the few accomplishments it had learnt, +which were of the simplest, consisting in sitting up, rolling over and +shamming death, and reviving to utter three terrific snorts, supposed to +be loyal cheers, all at the proper word of command. He concluded by +mounting its back and riding it several times round the enclosure, after +which he lay between its forepaws, while it licked his face with its +huge flickering forked tongue. + +"Capital!" cried Clarence, apparently unimpressed, though he did not +venture very near the beast. "You've only to teach it to jump through a +hoop, and you'd make quite a decent Music-hall 'turn' together. What do +you feed it on, eh? Sop--or canary-seed?" + +To which the Count did not vouchsafe any reply. + +"I've been most interested, I'm sure, my dear Count," said the Queen, +after he had chained it up again. "And it's quite a thing to have +seen--once. But we really can't allow you to go on keeping such a +creature as that--_can_ we, Sidney?" + +"Certainly not, my love," said the King. "It's against the law, you +know, Count, against the law." + +"Is it, your Majesty?" said the Count. "I--I had no idea of that--no one +ever told me so!" + +"Well, it _is_, you know. You must put an end to it--have it destroyed. +Painlessly, if you like, but--well, you've got to get rid of it +somehow." + +"In your own interest, Count," urged the Queen. "Just think how +unpopular you would be with your neighbours if it broke loose!" + +"I should not like to be unpopular," he said. "And if your Majesties +insist on slaying the only living creature that loves me----!" + +"What?" put in Clarence unfeelingly, "don't the hearse--I mean the +carriage-horses love you?" + +But again the Count took no notice of the question. + +"It's too bad of you, Father!" cried Edna indignantly; "yes, and you +too, Mother! To come here at Count Ruprecht's invitation, to see his +dragon and then tell him to destroy it! I think it perfectly disgraceful +of you, and you will get a very bad name in the country when people hear +of it. When you happen to be Sovereigns you might at least _behave_ as +such!" + +"Well, well, my dear," said her Mother, who had not considered the +question from this side before, "we merely threw it out as a +suggestion--nothing more. And if the Count will undertake to keep his +dragon under proper control, that is all we shall require of him." + +The Count willingly gave this undertaking, and the visit ended without +any loss of cordiality on either side. + +"We've seen the dragon, Miss Heritage!" Ruby announced with sparkling +eyes on her return. "And he is such a darling! Do you know, I don't +think the Count can be quite so horrid after all, or Tützi wouldn't be +fond of him. Only fancy, Mums and Daddy wanted the Count to have him +killed! But Edna made them say he needn't. _Aren't_ you glad?... Oh, I +forgot--you never really loved my newts. But you _would_ Tützi--he's +quite _dry_, you know--not the least bit clammy.... Do you think there's +time before dinner for me to run down and play with the Gnomes?" + +"My dearest!" cried Daphne, "surely your Mother doesn't approve of your +doing that?" + +"She wouldn't mind if she knew. They're yellow--but quite nice. Much +better fun than those fat little muffs of pages, who are too afraid of +spoiling their clothes to play at anything rough. You don't mind my +having a game of 'I spy' with the Gnomes--just till it's time to dress +for dinner--do you, Miss Heritage?" + +"Well, darling," said Daphne, "I'm not allowed any authority over you +now, you know. But I'm quite sure that if her Majesty ever hears of your +running about with Yellow Gnomes, she will blame me for it, and probably +send me away." + +"Oh, then I won't any more. Only it will be rather dull without them. I +almost wish sometimes I had lessons to do. But there's nothing for me to +learn. I can understand everything everybody says, and they understand +me. And there aren't any pianos, and History and Geography are no +earthly good here, and I know more Arithmetic as it is than I shall ever +want now I'm a Princess. Princess Flachspinnenlos promised to show me +how to work a spinning-wheel some day, but she's not very good at it +herself, and anyhow, I'm sure it will be frightfully boring. Still, I'd +rather give up the Gnomes than lose _you_, Miss Heritage, dearest!" + +She spoke with feeling, for it meant abandoning a cherished scheme of +hers for inciting them to steal up during dinner and pinch the pages' +legs. + +Daphne was sorry for the poor little tomboy Princess, of whom she had +grown to be really fond. There was little she could do for her, however, +beyond being with her as often as she could; and the Queen had shown a +tendency of late to discourage even this. + +Edna looked forward with interest to the Count's next visit; his +performances with the dragon had impressed her greatly in his favour, +and she had begun to think that he might have the makings of a Superman +in him after all. It might be time to begin his education, and she +prepared herself for the task by running through her lecture notes on +Nietzsche once more. + +When he called he was shown by her command to the chamber which served +as her boudoir, where, rather to the scandal of some of the Court +ladies, she received him in private. + +He looked taller than ever as he sat doubled up on a low seat. "I came +to thank you, Princess," he began, "for persuading your exalted parents +to spare my poor dear Tützi. Of course I don't want to break the law, +but he is chained up, and besides, he is such a good dragon that I'm +sure nobody _could_ object to my keeping him." + +"Why are you so anxious not to break the law?" + +"Because it's wrong to break laws." + +"And do you never do anything wrong?" + +"Never. My tutors taught me that people who do wrong are always punished +for it. I shouldn't like to be punished at all." + +"Still, you must have _wanted_ to do bad things now and then." + +"Now and then I have," he confessed. "Especially lately. But I never +_do_ them. You see, bad people are never really liked." + +"Do you know, Count, what the great German philosopher Nietzsche would +call such goodness as yours? He would say it was 'slave-morality.' You +only do what other people tell you is right because you're afraid of +what they would think of you if you didn't. You have courage enough to +master Tützi, but you daren't defy what Nietzsche so finely terms 'the +Great Dragon of the Law,' which says: 'Thou shalt'--'Thou shalt not.'" + +"What?" he said in surprise. "Is there another dragon besides Tützi? And +one that can talk, too! I never heard of _him_!" + +"Nietzsche was speaking metaphorically, of course," said Edna +impatiently. "He meant the human laws and customs and prejudices which a +true Superman should soar above. I think you ought to be more of a +Superman." + +"Ought I?" he said, open-mouthed. "What sort of things does a--one of +those gentlemen--do?" + +"Well," said Edna, after refreshing her memory by her notes, "you should +begin by 'hating and despising the ideals of the average man'! You +should create your own Truth--your own Morality. Obey only your +primordial instincts--the Will to Power." + +"I wonder if I could do all that." + +"Of course you can, if you are strong enough--and I believe you are." + +"And what _else_ ought I to do, Princess?" + +"Well, let me see--oh, yes, you should 'act towards slave or stranger +exactly as you think fit.' You should be 'an intrepid experimentalist, +ceaselessly looking for new forms of existence.' You must 'be able to +bear the sight of others' pain, remembering that you cannot attain the +height of greatness----'" + +"I've grown taller lately," he interjected, "a great deal taller; +haven't you noticed it?" + +"'Attain the height of greatness,'" resumed Edna severely, "if you do +not feel within yourself both the will and the power to inflict great +suffering! And 'through it all you must exhibit the joyous innocence of +a child that is amusing itself.' Do you understand?" + +"I think I do. It means I must do whatever I feel inclined, without +minding what people say. Shall you be pleased with me, Princess, if I do +that?" + +"I shall at least respect you more than I can do while you form your +conduct entirely on Sunday School standards." + +"Then I'll try," he said. "Yes, I will certainly try. Do you know, I +think I shall rather like being what your great teacher with a name like +a sneeze calls a Superman." + +"Then make yourself one," she said, "for I am quite sure that you have +the power." + +Probably she did not know herself exactly what she wanted him to be; it +did not mean much more than the admiration for the prehistoric male +brute to which the more advanced type of young woman seems peculiarly +prone. But when he left she felt that she had made a most promising +convert, and had every reason to be satisfied with the success of her +afternoon. + +As much could not be said with regard to her Mother, who remonstrated +with her after the Count's departure as strongly as she dared. + +"I shouldn't see him alone like that, again, my love," she said +anxiously. "It might put ideas into people's heads. Indeed I'm not sure +that, as it is, some of the Court don't think there must be something +between you." + +"It's perfectly indifferent to me _what_ they think, Mother," was the +lofty reply. "As a matter of fact, there is nothing whatever between us. +I am merely doing what I can to make him a little more civilised." + +"There would be no objection to that, my dear. Only it _does_ look so +very like _encouraging_ him, you know. And it's so necessary to be +careful just now. I'm afraid the People think we are making far too much +of that young man. I noticed they looked very black that day we drove +over to Drachenstolz. I really think it would be better if the next time +he calls you would be 'not at home' to him." + +"My dear Mother," returned Edna, "I am old enough to have the right to +choose my own friends, and I shall certainly decline to drop them just +because the Court chooses to make my friendships a subject for foolish +gossip." + +Queen Selina did not venture to pursue the conversation any farther, but +she was more relieved than she would once have thought possible when she +heard that the Court Godmother had returned from Clairdelune. According +to strict etiquette, it was for the Fairy to attend her Mistress and +report herself, but the Queen waived all ceremony by paying the first +visit. She went at once, and unattended, to the apartments in one of the +towers that had been assigned to the Court Godmother, who, without +seeming at all overwhelmed by such condescension, received her with more +benignity than usual. "Thank you, my dear," she said, in answer to the +Queen's inquiries, "I am tolerably well, and feel no ill effects from my +journey. And I think," she added complacently, "you will agree that I +have spent my time at Clairdelune not altogether unprofitably. But you +shall hear all about it presently. Tell me how things have been going on +here while I have been away. As satisfactorily, I trust, as possible?" + +"Oh, quite--quite--that is, I've been just a little worried lately about +that young Count Rubenfresser. He has taken to coming here oftener than +I think quite desirable." + +"Coming here?" repeated the Fairy, with surprise. "Why, I thought he was +never allowed outside his Castle!" + +"Not till lately. My poor dear Grandfather seems to have been very +severe both on him and his parents. But the Marshal spoke so highly of +the poor young man, and recommended so strongly that he should be given +his freedom, that his Majesty and I decided to do it." + +"Oh," said the Fairy. "Well, of course, if the Marshal thinks it safe!" +She suspected the ex-Regent of cherishing some resentment against her +still for the part she had taken in bringing back the Sovereigns to +supersede him, and she had no wish to run counter to him again. So, +whatever she might think of the wisdom of his advice, she was far too +prudent an old person to express her doubts. "But I gather," she went +on, "that you don't approve of the young Count yourself, my dear?" + +"Oh, he seems gentlemanly enough--though rather taller than the average. +The only reason that I disapprove of him is that I'm afraid he comes +here so often on Edna's account." + +"You don't mean," said the Court Godmother, in some alarm, "that she +shows any----?" + +"Oh, _dear_ me, no! Not the slightest! She thinks he requires +civilising, and is trying to do it for him, that's all. But I can't get +her to see that the notice she takes of him is liable to be +misunderstood. Not only by him--but by everybody, you know." + +"Oh well, my dear, if it's no worse than that, you needn't trouble +yourself about it. And now for _my_ news. You've heard me speak of +Prince Mirliflor of Clairdelune, King Tournesol's only son?" + +Queen Selina had heard her speak of him so often that she instinctively +prepared herself for half an hour of _ennui_. + +"A charming young man. I don't say he hasn't his faults, but I shall +make it my business to cure him of them all in time. I was one of the +three Godmothers at his christening--the other two have gone years +ago--I forget what _their_ gifts were--Courage and Good-looks, I think. +_I_ gave him what I still consider a most useful present for any infant +prince--a complete set of the highest ideals." + +"How _nice_!" murmured Queen Selina absently, for her attention was +beginning to wander already. "Most neat and appropriate, I'm sure." + +"They _would_ have been," said the old Fairy, "if he'd made use of them +sensibly, as I intended. But that is just what he _hasn't_ done. For +instance, although he's been of an age to marry these three years, he's +refused to look at every eligible Princess that has been suggested to +him because, if you please, she doesn't happen to come up to his ideal +of beauty!" + +"Dear me," said the Queen, concealing a yawn, "you don't say so, Court +Godmother!" + +"My dear," said the Fairy irritably, "it's nonsense to tell me I don't +say what I've just said! And, as I was about to tell you, his conduct +caused the greatest disappointment and annoyance to his father, who is +naturally anxious that his line should not die out. So he begged me to +use _my_ influence. Well, I saw, of course, that the only way was to +appeal to _another_ of the ideals I had given him--his ideal of Duty. I +put it to him that he owed it not only to his father, but his country, +to choose a bride without any further shilly-shallying." + +"And what did he say?" asked the Queen, with more interest, as she had +begun to see what was coming. + +"Don't be in such a hurry," said the Fairy; "I haven't finished what _I_ +said yet. I told him that personal beauty was of very little consequence +in a bride, and that what he needed was a sensible girl who would be +clever enough to keep him from having too high an opinion of +himself--which, I may say, has always been one of his failings. I added +that your Edna was just the very person for him." + +"How kind of you to put in a word for her!" said Queen Selina. "And--was +it any _good_?" + +"So much so that, to his father's great joy, he recognised that it was +his imperative duty to seek the hand of such a paragon of wisdom and +learning. And I am empowered by him to prepare you for his arrival in +the course of a day or two, in the character of the Princess Royal's +suitor. So you see," she concluded, "I haven't been at Clairdelune all +this time for nothing." + +"Indeed you have not, dear Court Godmother; and I'm most grateful, I'm +sure, for all the trouble you must have taken. Fancy our Edna the Queen +of Clairdelune some day! Not that she isn't fitted for any position. How +pleased she will be when she hears of this, dear thing! So will his +Majesty--and Clarence too! He and dear Prince Mirliflor will be able to +go out hunting together. For--I forgot to tell you--since you have +deserted us, Clarence has learnt to ride most beautifully!" + +"Has he indeed?" said the Fairy. "Then I was right after all. I thought +it just possible that, if you could persuade him to wear that jewel----" + +"Do you mean that pendant of mine? He _does_ wear it, but that has +nothing whatever to do with his riding. He'd taught himself to ride long +before I gave it to him. He was only pretending he couldn't, as a joke." + +"He may say so, my dear--but, all the same, if it hadn't been for that +jewel----" + +"Really, Court Godmother," said Queen Selina, who naturally resented +anything that detracted from her son's credit, "it astonishes me to +find anyone so--so clear-headed as you are in most things still clinging +to these superstitious ideas. As if the mere fact of wearing a piece of +jewellery could suddenly make anyone into a good rider!" + +"It depends upon what the piece of jewellery is," said the Fairy. + +Queen Selina saw her way to an absolutely crushing rejoinder. "Well, +this particular piece of jewellery," she said, "happens to be a paltry +ornament which I bought from Miss Heritage before I ever heard of +Märchenland." + +Her shot had certainly told. "What?" faltered the Court Godmother, +obviously out of countenance. "Did I understand you to say you _bought_ +that jewel--and from the Lady Daphne?" + +"I prefer to call her Miss Heritage--the other is merely a courtesy +title. Yes, I did buy it from her. She was in difficulties at the time, +and I gave her thirty pounds for it, which was a good deal more than +anybody else would have done." + +"And--and--have you told this to any other person--the--the Marshal, for +instance?" + +"My dear Court Godmother, I am not in the habit of _proclaiming_ my acts +of charity--for it _was_ an act of charity!" + +"An act of charity," said the Fairy drily, "which I should strongly +advise you to keep to yourself." + +"I intend to," replied the Queen, as she rose with much dignity, though +her face was redder than usual. "I should never have mentioned it at +all, even to you, Court Godmother, if I hadn't felt it necessary. Of +course, in my present position, I should never _dream_ of buying +jewellery from one of my own ladies-in-waiting. But it was different +then. I hadn't come into my Kingdom, and Miss Heritage was only my +governess; and anyway, it was a perfectly fair bargain, so my conscience +is absolutely clear. Still," she added, turning on the threshold, +"perhaps you will admit _now_ that you were just a _little_ mistaken in +attaching any importance to wearing that pendant?" + +"Yes," said the Fairy, completely crestfallen and subdued, "I made a +mistake--a great mistake--I admit that." + +"I thought you would!" returned the Queen triumphantly. "And now I must +go to dear Edna and tell her the news about Prince Mirliflor." + +She had no suspicion of the state of mind in which, by her unconscious +revelation, she was leaving the unhappy Court Godmother, who was so +stunned that it was some time before she could think out the situation +at all clearly. + +The present Sovereigns of Märchenland, it seemed, were nothing but +impostors! Innocent impostors, no doubt--but that did not lessen her own +responsibility for helping to place them on the throne. If she made the +truth known, would the people--worse still, would the ex-Regent--believe +that she and the Baron and the Astrologer Royal had not been deceiving +them from the first? She recognised now that they had been too ready to +accept the wearer of Prince Chrysopras's jewelled badge as the +sought-for Queen without some further inquiry--and yet who in all +Märchenland would have dreamed of making any? How could anyone have +supposed that Queen Selina had merely become the possessor of the jewel +by purchasing it from that little Lady Daphne? It seemed to follow that +Lady Daphne must be the true Queen. The Fairy remembered now that she +had taken her to be so at their first meeting. If only she had thought +then of asking a question or two, the mistake might have been discovered +before matters had gone too far--but, in her unfortunate anxiety to see +a legitimate sovereign ruling Märchenland once more she had taken +everything for granted. How could she put it right now without appearing +either a traitress to the Kingdom, or at least a foolish old Fairy who +ought to have known her own business better? That was a bitter +reflection for an autocratic dame who had long been accustomed to +consider that age and experience had endowed her with a wisdom which was +absolutely infallible. + +There was just one faint hope to which she clung. She had been mistaken +once--why should she not be mistaken again? Lady Daphne might herself +have bought the pendant from some third person. In that case she would +have no better claim to the throne than Queen Selina, and matters could +be left as they were--which would relieve the Fairy of the unpleasant +necessity of having to admit that she was liable to error. + +She could not rest till she knew more, and so, as soon as she felt equal +to any action, she took her crutch-handled staff, hobbled down the +winding steps, and then up more stairs and along a succession of +corridors, until she reached the door of the chamber she had been told +was Daphne's. + +"I shall know very soon now!" she told herself. "And, after all, there's +nothing to be uneasy about. Whoever this girl may be, it's most unlikely +that she will turn out to be any relation of poor Chrysopras'." + +But, in spite of these reassurances, it was a very tremulous hand that +rapped at the door, and the Court Godmother's heart sank as she heard a +clear sweet voice inviting her to enter. + +It would have been such a relief, just then, to find that Daphne was not +in her room. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +A WAY OUT + + +Daphne was rather surprised to see the Court Godmother enter, for she +had not honoured her by any special notice since her first arrival. But +she was pleased, and touched as well, by a visit which she knew must +have cost the old Fairy considerable effort. + +"I thought I'd come up and see how you were getting on, my dear," began +the latter, after sinking into the chair Daphne had brought forward for +her, and recovering her breath. "I hope you are happy here--and--and +well treated?" + +"Quite, thanks, Court Godmother," said Daphne. + +"But you shouldn't sit moping here by yourself like this." + +"Her Majesty doesn't like me to come down until she sends for me," +explained Daphne; "and she hasn't to-day. But I haven't been moping, +Court Godmother; I've been listening to the swallows. They're discussing +their plans for the winter, and they _can't_ make up their minds where +to go, poor darlings!" + +"That's only what you _fancy_ they're talking about," said the Fairy +sharply; for the gift of understanding bird-language is comparatively +rare, and only possessed by those who have a strain of Fairy blood in +their descent. "You can't possibly _know_!" + +"I didn't till I came here, and then I suddenly found I could. Princess +Ruby declares I make it all up--but I don't. I can even understand what +some of the animals have to say, and its rather fun sometimes. The other +morning in the Gardens I heard a tortoise telling a squirrel----" + +"I daresay, I daresay," interrupted the Court Godmother, who had not +come there to hear the small talk of any tortoise; "I find their +conversation wearisome myself--and so will you when you've been here a +little longer. And so you're comfortable here, are you?" she went on, +looking round the chamber, which had walls of mother-o'-pearl with +hangings of delicate shimmering blue-green at the window and round the +small ivory four-post bed. "Well, this room looks very cool and +pleasant. And you've pretty dresses to wear, it seems. I like that one +you have on--most becoming, though it wants an ornament of some kind to +set it off. But perhaps you don't care for jewellery?" + +"I do," said Daphne, "very much. But I haven't any now, you see." + +"But you had once, hadn't you? I seem to recollect the Queen telling me +she bought something--a pendant, I fancy she said--from you before you +came to Märchenland. Or was it somebody else?" + +"No, it was me," said Daphne. "It was very decent of her, because I was +in rather a hole just then--with a debt I couldn't possibly have paid +otherwise--and the pendant was no use to _me_, you see--not a thing I +could ever have worn." + +"So you wasted your money in buying an ornament which was unsuited to +you, eh?" + +"I didn't buy it, Court Godmother," said Daphne, and proceeded to +explain--much as she had done at "Inglegarth"--how it came into her +possession. The Fairy questioned her about her father, but she had +little information to give. Even his name was uncertain, as it seemed he +had only moved into his last rooms shortly before his death. All his +landlady could say was that it was something foreign which she could not +pronounce. But she had gathered from certain things he had let fall that +he had led a wandering life as a musician, and had at one period been a +riding-master. She believed that, in the latter capacity, he had met his +young wife, Daphne's mother, and that it had been a runaway marriage. +She died soon after giving birth to Daphne, and left him so +broken-hearted that he did not care to make any fight against illness +when it came to him, but rather welcomed a death that meant re-union. +"But all I _really_ know," concluded Daphne, "is that that pendant +belonged to him, and that my adopted Mother took care of it for me till +I was grown up. And I think he would not have minded my selling it when +I wanted the money so badly." + +"Well, whether he would have minded or not," said the Fairy, "you _did_ +sell it--and a sorry bargain you made of it, too! I'll be bound, now, +that you've told the whole Court about it long ago!" + +"I have told no one, Court Godmother," said Daphne. "Why should I tell +them about my own private affairs? I shouldn't have said anything to +_you_, if you hadn't heard of it already from her Majesty." + +"You were wise to hold your tongue," remarked the Fairy, greatly +relieved. "For I may tell you that, if the Court once heard that the +Queen bought that jewel from you, it would prejudice them very seriously +against her. And I am sure you would not wish _that_." + +"Of course I shouldn't wish it," said Daphne, a little haughtily. +"Though how I could prejudice her Majesty by telling anybody of an +instance of her kindness to me, I really don't know. She's scarcely worn +the pendant herself, and now she's given it to Prince Clarence. But +nobody knows that it was once mine, and you can be quite sure that +nobody ever will, from me." + +"In a Court like this, my child," said the Fairy, almost apologetically, +"one cannot be too careful. But I can see you are to be trusted." And, +after some conversation on less dangerous subjects, she retired. + +Her worst fears had been confirmed; she could no longer doubt that +Daphne was Prince Chrysopras's daughter. She wondered now how she could +ever have doubted it. But this constituted her Daphne's official +Godmother. As such, was it not her duty to see that she had her rights? + +If she did her duty to her godchild it might entail very unpleasant +consequences to herself--consequences from which she felt herself +shrinking as much as ever. Might they not be avoided? Daphne evidently +had no suspicion of her claims. And, as the Fairy reminded herself, +"What the eye does not miss the heart will not grieve for." The child +was quite happy and contented as she was. If the Marshal still had any +ambition to resume his power, he would have no scruples about removing +any rival. + +"I should only be exposing her to danger," thought the Court Godmother. +And there were the poor King and Queen to be considered, and the Baron +and the Astrologer Royal, who would all go down in the general _débâcle_ +if the truth were allowed to come out. She was bound to think of +_them_. So far as she could see, the only result of disclosure would be +to establish the Marshal as Monarch--and they had had quite enough of +him as Regent. + +So, as it is seldom difficult to discover insuperable objections to any +course that one has strong personal reasons for avoiding, the Fairy +easily persuaded herself that she owed it to others to remain silent. +The secret was safe enough. Both Queen Selina and Daphne could be +depended on not to betray it now. It was better for everybody +concerned--particularly the Court Godmother--that it should remain +unknown for ever. + +Still, her conscience smote her a little with regard to Daphne. She was +so well fitted to be a Queen--it seemed hard that she should forfeit the +crown that was rightfully hers. "But that's entirely her own fault!" the +Fairy told herself. "Xuriel read the stars quite correctly. He foretold +not only the very spot where she would be discovered, but the sign by +which she was to be recognised. If she chose to part with the jewel to +another, she must take the consequences. _I_'m not responsible!" + +And yet, after all, Daphne _was_ her god-daughter, if she could not be +openly acknowledged as such. Something must be done to make up to the +poor child for all she had lost. And here the Fairy had a positively +brilliant idea--why not marry her to Mirliflor? But almost immediately +she remembered with dismay that she had been making a very different +matrimonial arrangement for him. That, however, was before she knew what +she knew now. The case was entirely altered--she could not possibly +allow him to commit himself to an alliance with a daughter of these +usurpers. That must be prevented at all hazards, and fortunately he had +taken no irretrievable step as yet. "Unless I'm much mistaken," she +thought, "he will forget all about Princess Edna if he once sees Lady +Daphne. She ought to be lovely enough to satisfy even _his_ ideal. But +if he doesn't see her soon, it may be too late to save him." + +Like most Fairy Godmothers, she possessed the power of impressing any +_protégé_ of hers who was not more than a couple of hundred leagues away +with a perfectly distinct vision of anybody or anything she chose. She +had made not a few matches by this means in her best days, and some of +them had not turned out at all badly. But it was a long time since she +had last exercised any of her occult faculties. To do so demanded a +concentration of will-power and psychic force which told on her more and +more severely as she advanced in years, and she had resolved to abstain +from any practices that might shorten the life to which she had every +intention of clinging as long as possible. + +"But I must risk it--just for this once," she decided. "Yes, I'll make +him dream of her this very night." + +Meanwhile Queen Selina had informed her daughter of the brilliant future +that awaited her, and was not a little annoyed at Edna's failure to +express the least enthusiasm. + +"I wish Godmother wouldn't meddle like this in my affairs," she said. "I +suppose I shall have to see this Prince Mirliflor now if he comes; but +it is not at all likely that he will have any of the qualities that +appeal to _me_." + +"My love!" remonstrated Queen Selina. "He will be the King of +Clairdelune some day!" + +"He may be, Mother," returned Edna. "But that is a consideration which I +shall not allow to affect me in the slightest." + +"Of course not, my dear," said her Mother, feeling that Edna could be +safely trusted to look after her own interests. "You are free to decide +exactly as you please. I shall put no pressure on you whatever." + +"My dear Mother," returned Edna, "you would gain nothing by it if you +did." + +That night the Court Godmother retired early, and spent a long and +strenuous vigil in calling up a vivid recollection of Daphne as she had +seen her that afternoon, and imprinting the vision on her godson's +sleeping brain. She was unwell in consequence all the next day, but she +was easier in her mind after having prevented any untoward effects her +counsels might have had upon Mirliflor. It was rather a strain upon her +to face the Royal Family again, but she forced herself, for her own +sake, to treat them with as much outward respect as before. + +She had begun to think that the worst was over when an envoy suddenly +arrived in hot haste from Clairdelune bearing a formal proposal from +Prince Mirliflor for Princess Edna's hand, and the information that he +was following shortly to plead his suit in person. + +He had also entrusted the messenger with a short despatch to his +Godmother, which she read with impotent fury. It was a somewhat involved +and incoherent letter, expressing his thanks for the vision, for which +he could not doubt he was indebted to her, but intimating that she had +convinced him so forcibly that Princess Edna possessed qualities +infinitely more precious than the most exquisite beauty, that his +determination to win her had already been irrevocably fixed. + +"Prefers her to Lady Daphne, does he?" she said to herself, as she +realised that she would be forced to speak out now if he was to be saved +from such an alliance. "Then he must _marry_ her, that's all! I can't +and won't turn all Märchenland topsy-turvy on _his_ account! I've done +all I could for him, and I shall leave him to go his own way. I'll go up +to bed before he arrives, and I expect it will be a long time before I'm +able to come down, for I feel sure I am going to be ill--and little +wonder!" + +Queen Selina was so elated by the Prince's message that she ordered it +to be publicly announced at once. The Court, whom she informed herself, +expressed the greatest delight, and, as for the old Court Chamberlain +von Eisenbänden, he was almost lyrical in his jubilation. + +"This is indeed a glorious day, Madam!" he cried. "It has long been my +dream to see the reigning houses of Märchenland and Clairdelune united, +but of late I had begun to despair that it would ever be accomplished! +And from all I have heard of Prince Mirliflor, her Royal Highness is +almost as much to be felicitated as he!" + +"Thank you, Baron," replied the Queen. "We are all most pleased about +it. Though I shall be very lonely without her. You see," she added, +raising her voice for the benefit of such of her ladies-in-waiting as +happened to be within hearing, "there is no one else here who is any +companion for me. I can't make intimate friends of any of my ladies, as +I could of the dear old Duchess of Gleneagles, for instance, or even +the Marchioness of Muscombe. Ah, my dear Baron, our English aristocracy! +You've nothing to approach them in a country like this--nothing!" + +"I can well understand," he said, "that your Majesty must feel the loss +of such society." + +"I miss it, Baron," Queen Selina confessed, without untruthfulness, +seeing that she always _had_ missed it. "It is only natural that I +should. The Duchess is such a sweet woman--a true _grande dame_! And the +Marchioness, though only a peeress by _marriage_, _such_ a clever, +talented creature! They would both have so rejoiced to hear of our dear +Edna's engagement--she was such a favourite of theirs, you know! I +remember the Duchess always prophesied that she would make a brilliant +marriage." + +These particulars were thrown in mainly for the edification of the +Court, but Queen Selina had almost brought herself to believe them, and, +in any case, none of her own family was at hand just then, so she was +safe from contradiction. + +The announcement of Prince Mirlinor's proposal had no sooner reached +Count Rubenfresser's ears than he drove over to the Palace, to ascertain +from Edna herself whether the report had any truth in it. He succeeded +in obtaining a private interview, and at once put his question. + +"It is only true so far as that the Prince has proposed to me by +letter," Edna informed him. "Whether I shall accept him when he appears +will depend entirely upon circumstances." + +"You _won't_ accept him, Princess," said the Count, drawing himself up +to his full height, which was now well over seven feet. "Or, if you do, +he will never wed you. _I_ shall see to that!" + +"Really, Count!" protested Princess Edna, feeling secretly rather +pleased. "I don't quite see what it has to do with _you_." + +"Don't you?" he replied. "I _might_ want to marry you myself. I've been +thinking of it lately." + +"Have you?" said Edna, not so pleased. "That is very good of you. But +has it never occurred to you that I might have a voice in the matter?" + +"You would _have_ to belong to me, if I wanted you badly enough," he +said calmly. + +"And you're not sure yet if you do want me badly enough, but, in the +meantime, you would prevent anyone else from marrying me if you +could--is _that_ it?" + +"That's exactly it!" he said, gratified at being so thoroughly +understood. + +"Well, can't you see how _selfish_ that is of you?" + +"It's splendid being selfish," he said, "and not really so difficult +after all--when you _try_." + +"And how do you suppose you could prevent me from marrying Prince +Mirliflor if I thought proper to accept him?" + +"Oh, that would be easy. I should only have to unchain Tützi, and send +him to kill the Prince for me. Tützi's so intelligent and obedient that +he'll do everything I tell him." + +"I think you forget, Count, that it's against the law to let that dragon +loose." + +"I know," he said; "but I've no respect for human laws any more. I'm not +going to obey anything in future, except my own instincts." + +"I'm sure you don't mean that. And if you really sent that dragon to +kill anybody--especially anyone who had done nothing to offend you--it +would be very wicked indeed." + +"Other people might think so," he said. "I shouldn't myself--and that's +all that really matters. I'm going to make my own morality for the +future. I want to be a Superman, like that learned man you told me about +with the odd name. Aren't you glad I'm taking your advice?" + +"Of course I am pleased," said Edna, "that you should be more +independent and unconventional and assert yourself--which is all that +Nietzsche really meant. You mustn't carry it too far, you know." + +"But you said I couldn't be really great unless I felt the will and the +power to inflict great suffering," he said; "and that's just what I _do_ +feel." + +"Yes, but you can feel the will and the power without actually +inflicting suffering," said Edna instructively. "Nietzsche never +intended _that_. And if you set that horrid dragon of yours at the +Prince, you _would_ inflict very great suffering indeed." + +"I shouldn't mind _that_," he said. + +"Perhaps not--but Father and Mother would. And you would be imprisoned +again, and lose your dragon as well. But I don't suppose for a moment +you are serious. It would be too absurd of you to threaten violence to a +Prince before I've ever seen him or made up my mind to accept him--which +most likely I shall not do." + +"That is true," he said, rather as if he were glad of an excuse for not +taking any immediate action. "Yes, I will wait till I hear whether he is +betrothed to you or not. But if I find he _is_, I shall have to clear +him out of my path somehow or other." + +He left Edna with the consciousness that she had been more than usually +interested. The Count was certainly developing. She liked his new air of +self-confident domination. It would be rather thrilling, she thought, to +be wooed in this masterful way. But he had taken some pains to let her +see that he was not sure yet whether she was worth the trouble of +wooing! That was insulting, of course, but he might alter his opinion in +time--and then she would know how to avenge herself. She wondered if +Prince Mirliflor would be ardent and domineering enough to carry her by +storm, and caught herself hoping he might be. + +But when, shortly afterwards, she heard that he was just entering the +Courtyard of the Palace with his suite, she was seized by a sudden +panic. "_You_ go down and speak to him, Mother," she implored the Queen. +"I--I can't see him just yet. And make him understand that I must get to +know him better before I can give him a definite answer." + +Queen Selina bustled down to the State Reception Hall, where she arrived +in a highly flurried condition, just after the Prince and his brilliant +retinue had been ushered in. + +"My dear Prince!" she began. "This is really _too_ kind! So delighted by +your proposal--we _all_ are--dear Edna especially. We feel it such a +compliment. My husband--his Majesty, I mean--will be in directly, but +Edna has asked me to make her apologies for not coming down for a few +minutes. The poor child--naturally--is feeling a little shy and +overcome." + +"Madam," said the Prince, whose comely face and gallant bearing had +already won him the sympathies of those of the Court who were present, +and particularly the Court Chamberlain's, "I count each minute a month +until I have the happiness of looking upon the enchanting face that has +haunted me constantly from the moment I beheld it in a vision." + +"In a vision?" cried the Queen. "How very odd! But how did you know, +Prince, it was our Edna?" + +"I will attempt to describe my vision, Madam," he replied, "and, though +my poor words cannot hope to do it justice, they will at least convince +you that it was indeed the Princess whom I was permitted to see." + +He described her as well as he could, though with a growing bewilderment +that the lady of his dream should have a Mother who so little resembled +her. + +Queen Selina listened to his rhapsody with misgivings. With every +allowance for the fervour of a lover who was also a Fairy Prince, even +maternal partiality could not blind her to the fact that his description +would be far less incorrect as applied to that Heritage girl than to the +Princess Edna. + +"It certainly _suggests_ dear Edna, Prince," she remarked, with a mental +note that Daphne must be kept out of his way. "Except, perhaps in one or +two respects; but then you can't expect to see people in dreams looking +_exactly_ like themselves, _can_ you? I'll run up and bring her down to +you--and, if a Mother may say so, I _don't_ think you'll be _very_ +disappointed." + +But it was to Daphne's chamber that she went first. "Oh, Miss Heritage," +she began, quite pleasantly, "I'm going to ask you to do something for +me. I don't at all like the effect of those jewels they've sewn on to +the front of my satin-brocade. I'm sure they would look much better on +my cloth-of-gold skirt. _Would_ you mind getting both skirts from my +wardrobe and just making the necessary alterations for me? You had +better set to work at once, as I may be requiring the cloth-of-gold very +shortly. And as time is pressing, I will tell them to bring all your +meals up here till the work is done. It's so important that I can't +trust any of the regular ladies-in-waiting with it." + +"That disposes of _her_ for at least a week," she reflected, as she went +on to Princess Edna's apartments. "And everything ought to be settled +long before _that_!" + +When, a little later, she smilingly re-entered the Reception Hall with +one arm affectionately placed round her reluctant daughter's waist, it +cannot be denied that the Prince was very much disappointed indeed. The +vision had not prepared him for Edna's _pince-nez_, among other matters, +and altogether he felt that his Godmother had exaggerated the Princess's +personal attractions to a most unscrupulous degree. But this he had +sufficient self-command to conceal. In fact, he rather overdid it, +though it was only to himself that his courtly greeting sounded fulsome +and insincere. + +But if Edna detected no extravagance in his homage, she was none the +more pleased with it. It made her feel awkward and self-conscious. She +set him down in her own mind as "too finicking," while his good looks +did not happen to be of a type that appealed to her. + +Still, they got through the first interview fairly well, though both +were relieved when a message came from the Court Godmother that she was +feeling too indisposed to leave her apartments, but would be glad to see +him as soon as he was at liberty. He had himself conducted to her at +once, and was not a little aggrieved, as well as surprised, by the +asperity of his reception. + +"Well," she said peevishly; "so you've seen your Princess, have you? +And now I suppose it is all settled between you?" + +"Not yet," he said stiffly. "I believe she is reserving her answer till +we are better acquainted." + +"But you don't expect it will be unfavourable, do you?" + +"Do _you_, Godmother? I can't think you would have urged me to present +myself here to be publicly humiliated." + +"Oh, there's no doubt she will accept you," she said, with a sharp +twinge. "You need have no apprehensions on that score. And, as you no +longer consider beauty indispensable, I daresay she will be as +satisfactory a helpmate as you could wish." + +"I daresay," he agreed dully; and then his pent-up grievance suddenly +broke out in spite of him. "With all respect to you, Godmother +Voldoiseau," he said, "I don't consider you've treated me fairly over +this! You persuaded me that it was my duty to marry at once, and that +there were better and more permanent qualities than beauty. I'm not +complaining of _that_--I am quite ready to believe that the Princess +Edna is as learned and admirable a lady as you gave me to understand, +while she is not without good looks of a kind. But why send me a vision +representing her as a miracle of loveliness? That is a deception which I +can't understand, and I confess I find hard to forgive!" + +How could she have foreseen that he would be foolish enough to imagine +that the vision represented Edna? But the worst of it was that the Fairy +could not explain her real intention just then without landing herself +in fresh difficulties. So she sought refuge in prevarication. + +"_I_ send you a vision!" she said. "I don't know what you're talking +about, Mirliflor. A vision, indeed!" + +"Didn't it come from _you_?" he asked lamely. "I--I made sure it must +have." + +"You had no business to make sure of anything of the kind. And if you +choose to dream that your future bride is more beautiful than she +happens to be, I don't see why you should put the blame on _me_! But the +truth is you're longing for some excuse for getting out of this +marriage. Come, Mirliflor, you know you are--and you had better say so +frankly." + +"It is not so, Godmother," he replied; "I'm quite prepared to obey your +wishes. After all, since I _must_ marry, I am not likely to find a more +advantageous match than this. Besides, I couldn't possibly back out of +it now--even if I desired." + +"And what," asked the Fairy, "if you actually meet the Princess of your +dreams?" She was ignorant of the Queen's man[oe]uvre, and so thought he +could not well fail to come across Daphne that very evening. + +"That is so likely!" he said bitterly. "A mere creation of my own +mind--an ideal that I ought to have known would never be realised! No, +Godmother, since there is no hope of that, it matters little to me whom +I marry!" + +"Listen to me, Mirliflor," said the Fairy impatiently. "I--I'm not so +bent on this alliance as I was. Never mind _why_--but I'm not. +And--and--if you would rather withdraw, it's not too late. _I_ see +nothing to prevent you." + +"Nothing to prevent me!" replied Mirliflor indignantly. "There is my +honour! What Prince with any sense of honour at all could propose to a +Princess and then inform her that he finds, after a personal interview, +that he has changed his intentions? You of all people, Godmother +Voldoiseau, should know that we cannot _do_ these things!" + +"Those ideals again!" said the exasperated Fairy. "You'll drive me out +of all patience directly! But there--I've said all I could, and if you +_will_ be pig-headed, you must. And now I'll ask you to go away, as I'm +really not well enough to bear any more conversation." + +He had not been gone more than ten minutes when there was another knock +at her door, and this time it was Princess Edna herself who entered. + +"So it's _you_, is it?" snapped the Court Godmother, with none of her +customary urbanity. And then, recollecting the necessity of keeping up +appearances, threw in a belated "my dear." "Well, I hear you are taking +time before you put Mirliflor out of suspense, but I presume you've +already decided to accept him?" + +"That's what I came to consult you about, Court Godmother," replied +Edna. "I don't feel that I--he is at all a person I could ever be happy +with. He is not on the same intellectual plane with me--we should have +nothing whatever in common. He seems to have none of the qualities that +would make me respect and look up to a man." + +Relieved though she was, the Fairy still resented any disparagement of +her favourite godson from such a quarter. + +"Hoity-toity!" she exclaimed--an expression which, if it ever was +popular, is no longer used by anyone but Fairy Godmothers--and even the +Fairy only indulged in it under extreme provocation. "Let me tell you +that Mirliflor is not generally regarded as ineligible. But, no doubt, +my dear," she added acidly, "you have every right to be fastidious." +She was greatly tempted to let her know that Mirliflor would be anything +but broken-hearted by a refusal, but prudence warned her that she had +better not. "And may I ask what you propose to say to him?" + +"Oh," said Edna, "I suppose I shall have to tell him to-night that I +find I don't like him enough to marry him." + +"And give everybody to understand that he is personally displeasing to +you! Indeed you will not!" said the old Fairy imperiously. "_Other_ +persons' feelings have to be considered as well as your own. _Mine_, for +one. Mirliflor would never forgive me for exposing him to such +humiliation. Nor would his father, King Tournesol, for that matter, and +I can't afford to quarrel with either of them. You can't get rid of an +unwelcome suitor like that--at all events, not in Märchenland!" + +"Can't I?" said Edna. "Then how _am_ I to get rid of him?" + +"A Princess of high breeding," replied the Fairy, "finds some means of +tempering her refusal so as to avoid wounding her suitor's pride; and I +may tell you Mirliflor has more than his share of that. The usual method +here is to accept him, on condition that he succeeds in answering some +question so difficult that it is no disgrace if he fails to answer it." + +"Do you mean something in the nature of a riddle?" asked Edna. + +"Well, a riddle will do. Yes, there are precedents for that. A riddle +would be quite in accordance with Court etiquette. Ask him a riddle if +you like." + +"I'm afraid I am not very familiar with riddles," said Edna. "I have +never found them particularly amusing myself. But I must try and +remember one. It needn't be so very difficult, because he doesn't seem +to me clever enough to guess _any_ riddle." + +"Quite clever enough not to try!" was on the tip of the Fairy's tongue, +though she did not say it. "I've no doubt, my dear," she replied, "that +any riddle you may ask Mirliflor will be quite beyond his power to +answer." + +"Thank you very much for your advice, Court Godmother," said Edna. "I +daresay I shall be able to remember a riddle of some sort by this +evening." + +The Fairy felt that she had extricated herself from her dilemma with +considerable tact and ingenuity. Not only had she delivered her godson +from the slight of being summarily rejected by this upstart girl, but +she had saved herself from all necessity to make any compromising +disclosures. + +"Yes," she told herself complacently, "I've really got myself and +Mirliflor out of it very neatly indeed. I mayn't be quite as +quick-witted as I was in my prime--but I'm not in my dotage _just_ +yet!" + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +UNWELCOME ANNOUNCEMENTS + + +Princess Edna took the earliest opportunity of acting on the Fairy +Vogelflug's suggestion. At the conclusion of the banquet that evening, +she requested King Sidney to order the silver trumpets to be flourished, +and when this had been done and an expectant hush fell upon the +assembly, she rose. After regarding the Prince, who sat on her right, +with a graciousness which, enhanced as it was by her _pince-nez_, struck +terror into his very soul, she began in a high, clear tone: + +"You all know, I think," she said, "that his Royal Highness Prince +Mirliflor of Clairdelune has done me the great honour of asking me to be +his wife, and that I have promised him my answer this evening. That +answer I am now about to give. Prince Mirliflor, you have impressed me +so favourably that, although I had previously no thought of marrying, I +have decided to accept you." At this the whole Court broke out in +frantic and rapturous applause, for they had been most anxious for the +Prince to succeed in his project--if only for the reason that it would +entail the removal of Princess "Four-eyes" to Clairdelune. The King +exclaimed, "Quite right! Sensible girl!" and Queen Selina assured the +Prince that he had won a treasure. Clarence, who had taken a liking to +his new brother-in-law, which was not entirely reciprocated, rose and +clapped him heartily on the back, while the old Court Chamberlain could +scarcely contain his pride and joy. Edna held up her hand for silence. +"Wait, please!" she said; "I haven't finished. I said I would accept +you, Prince Mirliflor, and so I will--on condition that you are able to +give the correct answer to a question I am about to ask you." + +There was a murmur of disappointment at this, though it was generally +recognised that the Princess's action was quite _en règle_. The Prince, +feeling that it was at least a reprieve, begged her to put the question +without keeping him in any further suspense. + +"My question is this," said Edna: "Why did the sausage roll?" + +"Hang it all, Edna!" cried Clarence, "you're not going to chuck him +unless he can guess a rotten riddle like that!" + +"Of _course_ not!" said her anxious Mother. "Don't be alarmed, dear +Prince Mirliflor. She doesn't mean it _seriously_. It--it's a little +joke, that's all!" + +"It's not a joke, Mother," said Edna; "I'm perfectly serious. I am sure +Prince Mirliflor is so clever that he will have no difficulty in +guessing the riddle. If he can't--well, I shall be very sorry, but--I +shall not be able to marry him." + +"Alas, Princess!" said Mirliflor, "but it passes my poor wit to discover +why the sausage rolled." + +"Will your Majesties pardon me," struck in the Court Chamberlain, "if I +humbly offer a suggestion. Such a problem as her Royal Highness has +propounded cannot be solved in a moment. It is only just to his Royal +Highness Prince Mirliflor that he should be given a night to reflect +before delivering his answer." + +"Certainly," said the King; "you must see that yourself, Edna. Give him +a chance--every chance!" + +"I have no objection, Father," said Edna. "The Prince shall have till +to-morrow morning to think it over--but I can give him no longer." + +"It's an infernal shame, Mirliflor!" said Clarence. "I haven't an idea +why the bally sausage rolled, or I'd tell you, dear old chap!" + +"I am sure you would, my dear Prince Clarence!" Mirliflor assured him; +"but, believe me, I am none the less grateful to you." + +Queen Selina did all she could think of to persuade her daughter to +alter her decision, and, when this failed, to extract the answer to the +momentous conundrum, which Edna knew her mother too well to confide to +her, so that at length she was obliged to take up her bedroom taper and +retreat, with a Parthian prediction that such folly would be bitterly +repented in the future. + +Edna's next visitor was the Court Godmother, on whose entrance she at +once informed her waiting-women that she would not require their further +services that night. "Well, Godmother," she began, as soon as they were +alone together, "I did as you advised, you see. And--you don't think +Prince Mirliflor can possibly find out the answer, do you?" + +"My good girl," said the Fairy, "I'd defy the Astrologer Royal himself +to find it out, if he consulted all the stars and all his mystic books +into the bargain! How the dickens did you come to invent such a riddle +as that?" + +"I didn't invent it," said Edna; "I heard it a long time ago--at the +Theatre--in some silly play. I've forgotten what the play was +about--but I remembered the riddle." + +"Are you sure you remember the answer? I have heard of sausages +_talking_ occasionally, and I daresay they can roll, but I fail to see +what intelligible reason _any_ sausage could give for doing it." + +"It's a catch," explained Edna. "It's like this. Why did the sausage +roll? Because it saw the jam-_turnover_. _Now_ do you see?" + +"I can't say I do, my dear. It seems senseless to _me_. But that's all +the better--the more idiotic it is, the less chance of its being +guessed. Yes, on the whole, I don't think you could have thought of a +better one." + +Shortly afterwards Prince Mirliflor, just as he was about to extinguish +the flambeaux and turn into bed, was startled to see his door opening by +some mysterious means. He was more startled still when the figure of the +old Court Chamberlain suddenly materialised in the centre of the room. + +"Your Royal Highness will forgive my intrusion," said the Baron, "when I +explain the object of this visit. My reason for suggesting that the +Princess should grant you a night to answer her question was that I felt +convinced that she would be unable to refrain from telling it to some +person--her mother, most probably. So I resolved by means of this" (and +here he exhibited a small skull-cap of purple silk) "to penetrate unseen +to the Princess's apartments and overhear her conversation. To my +disappointment, she would reveal nothing to Her Majesty, but by-and-by +the Court Godmother paid the Princess a visit, in the course of which I, +remaining, of course, invisible, succeeded in learning the secret on +which your Royal Highness's happiness and the hopes of all Märchenland +depend. The answer, it seems--though I must admit I can make little of +it myself--is----" + +"Stop, Baron!" interrupted Prince Mirliflor, "I refuse--do you hear?--I +refuse to take advantage of any information obtained in such a +disreputable manner--I insist on your leaving this room at once without +another word!" + +"But, sire, hear me! This is not a case for being over-scrupulous. In +love, as in war, all is fair. And the answer is--'Because----'" + +"_Will_ you get out?" cried the Prince, stopping both his ears. "I won't +hear you. I can't, as you can see. And if you don't clear out at once, +I'll strike this gong for the guard!" + +The Baron, seeing that he could do no more, hastily put on his cap again +and disappeared. "What a pity," he thought, "that such a fine young +Prince should be so priggish when his own interests are concerned!" + +But although Mirliflor's code of honour was undoubtedly high, it is +quite possible that he might not have stopped his ears quite so +hermetically if Princess Edna had only borne a closer resemblance to his +vision of her. + +As it was, even if the Baron had forced him to hear the answer, it would +have made no difference, since he had not the least intention of +profiting by it, and so he slept soundly, with no apprehensions +concerning what the morrow might bring him. + +Shortly after breakfast the next day the Court filled the body of the +Hall of Audience, on the dais of which the King and Queen presently +appeared and took their thrones, Prince Mirliflor and the members of +the Royal Family being accommodated with lower seats on the same +platform. + +"Now, Prince Mirliflor," remarked Edna sweetly, "you have been given a +night to consider the answer to my question. I hope you have found it?" + +The Prince was about to confess his utter inability to do so, when, to +his extreme annoyance, he found that the Baron, who had stationed +himself behind his chair, was whispering discreetly into his ear. "Will +you be kind enough to leave me alone, Baron?" he said in a savage +undertone. "I've told you already that I don't desire any interference +in my affairs. Oblige me by holding your tongue!" + +"Certainly, your Royal Highness," said the Baron obsequiously, "your +wishes shall be obeyed.... His Royal Highness, Madam," he said aloud, +"begs me to make his excuses. He feels too much agitated to speak for +himself, but instructs me to say that he believes the reason why the +sausage rolled was because it had seen the jam pasty. And," he added +confidently, "your Royal Highness will, I am sure, be gracious enough to +admit that Prince Mirliflor has answered her question with absolute +correctness." + +Mirliflor's attempts to deny that he had offered any solution whatever +were unheard in the tumult of acclamation which followed the Court +Chamberlain's announcement. + +"He _hasn't_ given the correct answer!" declared Edna, as soon as +silence could be obtained. "He ought to have said 'the jam +_turnover_'--not the 'jam _pasty_'!" + +"Oh, come, my dear!" said her father. "That's splitting hairs, you know. +He was near enough. What's the difference?" + +"None that _I_ can see," pronounced the Queen. "Both are pastry, and +both contain jam. Yes, Prince Mirliflor, you have won the dear child, as +I'm sure you richly deserved to!" + +"How _can_ you say that, Mother?" cried Edna, scarlet with vexation. +"When his answer utterly missed the point? And, anyhow, it was given by +proxy, so it doesn't count!" + +"H'm--ha!" said King Sydney, "that's rather a ticklish question! What do +_you_ think, my love?" and he consulted the Queen in undertones for a +minute or two. "Well," he announced presently, "her Majesty and myself +both consider that the Prince's answer should be adjudged correct, and +that its having been given by proxy is--ah--no disqualification +whatever. Still, to avoid all appearance of favouritism, we propose to +refer the case to the final decision of our Council." + +"I say!" protested Clarence in a horrified whisper, "you're never going +to leave it to those old pumps?" + +"It's quite safe, my boy," said the King. "_They_ won't give it against +him!" + +So, after the Councillors had filed out to deliberate, Clarence devoted +himself to keeping up Mirliflor's spirits, though the latter could not +be induced to see that he had no cause for uneasiness. + +But King Sidney had not been mistaken in his prediction; after a short +absence the Councillors filed in again and reported that they were +unanimously of opinion that Prince Mirliflor had succeeded. + +"There, my dear," said the King to the Princess Royal, as soon as the +shouts of joy had quieted down, "you've got the Council's decision. Give +the Prince your hand, and let's have no more bother about it." + +"I won't!" declared Edna, losing all self-control in her rage and +disappointment. "He hasn't won me fairly. I've been tricked into this, +and it's all the Court Godmother's doing!" + +No accusation could well be more unjust, but it was difficult for the +Fairy to disprove it without declaring that she had done her utmost to +hinder the match--and this would have been impolitic just then. + +"_My_ doing, forsooth!" she repeated. "If you really believe that, you +were never more mistaken in your life!" + +"Oh no, I'm not mistaken!" said Edna. "It was _you_ who suggested my +asking the riddles--and you were the only person I told the answer. If +you did not tell him, I should like to know who _did_!" + +"May I remind you, Princess," said Mirliflor, "that the answer was not +made by me?" + +"You let the Baron answer for you, which is just as bad!" retorted Edna. +"And I absolutely refuse to be trapped and cheated into marrying +anybody!" + +"_My_ conscience at least is clear," he said. "But I am to understand +that you decline to marry me, Princess--is that so?" + +"Certainly I do. Nothing would induce me to accept you after this! I +don't care what Father and Mother or the Council or anyone says! +When--if--I marry I intend to choose for myself. And you are about the +last person, Prince Mirliflor, I should ever dream of choosing!" + +"I am desolated to hear it, Princess," he replied, with admirable +patience and resignation. "But since I have the misfortune to be so +obnoxious to you, the only service I can render you now is to relieve +you of my presence as soon as possible." + +Queen Selina implored him to stay to lunch, and even held out hopes that +Edna might relent in time--but all her entreaties were in vain. To her +infinite chagrin and the general lamentation, he insisted on leaving the +Palace within an hour. He said no farewell to his Godmother, who for her +part was glad to escape a private interview with him, but he took his +leave of his host and hostess with all due outward courtesy, though +inwardly fuming with rage and impatience to quit a place where he +considered he had been so wantonly insulted. + +Count von Rubenfresser must have got wind from some quarter of the +Prince's discomfiture, for on the very next day he turned up at the +Palace about lunch time, according to his previous habit, and Queen +Selina, though far from delighted at his appearance, could hardly avoid +inviting him to remain. His manner at table was considerably more +assured, and his appetite, if anything, heartier than usual, but even so +he seemed, to all but Princess Edna, an indifferent substitute for the +Prince whose departure they were still mourning. + +Edna, however, seemed to make a point of treating him with marked +favour, so much so that, when lunch was over and the Royal Family had +removed to the Terrace, it was rather with disgust than surprise that +they discovered that the Princess Royal and the Count had stolen off +together to a secluded part of the gardens. + +Whether _amour propre_ had incited her to make a special effort to +overcome his hesitation, or absence and jealousy had quickened his +somewhat lagging ardour, none could say with any certainty, but when +they eventually re-appeared, Queen Selina observed with positive horror +that they were walking hand-in-hand. + +"It's quite all right, Mother," said Edna, as they came within speaking +distance; "Ruprecht and I are engaged." + +"Engaged!" spluttered King Sidney. "You've got to get your Mother's +consent for that, you know. And we couldn't hear of it. Not for a +moment! Eh, my love?" + +"Of course not!" said the Queen. "Entirely out of the question!" + +"We expected this," remarked Edna calmly. "But no amount of opposition +will make the slightest difference to _us_--will it, Ruprecht?" + +"Not the slightest," he replied. "At least--to ME." + +"But think, my dear, only _think_!" the distressed Queen entreated Edna. +"After you've just made us all so unpopular by refusing a Prince, you +simply _can't_ go and engage yourself to some one whose position is so +far beneath your own!" + +"Ruprecht is above me in every sense," said Edna; "and because I'm a +Princess by no wish of mine is no reason why I should sacrifice myself +for reasons of state. I utterly and entirely deny that any parents, no +matter what their position in life, have the right nowadays to dictate +to their children whom they should marry or not marry. Of course, I +would rather you were sensible enough to recognise our engagement, but +if you aren't, I shall simply marry Ruprecht just the same." + +Queen Selina reflected. If she refused consent, it would only end in a +still worse situation. And, after all, she would have been proud enough +in her Gablehurst days to be able to announce her daughter's engagement +to a real Count with a fine and ancient castle. + +"Well," she said, "if it's understood that there must be no thought of +marriage for at least a year----" + +"Oh, Ruprecht will wait a year for me--won't you, Ruprecht? But the +engagement must be proclaimed at once--we insist on _that_. And now you +may kiss Mother, Ruprecht, and tell her that you already look on +yourself as her son." + +The Count stooped to give his prospective Mother-in-law an amateurish +embrace, while Ruby fled, fearing that her own turn would come next. +"Good Lord, Edna!" said Clarence, drawing her aside, "have you gone +dotty or what? To go and chuck a real good sort like Mirliflor, and then +take this overgrown bounder--it beats me what you can see in the +beggar!" + +"I see a man, Clarence, whom I feel I can really look up to." + +"You'll have the devil of a way to look up, if he goes on growing much +longer. He's shot up lately like a bally beanstalk!" + +"You are jealous because he makes you feel so small. I glory in his +being so big. He is just my idea of a superman!" + +"Strike out 'man' and substitute 'swine'!" said Clarence, "and I'm with +you!" + +"There's no need to descend to vulgarity, Clarence. And it seems a pity +you should be so prejudiced against him when he is only anxious to prove +the affection he feels for _you_!" + +"Oh, _is_ he? Well, if he comes pawing me about, he'll find out what +_my_ sentiments are!" + +"I should advise you to be civil to him--for your own sake," said Edna +coldly, "because he's rather a powerful person." + +Queen Selina had no option but to inform the Court of the engagement +without delay, and the general consternation it caused could only find +expression in chilling silence. + +To the Court Godmother she tried to present the matter as favourably as +possible. "I don't pretend," she said, "that it is quite all we could +desire from a mere worldly point of view. But in a case of true love on +both sides such as this, his Majesty and I both feel that it would not +be _right_ to interfere. And you know what dear Edna can be when she's +once set her mind on anything. Besides," she concluded, "we've insisted +on their being engaged for a year--a good deal may happen before then." + +"It may," agreed the Fairy; "and I shall be very much surprised if it +doesn't. But, so far as I am concerned, Princess Edna may bestow her +hand as she pleases. I shall never go out of my way to find her a suitor +again, I can assure you!" + +It had already occurred to her that the Royal Family might very shortly +find Märchenland too hot to hold them, which would relieve her of all +responsibility for them. So she saw no reason for interfering with any +of their proceedings. + +Ruby rushed excitedly up to Daphne's chamber, where she had been hurting +her pretty fingers by laboriously unpicking the innumerable jewels from +one of the Queen's robes and sewing them on to another. "Oh, Miss +Heritage, dear," she began, "it's such _ages_ since I've seen you, and +I've such lots to tell you about. Just fancy! Edna's engaged!... No, +not Prince Mirliflor! She sent _him_ away the day before yesterday. I +can't think why--when he was so perfectly ripping. It's Count +Rubenfresser." + +"Oh, Ruby!" cried Daphne in dismay. "Not to _him_! How _can_ she?" + +"I don't know--but she is. Mums doesn't like it, of course, but she's +had to give in, and they'll be married in a year. Isn't it awful? +There's only _one_ advantage about it that _I_ can see--Tützi will be +one of the family now.... Oh, and you needn't go on sewing any more. +Mummy said after lunch that she'd forgotten to tell you she won't want +the skirt altered after all, and that you might come down again as usual +now." + +So Daphne made her re-appearance that evening, and was welcomed by the +Court with as much effusion as if they had not seen her for weeks. The +Count was there, his towering form more splendidly apparelled, as became +his new _rôle_ of an accepted suitor, and she soon learnt that she was +by no means alone in loathing the thought of the engagement. Princess +Edna was in such high good humour that she not only deigned to single +out Daphne by her notice, but actually offered to present her to her +_fiancé_--an honour from which Daphne had the courage to beg that she +might be excused. + +"I see how it is, Miss Heritage," said Edna, with a frown, "You can't +understand my rejecting a Prince and preferring some one of so far +inferior a rank. I really should not have thought you would be quite so +snobbish as that!" + +"It isn't that, Princess Edna," said Daphne desperately. "It's +because--I'm sure--I can't explain why, but I am sure he's bad--_really_ +bad!" + +"If you mean by that--that he is not a pattern of virtue like Prince +Mirliflor," said Edna, "he is none the worse for it, in _my_ eyes!" + +"I meant more--much more than that. But I ought not to have said +anything." + +"Oh, pray go on. In fact, I _insist_ on it." + +"Well, then, Princess Edna," said Daphne undauntedly, "not only I, but +almost everybody at Court, think that a marriage with Count von +Rubenfresser would be a horrible mistake." + +"So _you_ have joined the league against him, have you, Miss Heritage?" +said Edna. "But, of course, you would condemn anyone who failed to +conform to your prim, governessy little notions of right and wrong. I +might have known as much! I am only sorry I should have gone out of my +way to offer you a privilege you are so incapable of appreciating. You +may now retire." + +Daphne retreated accordingly. She knew very well that she would have +been wiser in her own interests to hold her tongue, and she had +certainly done no good by speaking. But for no earthly inducement would +she have allowed herself to be presented to that detestable Count. She +had been almost forced to speak plainly, if only in the faint hope of +opening Edna's eyes to a sense of what she was doing. And though she had +failed, she did not in the least regret having spoken. If the other +ladies-in-waiting had known of her protest she would have been more +idolised by them than ever, but a lingering sense of loyalty kept her +from saying anything that might increase their disaffection for +"Princess Four-Eyes." + +Perhaps the person in the Royal Household who felt the engagement most +acutely was the old Court Chamberlain. Queen Selina, returning from a +drive the next day, discovered him weeping, or rather absolutely +blubbering, in a darker corner of one of the passages. "I can't help it, +your Majesty," he said, almost inarticulate with emotion. "That the +Princess should have scorned such a consort as Prince Mirliflor for one +whose parentage--it's too much to bear! I think my old heart would break +if I had not once more put a hoop around it. If your Majesty only knew +how your subjects detest such an alliance as this!" + +"I don't see what it has to do with _them_, Baron," said the Queen. "But +they have certainly been less respectful lately. I'm afraid we shall +have to take a sack of gold out again on our next drive. I was most +alarmed this afternoon by a rude person throwing something into the +coach which I quite thought at first was a bomb. However, it turned out +to be only a particularly fine turnip, though it very narrowly missed +his Majesty's nose. Of course, as the Marshal assures us, it _may_ have +been intended merely as a humble sort of offering, but I should like to +feel surer about it than I do. And--strictly between ourselves, Baron--I +should be only too thankful if this engagement was broken off. But what +can I _do_? The Princess won't listen to _me_!" + +"Perchance," said the Baron, "she would allow herself to be influenced +by the noble ladies whom your Majesty spoke of." + +"The Duchess of Gleneagles and the Marchioness of Muscombe? Ah, my dear +Baron, she might, if they were only here! I know they would do their +best to persuade her. But what is the use of thinking of that, when they +are both so far away?" + +"And doubtless your Majesty is in ignorance of their very whereabouts." + +"Oh, they would be in London just now," said the Queen, not displeased +to exhibit her knowledge. "The dear Duchess travelled down from the +North sometime ago to her town residence in Stratford Place--had her +tiara stolen on the journey, Baron--and came to tell me about it at +once, poor soul! And--yes, the Muscombes must be back in that cosy +little flat of theirs in Mount Street by this time. They always spend +Easter in London, you know." + +"In London!" sighed the Baron. "That is truly a far cry from our +Märchenland! But your Majesty can see that, in my present spirits, I +should make but a sorry figure at Court. Have I your leave to absent +myself for a brief period!" + +"By all means--as long as you like," said the Queen, who rightly +considered that a Court Chamberlain in constant floods of tears would do +little to relieve the prevailing depression. And so the Baron did not +appear that evening, which might have excited some remark if anyone had +happened to notice his absence. + +On the following morning Queen Selina paid a surprise visit to the +Tapestry Chamber, where her ladies were more or less busy in +embroidering "chair-backs" (she was too much in the movement not to know +that the term "antimacassars" was a solecism). It was an industry she +had lately invented for them, and they held it in healthy abhorrence. + +She had not had at all a good night, and was consequently inclined to be +aggressive. "Good morning, girls," she began, "I fancy I heard, just +before I came in, one of you mentioning a person of the name of 'Old +Mother Schwellenposch.' The speaker, if I'm not mistaken, was Baroness +Bauerngrosstochterheimer." + +"It was, your Majesty," admitted the Baroness, rising and curtseying. + +"And who, may I ask, is this Mother--whatever-her-name is? Some vulgar +acquaintance of yours, I presume?" + +"If your Majesty is so pleased to describe her, it is not for me to +protest," was the Baroness's demure reply, followed by suppressed but +quite audible giggles from her companions. + +"Why you should all snigger in that excessively unladylike way is best +known to yourselves," said Queen Selina. "But I can make allowances for +you, considering who your ancestresses _were_! It's true I _had_ hoped +when I first came here that, if I could not expect quite the sort of +society I had been accustomed to, I should at least have people about me +of ordinary refinement! As it is, I often wonder what my dear friends +the Duchess of Gleneagles and the Marchioness of Muscombe would say if +they knew the class of persons I have to associate with. I can fancy how +they would pity me. When one has enjoyed the privilege of intimacy with +really great ladies like them, one is all the more apt to notice the +difference.... Is that you, Baron? Returned so soon? But you shouldn't +come bursting in like this without asking for an audience. That is +_quite_ against my rules!" + +"Your Majesty will, I feel sure, pardon the intrusion when you hear my +tidings," said the Baron. "I have the honour to inform your Majesty that +your high-born friends, the Grand Duchess of Gleneagles and the +Margravine of Muscombe, are now in the Palace!" + +"The--the Duchess? And the Marchioness?" cried the Queen. "Nonsense, +Baron! It must be some silly mistake of yours. How could they possibly +get _here_?" + +"In the stork-car, your Majesty," he explained. "I brought them myself. +As they are still sunk in sleep, I have had them laid on couches in one +of the vestibules, and instructed the Lady Daphne to remain in +attendance." + +"Good gracious!" said Queen Selina faintly. She was painfully conscious +that her face must be expressing dismay rather than delight, and that +her ladies-in-waiting had not failed to notice it. "What a--what a +delightful surprise! And Lady Daphne with them, did you say? I--I'll go +to them at once!" + +If the poor Court Chamberlain had expected any gratitude from his +Sovereign when they got outside, he received none. She did not speak to +him at all--possibly because she could not trust herself, and she +hurried towards the great Entrance Hall at a pace which left him +hopelessly in the rear. As she went she vainly endeavoured to think of +any possible excuse or apology that she could offer her distinguished +visitors, but her chief anxiety was that she might not arrive until +after they had awaked, and Miss Heritage had anticipated her +explanations. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +WHAT THE PIGEON SAID + + +Daphne was passing through the upper gallery, on her way to join the +other ladies-in-waiting in the Tapestry Chamber, when she heard a +commotion in the great hall below, and, looking down over the +balustrade, was astonished to see two inanimate female forms being +carried by attendants into the vestibule. Baron von Eisenbänden, who was +directing them, caught sight of her and beckoned. On descending the +jasper staircase, she found him beaming with satisfaction, surrounded by +a host of courtiers, guards, and pages. + +"All will be well now, my Lady Daphne," he whispered confidentially. "I +have brought hither two noble dames to persuade the Princess to renounce +this ill-omened alliance--the Grand Duchess of Gleneagle and Margravine +of Muscombe, her Majesty's dearest and most intimate friends. She will +surely be overjoyed when I announce their arrival." + +Somehow Daphne could not share his certainty. Queen Selina had been +careful not to dwell too much, in her presence, on these aristocratic +acquaintances, and they certainly had not visited "Inglegarth" while she +had been an inmate of the household. + +"If I were you, Baron," she said diplomatically, "I should send away all +these people before I told her Majesty. I am sure she would rather +welcome her friends in private." + +He accepted the suggestion, cleared the hall, and bustled away, after +committing the still unconscious visitors to Daphne's care. + +She found them laid side by side on couches in the vestibule, which was +a lofty chamber, panelled in ivory and ebony, with inset opals of +enormous size and a ceiling of dull silver. The Duchess was a short, +spare, grey-haired and rather homely-looking woman in a black +_demi-toilette_ with priceless old lace. Lady Muscombe was about +twenty-six, tall, with a beautiful figure and a pale, piquant face; she +wore a rose _charmeuse_ gown that scintillated with _paillettes_; her +luxuriant, but just then slightly dishevelled, chestnut hair was +confined in a sparkling band, from which drooped a crushed pink plume. + +As they seemed on the point of awaking, Daphne, thinking that they would +probably prefer to do so unobserved, discreetly left them to themselves. + +Lady Muscombe was the first to recover. She sat up, stretched her white +and shapely arms, and yawned widely, revealing her perfect teeth, as she +regarded the Duchess with sleepy brown eyes. + +"I suppose you are the Duchess of Gleneagles?" she said. "And, if you +don't mind, I should rather like to know why you've brought me +here--wherever it is." + +"I?" said the Duchess. "I've had nothing to do with bringing you. Don't +even know who you are--though you seem to have got hold of my name." + +"Why, I married Muscombe--the Marquis, don't you know. I dare say you +knew before that I was Verity Stilton of the Vivacity. I was working my +way up to quite important parts. You may have seen me in some of them?" + +"I have not had that advantage. I seldom visit a theatre, and when I +do----" + +"You like to go and see something stuffy? _I_ know. And I expect you've +got quite a wrong idea of Musical Comedy. Most of us in the Chorus at +the Vivacity were ladies by birth. And we didn't mix with the others, +off the stage. We were most particular, too. I assure you I never went +to sup alone with Nibbles--I call Muscombe 'Nibbles,' you know--he's so +exactly like a white mouse--I never supped with him alone till after we +were regularly engaged." + +"That is most interesting," said the Duchess, "and entirely to your +credit, but it doesn't explain how we came to be here together." + +"All I can say is that a queerly dressed old freak suddenly burst into +my flat, just as I was going to dine at the Carlton, and told me you +were waiting outside in a car to take me on a visit to the Queen." + +"And did not that strike you as slightly improbable?" + +"Oh, for anything _I_ knew, you might be another of Nibbles's aunts. I +haven't nearly worked through all his relations yet. But I said at once +that I couldn't throw over my Carlton party to oblige any Duchess on +earth. And then the old creature put on a cap and vanished. And the +_next_ thing I knew was that a cloak was thrown over my head and I was +being lifted up and bundled out kicking--and that's all I remember. I +don't know what they thought of me in Mount Street, or why nobody +interfered." + +"Much the same thing happened to _me_," said the Duchess. "Only I was +told that the Queen wished to see me at once on an urgent matter. Of +course, as the messenger's appearance did not inspire me with +confidence, I insisted on seeing his credentials. And then he +disappeared, and I found myself caught up and carried off. I suppose +none of my people were in the hall, or else they were too afraid to come +to my rescue. And Stratford Place is very quiet, so my smothered cries +attracted no attention. Besides, I fancy I must have been chloroformed." + +"I expect we both were. Nibbles would be furious if he knew--luckily he +doesn't. We had a tiff, and he went off to Monte, all on his little +lone. But I wish I had any idea where we are." + +"I have certainly no recollection of ever having been in such a place as +this before in my life," said the Duchess. + +Daphne returned in time to offer what explanations she could. + +"I know it must seem a little strange at first," she said, coming +forward, "but this is the Palace of the Queen of Märchenland." + +"Märchenland?" repeated the Duchess. "And where may _that_ be? Never +heard of such a country!" + +"Well," said Daphne, "it's a long way from everywhere, and it's the +place where most of the stories one used to think were only Fairy Tales +really happened." + +"I never expected to find myself in Fairyland," the Duchess remarked. +"Tell me--are you the Queen of this country? You look as if you might +be." + +"Oh no," replied Daphne, with a little laugh. "I'm only one of her +ladies-in-waiting. She hasn't long been Queen. We were all carried here +from England in a big car drawn by flying storks--the one that brought +_you_, I expect. I don't know, of course," she added dubiously, "but +you may have met Queen Selina when she lived at Gablehurst--her former +name was Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson." + +"Wibberley-Stimpson?" repeated the Duchess thoughtfully. "No, I can't +say I remember anyone of that name." + +"Nor I," said Lady Muscombe languidly. "Don't know _any_ one at +Gablehurst." + +"But if she is half as charming as you, my dear," added the Duchess +graciously, "it will give me much pleasure to make her acquaintance, +though I am curious to know why she seems to have taken so much trouble +to cultivate mine." + +At this moment Queen Selina herself arrived, very much out of breath. +"Your Grace!" she began, "My lady Marchioness!" + +"Ah, here is the housekeeper!" said the Duchess, before Daphne could +enlighten her. "Can you tell us, my good woman, when and where her +Majesty will receive us?" + +"I--I _am_ her Majesty!" said Queen Selina, wishing she had devoted more +pains to her morning toilet. + +"Oh, to be sure," said the Duchess. "You must forgive my blunder, Ma'am, +but my sight is not what it was." + +"It is of no consequence, my dear Duchess--pray don't mention it. Miss +Heritage, I find I _shall_ require that skirt after all. You will be +good enough to see to it at once, and not come down till it is +finished," said the Queen sharply, feeling it more imperative than ever +to prevent any account of this meeting from being communicated to the +Court.... "No, Baron, I shall not require _you_," she went on, as he +appeared at the entrance. "You have done quite enough." And Daphne and +the Baron withdrew accordingly. + +"I'm so distressed, your Grace, by this unfortunate--er--_contretemps_," +said Queen Selina, as soon as she had her guests to herself. "I really +hardly know how to apologise. I'm afraid my old Court Chamberlain has +taken a most unpardonable liberty." + +"Well, Ma'am," said the Duchess, "there's no doubt he kidnapped both +myself and this lady here. On false pretences, too! I don't know yet +whether he was acting on _your_ instructions?" + +"Most decidedly not! Indeed I should never have ventured. The fact is, +he must have confused you with two other ladies of title who are great +friends of mine. I expect he heard me mention them, and--it was most +stupid and careless of him, I know--but he must have concluded I wanted +to see _them_, and brought _you_ by mistake." + +"I see," said the Duchess; "though I don't understand how he came to +know our names and addresses, as he must have done to find us." + +"Oh," said Queen Selina, with much presence of mind, "you're both of you +public characters, you know. He's such an old blunderer, he probably +couldn't find the right people, and thought you would do as well." + +"I can only say," replied the Duchess, "that that impression of his has +put me to a great deal of personal inconvenience." + +"I was carried off without a chance of ringing them up at the Carlton, +where I ought to have dined last night!" complained Lady Muscombe. + +"If your Majesty will get a new Chamberlain--one who isn't an absolute +idiot," said the Duchess severely, "your house-party would be in less +danger of being recruited in this irregular manner." + +"But I assure you I'm delighted to see your Grace, and you _too_, of +course, Lady Muscombe! I hope, now you _are_ here, you will stay as long +as ever you can. Such a pleasure always to his Majesty and myself to +welcome any of our own country-women! And now I will take you up to your +rooms, and you will no doubt be glad of a little rest before you come +down to lunch and meet the family." + +"I cannot possibly appear at lunch in this dress," said the Duchess; +"but I shall be glad if you will send me up some food, and then I must +really start for home." + +"So must I," declared Lady Muscombe; "there'll be a fuss if I'm not back +soon--and I simply _couldn't_ stay in any house without a single trunk, +or a maid either! It isn't giving me a fair chance!" + +"I'm afraid the storks won't be fit for such a long return journey just +yet," said their hostess; "and it would be a pity to leave without +seeing something of Märchenland, so I hope you will remain for at least +a night, as a favour to me. I see no one of any real distinction _now_! +And as for clothes, I can lend you all you require. You will excuse +their being out of the fashion--we don't get the latest Paris models +here." + +"You're very kind," said the Duchess. "Then I will accept your +hospitality for the present." + +"So will I--er--your Majesty, thanks," said Lady Muscombe. "It will be +something to tell Muscombe--when we're on speaking terms again." + +"So very nice and friendly of you both!" said Queen Selina as she +escorted them across the hall to the foot of the immense staircase. "I +must apologise for asking you to come up all these steps, but there's +no such thing as a lift here. The Astrologer Royal offered to try and +procure us a flying carpet--but, of course, I wouldn't hear of that." + +"Well," said the Duchess, as she toiled up, "this is certainly a +wonderful Palace you live in--I have never seen one so splendid in my +life!" + +"Ah, my dear Duchess, it's much too large to be really comfortable, +and all the arrangements, too, so unlike our English ways! I'm afraid +I shall never get things done here according to _my_ ideas.... This +is _your_ room, dear Duchess, and yours is next, Marchioness. I will +send some of my waiting-women to you with everything necessary. You +will find us assembled in the Throne Room before lunch.... Oh, and +there's just one thing. My Court have got an impression--I'm sure +I don't know why--that we're quite old friends. If you _wouldn't_ +mind--er--addressing me as 'Selina' now and then.... Not at all, I +assure you, I should consider it a compliment--from _you_.... Then I +shall hope to see you later on in the Throne Room.... It's in the left +wing, down the great corridor; you can't miss it because of the +trumpeters at the doors." + +After an interval the two visitors made their appearance in the Throne +Room, arrayed in magnificent but rather fantastic robes of velvet and +brocade with long hanging sleeves lined with ermine--a costume which +suited Lady Muscombe better than the Duchess. + +Queen Selina advanced to welcome them effusively. "So you've found your +way here!" she said. "How very well you both look in those dresses! Most +becoming, I assure you. By the bye, my dear Duchess, did you ever +recover that tiara you lost in the train?" + +"I never _did_ lose it," replied the Duchess, "I believe some story got +into the papers, but it was a down-right lie." + +"So glad! I must tell you that I don't as a rule wear my crown at lunch, +but I thought, to-day being a gala occasion--" + +"Quite right!" said the Duchess. "And quite regal!" + +"I could lend both of you tiaras, if it would make you feel more at your +ease." + +"I feel perfectly at ease as I am, thank you," replied the Duchess +shortly. + +"Nibbles gave me one of the family fenders," said the Marchioness, "but +I never wear it--it gives me such a headache." + +"Ah, dear Lady Muscombe, I can sympathise with you--but I have to put up +with _my_ headaches. I want you to come and shake hands with my +husband--His Majesty, you know." + +"Charmed," said the Duchess. "Is that His Majesty with the--er--auburn +whiskers and moustache? I thought it must be.... How d'you do, sir?" + +"Thank you, your Grace, I'm very tolerably well," said King Sidney, who +was not entirely at his ease in welcoming such distinguished +guests--especially as he was far from clear as to how and why they came +to be there. "Glad you found time to--er--look us up. Hardly had time to +settle down here ourselves yet--so you must take us as you find us." + +"I never expected to find you all so magnificent, I can assure you," +replied the Duchess. + +"Oh, well," he said, "my wife likes living in style. And of course when +you are Royalties, so to speak, you've got to do the thing well." + +"That is my eldest daughter, Edna, Duchess, the Princess Royal ... yes, +over there, with the eye-glasses. Edna, my love, come and tell her Grace +how delighted you are to see her, and Lady Muscombe too." + +"How do you do, my dear? You're looking well," said the complaisant old +lady, preparing to embrace her hostess's daughter.... "Oh, if you prefer +me to kiss your hand, ma'am----" + +"You shouldn't be so formal, Edna!" said her mother. "Not with such an +old friend as the Duchess. This, Duchess, is my son, the Crown Prince +Clarence, and here is my youngest daughter, Princess Ruby." + +"I must tell you about Edna, my dear Duchess," said Queen Selina, +drawing her apart after these presentations had been effected. "She has +only just become engaged--to a neighbour of ours, young Count von +Rubenfresser. From a merely worldly point of view she might have done +much better. In fact, Prince Mirliflor of Clairdelune came here to +propose to her, but she rejected him. Wouldn't hear of anyone but the +Count! So as His Majesty and I do not approve of forcing our children's +hearts, we have let her have her own way." + +"It seems quite a romance," observed the Duchess. + +"Quite. And of course the Count comes of a very old family. I forget +what the original title was, but they've had Castle Drachenstolz for +centuries. _Such_ a picturesque old place! And--actually, +Duchess!--Count Ruprecht has a pet dragon there--it's the only one left +in Märchenland now, and as it's rather a curiosity in its way, and +quite inoffensive, we see no objection to his keeping it. You will +probably meet the Count to-day, he generally drives over to luncheon +now--so devoted to dear Edna! And such a height, too!" + +"I shall be interested to meet him," said the Duchess. "He must be +rather a remarkable person." + +Meanwhile Clarence was engaged in making himself agreeable to Lady +Muscombe. "Funny thing, Marchioness," he remarked, "but I seem to know +your face quite well." + +"Perhaps you've seem me on picture-postcards," she said, "or else at the +Vivacity. Before I married I was Verity Stilton, you know." + +"Oh," he stammered in confusion, "I--I wasn't aware--or else--of course. +Sorry!" + +"Why on earth _should_ you be? You don't suppose I'm ashamed of having +been on the stage? I should soon have got to the front if I had stayed. +I was offered one of the best parts in 'The Girl from Greenland,' and I +threw it up to marry Muscombe. His people know perfectly well that I +sacrificed my career for his sake." (It might be added that if they did +not, it was no fault of Lady Muscombe's.) + +"I remember you," he said. "I used to go to the Vivacity before the +Mater came to the throne." + +"Ah, you haven't been a Royalty long, have you? Weren't you a +Wobbly-something or other before that?" + +"Wibberley-Stimpson was the family name," he corrected. + +"I knew it was something like that. And when you were--one of those, +what did you do with yourself?" + +"I was in Finance," he replied largely. "In the City, don't you know, +what?" + +"Really?" she drawled. "That accounts for my not remembering you. +Somehow, at the Vivacity, we didn't know any City men. All this must be +rather a change for you, isn't it?" + +"It was a bit, at first, but we soon got into it. Except the Guv'nor, +who's never taken very kindly to it--hasn't had the training, what?" + +"And you _have_? I see. And what does a Fairy Crown Prince have to do?" + +"Well," he said, "I do a lot of riding and hunting. Mostly boar about +here. The Guv'nor don't ride, nor does Edna. Can't induce them to get on +a horse. So _I_ have to represent the family." + +"I expect you're no end of a nut here," she said. + +"Oh, really, Marchioness, you're pulling my leg!" + +"Am I? I've never pulled a Fairy Prince's leg before, so it's quite a +new experience for me. But one _expects_ new experiences in +Fairyland--if this really _is_ Fairyland, which I can't quite believe!" + +"Oh, it's Fairyland right enough, though, mind you, it isn't the place +it _was_. Nothing like the magic that there used to be. Most of it died +out. Still, we've got a sort of old Fairy Godmother, as part of the +Palace fixtures--goes about in a car drawn by doves--give you my word +she does! She has another old turn-out, with storks. We came here in +that--and I expect _you_ did." + +"Yes, and I see the old gentleman over there who carried me off by main +force. He doesn't _look_ as if he was such a good hand at abductions!" + +"He looks pretty much the blithering old idiot he is," said Clarence. +"If I'd only known he was going to London I'd have told him to get me a +few thousand cigarettes--they've none here of course. But I expect he'd +only have brought 'Woodbines,' or the wrong sort anyhow!" + +"Does he _always_ bring the wrong sort?" inquired Lady Muscombe. + +"Well," said Clarence, crudely enough, "he didn't make much mistake +about _you_, Marchioness!" + +"That's exactly what I expected from you!" she said. "By the way, what +has become of the lovely person who was with the Duchess and me when we +first woke up? I think your mother called her Hermitage. I don't see her +anywhere here." + +"Heritage--Lady Daphne, as we call her now. She used to be my +kiddie-sister's governess." + +"Oh? Well, she's quite the sweetest thing I've seen--don't you think she +is, yourself?" + +"Not since _you_ came!" was his gallant reply. + +"It's lucky Muscombe can't hear you paying me compliments of that sort," +she said. "If he did he'd want your blood. And why isn't that Lady +Daphne here? I'm dying to see her again. Duchess," she added, as the +elder lady, having escaped from her hostess, came towards them, "I've +been asking the Prince why that charming little Heritage creature isn't +here. You would like to see her, wouldn't you?" + +"Certainly," said the Duchess. "Where is she?" + +"We'll ask the Court Godmother," said Clarence (it had already struck +him that it might give Daphne a higher opinion of him if she could see +the terms he was on with a real English Marchioness). "She'll know." But +the Fairy could only say that she supposed Lady Daphne was remaining in +her own rooms for some reason. + +"I wish you'd get her to come down, Court Godmother," said Clarence. +"These ladies would like to see her." + +"I will go and fetch her myself," said the Fairy, who was pleased, in +spite of herself, that her unacknowledged god-daughter should be in such +request. + +She found Daphne engaged in sewing the great pierced jewels in an +intricate pattern on the skirt of the royal robe. + +"Why, how's this?" exclaimed she. "At work! When they will be sitting +down to table directly! The Prince and our two noble guests have asked +me to come and see what is keeping you." + +"This," said Daphne, touching the skirt on her knee. "Her Majesty has +sent me up to finish it, and forbidden me to come down till it's done." + +"Then," said the Fairy, "she ought to be ashamed of herself!" + +"Oh, I don't mind a bit, Court Godmother. They'll bring me something to +eat presently, and I'd much rather be here than have to meet that odious +Count Ruprecht! Court Godmother," she added, with a little anxious line +on her forehead, "I'd better tell you, though I dare say you'll think it +silly--but I'm rather worried by a conversation I overheard just now +between two pigeons on the roof." + +"You shouldn't pay any attention to anything pigeons say--it's generally +love-talk; and very foolish at that." + +"They weren't making love. They were talking about the Count. The first +pigeon said, 'The Count has come here again. I have just seen his big +coach in the courtyard,' and the second pigeon said, 'There is nothing +in that.'" + +"Well, _one_ of them had some sense, anyway!" remarked the Fairy. + +"Ah, but wait. 'Indeed there is something,' said the other bird. 'There +is a big sack in the coach, and I know what is _inside_ the sack, too.' +'And what may that be?' the second one asked. 'All I can tell you,' said +the first, 'is that, if the Princess only knew as much about it as I do, +there wouldn't be any marriage!' They flew away after that, but I've +been wondering ever since whether he mayn't have murdered somebody." + +"If he had," said the Fairy, "he wouldn't be very likely to bring the +body out to lunch with him. You shouldn't be so uncharitable, my child. +And, as for birds, I should have thought you knew what busy-bodies they +are, and what scandals they make out of nothing at all." + +"Then you think it's all right?" said Daphne, relieved. "But all the +same, I can't trust the Count." + +"Nobody asks you to. I don't trust him myself, if it comes to that. But, +whatever he may or may not be is no affair of yours or mine. Princess +Edna will find out in time what a mistake she has made." + +"If only she doesn't find it out too late!" said Daphne. + +"She'll have herself to thank, whatever happens. _I_ shan't interfere +again. I'm tired of trying to help anyone. I never get anything but +ingratitude for it." + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +BAG AND BAGGAGE + + +The Court Godmother returned to the Throne-room. She had not attached +much importance to what Daphne had told her, but, even if she had, she +would have belittled it in her extreme desire to avoid any action that +might entail inconvenience to herself. + +In the Throne-room, Count Rubenfresser had just been announced. + +"Yes, Duchess," said Queen Selina, in answer to an astonished inquiry. +"That is dear Edna's fiancé. A fine young man, is he not?" + +"Heavens! I should think he _was_! I should call him a giant myself," +replied the Duchess bluntly. + +"I _told_ you he was _rather_ tall. I think he's grown since his +engagement. How do you do, my dear Ruprecht? Come and be introduced to +my old friend the Duchess of Gleneagles, who is _so_ very anxious to +make your acquaintance." + +"I don't much care about knowing old women," said the Count, who had no +great love for his future mother-in-law, and had become much less +deferential of late. + +"But this one's a _Duchess_, Ruprecht!" whispered the agonised Queen. +"Edna, my love, perhaps _you_ had better----" and eventually he +submitted with a slight scowl to be led up and presented by his fiancée. + +"I hear I am to congratulate you--er--Count Fresser," said the Duchess. +"You are certainly a fortunate man to have won a Princess." + +"Not more fortunate than she," he replied. "She wanted a Superman, as +she calls it. I am doing all I can to become one." + +"If she isn't satisfied with you as you are, she must be hard to +please." + +"_She_ is satisfied enough," he said. "Now it is for her to _please_ me. +She knows that by this time--don't you, Edna?" + +"Yes, Ruprecht dear, yes," said Edna, hastily. "Of course I do. This is +how he's taken to bullying me, Duchess," she added lightly. "Don't you +think it's too bad of him?" + +"It seems a little early to begin. You shouldn't allow it." + +"Oh, but I _like_ him to!" said Edna, pressing the Count's great arm. + +"In that case, my dear," said the Duchess, "you have every prospect of a +happy future!" + +A blast from the silver trumpets here proclaimed that luncheon was +served. + +"Lunch, at last, eh?" said King Sidney, bustling up to the Duchess. +"Permit me to offer your Grace my arm. Clarence, my boy, you take in her +ladyship here. Selina, my love, if you will lead the way with the +Marshal." + +The Count followed with Edna, and the Fairy Vogelflug arrived in time to +bring up the rear with Princess Ruby. + +"It's a most extraordinary thing," said the King, after they had sat +down to lunch in the hall with the malachite columns, "a most +extraordinary thing, that, when we have company like this, there should +be no more than six pages to wait on us! We generally have at least a +dozen. What's become of all the rest of you?" he asked a page. + +"I cannot say, sire," answered the boy. "They were waiting in the +courtyard to receive His Excellency the Count, but have not yet +returned." + +King Sidney told the Court Chamberlain to send for them at once, but the +messenger returned with the information that the missing pages were +nowhere to be seen. + +"Must have run off before I arrived," said the Count, laughing +boisterously. "Played truant, the young rascals!" + +The Fairy, however, recollected Daphne's story of the sack, and was +seized with suspicion. Was it possible that the royal pages--? If so, +she felt something ought to be done--though not by her. She was too +cautious an old person to take unnecessary risks, and decided to employ +a deputy. + +"Ruby, my child," she whispered to the little Princess, who was sitting +next to her, "I believe the Count has brought a present for you. It's in +a sack in his coach. Ask him what it is." + +"I don't want to know," objected Ruby, "I wouldn't take any present from +_him_--except Tützi, perhaps." + +"I may be wrong," said the Court Godmother, "perhaps it isn't for you +after all. But I'm sure it would make him very uncomfortable if you +asked him, before everybody, what he happens to have in that sack of +his." + +"If I was sure of that," said Ruby, "I'd ask him like a shot!" + +"You may depend on it. And more than that, Lady Daphne is particularly +anxious to know." + +"Oh, if _Miss Heritage_ wants me to, all right!" said Ruby. "I say, +Count Rubenfresser," she called across the table, "I want to ask you +something." + +"If it's a riddle, little Princess," replied the Count, with his mouth +full, "I give it up beforehand." + +"It isn't a riddle. It's this: What have you got inside that sack?" + +"Sack?" said the Count blankly. "I don't understand. I have no sack +here." + +"I don't mean here. I mean the sack that's inside your coach." + +"Ruby, my dear," interposed her mother, "you mustn't be so inquisitive. +It's very rude." + +"I know he has got a sack there, Mummy," insisted Ruby, "and I do want +to know what he's got in it." + +"Hear me rag my precious brother-in-law," said Clarence aside to Lady +Muscombe. "A sack, eh?" he said aloud. "What do you bring a sack out to +lunch for--scraps?" + +"For shame, Clarence!" cried Edna. + +"It's not a sack, as it happens," said the Count sulkily. "It's a long +bag--and what I use it for is entirely my own business." + +"I don't know so much about that," retorted Clarence. "With such a lot +of plate in the Palace!" + +"Clarence!" cried Edna again. "This is too outrageous of you!" + +"Much!" put in Lady Muscombe. "As if the Count couldn't bring his clubs +with him if he's going on to golf somewhere!" she said to Clarence in an +undertone. "And of course he'd want a very long case for them! You +really _must_ behave more decently!" + +"I mean having this out with the beggar," he replied. "Count, her +ladyship suggests that you may have golf clubs in that bag of yours. Is +that so?" + +"And if I have," said the Count. "Why shouldn't I?" + +"Because you don't play golf. No one does here--now, and I'll take my +oath you can't tell a brassey from a putter. You never owned a set of +clubs in your life!" + +"Really, my boy!" said King Sidney nervously. "A scene like this! Before +our guests! It won't _do_, you know. Drop it!" + +"Yes," said Lady Muscombe, laying her pretty but slightly over-manicured +fingers on Clarence's sleeve. "You're only making everybody +uncomfortable. Talk to me instead!" + +"Presently," he said. "If you really have got golf clubs, Count, I +should like to have a look at them after lunch." + +"I never said I had got those things," replied the Count, with a +wonderful command over his temper. "And if you want to know what _is_ in +the bag, I don't mind telling you--only a few pumpkins from my own +gardens." + +"You mean to say you make such pets of your bally pumpkins that you take +'em out driving with you? That's such a likely story!" + +"Clarence," said the Queen, "I will not have poor Ruprecht badgered like +this. If he chooses to carry pumpkins with him--as we do gold +sometimes--and distribute them to deserving persons, it is so much the +more to his credit." + +"He'd get 'em buzzed back at his head pretty soon, if he did!" replied +the impenitent Clarence. "He's not exactly the object of general +adoration in these parts, as he jolly well knows.... Anything upset you, +Marchioness?" he inquired of Lady Muscombe, who was giggling with a +quite un-peeress-like lack of restraint. + +"Nothing," she said faintly. "Only the--the pumpkins. You really are +_rather_ a funny Royal Family, you know!" + +"I'm sorry to make myself unpleasant, Mater," said Clarence, returning +to the charge. "But I can't swallow those pumpkins. I want the sack +brought in so that we can satisfy ourselves what there _is_ in it." The +Court Chamberlain, in the hope that the contents, whatever they might +be, would at least serve to compromise the Count, instantly despatched +one of the pages to fetch the bag. + +"Baron," said the Queen angrily, "it is for Us to give orders--not you!" + +"Your Majesty must pardon my presumption," he said, as the pages had +already obeyed him. "I was merely carrying out the wishes of His Royal +Highness the Crown Prince." + +"I shall die if this goes on much longer! I _know_ I shall!" gasped Lady +Muscombe. + +"Ha!" cried Clarence, as the pages staggered in with a huge distended +sack. "Leave it alone, I'll open it myself." + +"Surely not without asking the owner's permission?" said the Duchess, +who had hitherto witnessed the scene in silent and dignified amazement. + +"You can open it if you like!" said the Count, with a confident smile. +"And then you will see what a fuss you have made about nothing." + +Clarence cut the cord, and opened the sack. The moment he did so his +jaw fell. "I own up," he said. "I was wrong. They _are_ pumpkins!" + +"And if you are a gentleman, Clarence," cried Edna, "you will apologise +to Ruprecht at once!" + +"There may be something else underneath," he said, lifting a pumpkin +suspiciously in both hands. "Hullo! My hat! What's this I've got hold +of?" he exclaimed, as the vegetable suddenly developed, the moment it +was clear of the sack, into one of the chubbiest of the royal pages. +"Very odd!" he remarked, as he set the boy down. "Let's have the lot +out." He tilted the sack, and as each pumpkin rolled out upon the +sardonyx pavement, a bewildered page sprang up in its stead. + +"Quite a clever trick!" said Lady Muscombe. "Even Maskelyne and Devant +couldn't beat that!" + +"After all, it wasn't so very much of a change!" was Ruby's comment. + +"What do you boys mean by playing at being pumpkins in this way?" +demanded King Sidney. "I must have an explanation of this. Speak out, +one of you!" + +"If it please you, sire," said the first page, sinking on one knee, +"When His Excellency the Count arrived he invited us to get inside the +sack, at the bottom of which he told us we should find sweetmeats. And +we crawled in--and I don't remember any more till I fell out just now." + +"Just count these boys, Baron, will you?" said the King. "The whole +dozen correct? Good. And now, sir," he added, turning to the Count, "I +should like to hear what _you_ have got to say." + +"Allow me, sire," interrupted Marshal Federhelm, as Count Ruprecht +seemed content to smile blandly. "His Excellency no doubt intended to +afford your Majesties a little harmless diversion." + +"That was all," said the Count. "This is a magic sack which has the +property of turning anything inside it into whatever its owner wishes. I +thought it might amuse you." + +"Liar!" struck in Clarence. "You wouldn't have said a word about it but +for Ruby! You meant to take those pumpkins--I mean _pages_--away with +you. You _know_ you did! I don't know what the Guv'nor and Mater think +of it--but I consider myself it was a confounded liberty!" + +"Well, well," said the King, "it was a mistake no doubt. But there's +been no harm done, so perhaps we'd better leave it at that--for the +present, you know, for the present." + +But the Court Chamberlain could not allow such an opportunity to escape +him. "Forgive me, sire," he said eagerly, "but your Majesties are +evidently unacquainted with his Excellency's family history. The motive +for his indiscretion will perhaps be better understood when I mention +that his parents' title was formerly Bubenfresser, and that they were +executed by command of the late King as being notorious ogres." + +"So _that_ was his game, was it?" cried Clarence. "Bagged our pages, +meaning to gobble 'em up when he got 'em home! Am I to have an Ogre for +a brother-in-law?" + +At this there was a general cry of horror. + +"Marshal," said the King, "you must have known all about this--and you +gave that fellow an excellent character!" + +"I had no reason to believe otherwise, sire," replied the ex-Regent +smoothly. "He had been brought up as a strict vegetarian, and I cannot +think that, if he had not acquired a taste for meat at your Majesty's +table, he would ever have developed these--er--hereditary proclivities." + +"He hasn't developed them!" declared Edna. "It's false! Ruprecht, deny +it! Tell them you are no Ogre!" + +"Really, ma'am," said the Duchess to Queen Selina, "I must ask your +permission to leave the table. I don't feel as if I ought to be present +at a family dispute of this intimate nature." + +"Pray don't go, my dear Duchess!" the Queen implored her. "Not till +you've heard what the Count has to say." + +The Count rose and folded his arms in proud defiance. "I'm not an Ogre," +he said sulkily. + +"I knew it--I knew it!" cried Edna. "Appearances were against him, +that's all!" + +"Not an Ogre yet," went on the Count. "But I hope to be one as soon as I +get the chance." + +"No, no, Ruprecht!" protested Edna. "You don't mean it--you _know_ you +don't!" + +"What!" said the Count, scowling at her. "Are you going to turn round on +me like this, after encouraging me as you did?" + +"You will not find it easy to persuade me," said the Duchess, "that the +Princess would ever have urged you to become an Ogre." + +"_Urged_ him, indeed!" cried Edna wildly. "I had no suspicion--I never +said a single word that could possibly----" + +"Didn't you say I was to follow the teachings of your great master with +the name I never can pronounce?" he demanded. "Didn't you tell me to +make my own morality and obey my own instincts, without caring what +people thought or what suffering I inflicted? You know you did! And +that's all I've done. My instincts told me that those pages were my +natural provender. I had a perfect right to take them if I could. The +only people who would condemn me would be just those average +conventional persons for whom you have such a contempt. I expected +better things from _you_!" + +"I cannot sit here another moment," declared the Duchess, rising. "It is +making me positively ill!" + +"And me!" added Lady Muscombe. "I've been on the point of fainting +several times. I must say," she told Clarence, "this is _quite_ the +weirdest lunch I _ever_ sat through!" + +"We will _all_ leave, Duchess," said the Queen. "I assure you I entirely +share your sentiments, and perhaps by this time even Edna----" + +"I loathe him, Mother!" she said, shuddering; "I only hope I shall never +see his face again!" + +"You hear that, sir?" said King Sidney, with more firmness than he +usually showed. "And, as the Princess Edna--er--voices the general +feeling, perhaps you'll see the propriety of getting out of this at +once?" + +"It seems to me," said the Count, "that you are all making a great fuss +about nothing. If I'd eaten any of your pages I could understand it. But +I haven't--I never got the chance." + +"Thanks to Clarence!" put in Queen Selina. "He saved the poor boys!" + +"It was Miss Heritage, _really_, Mummy!" corrected Ruby jealously. +"_She_ wanted to know about the sack, or I shouldn't have asked." + +"Miss Heritage!" muttered Edna. "Ah! I might have _known_ it!" + +"Now just you be off to that castle of yours," said the King, addressing +the discomfited but quite unrepentant Ogre. "And mind you keep inside it +for the future. _You_ will see that he does that, Marshal? I don't want +any scandal about this business, but if I have any _more_ trouble from +you, I shall be forced--well, to take some very strong measures." + +"I'm just going," said the Ogre calmly. "May I have my bag?" + +"Confound your impudence, no!" returned the King, "I shall have the +beastly thing destroyed." + +"Then I think you ought to give me back some of the money I paid for +it," said the Ogre. "I bought it from Master Xuriel, and I know you get +two-thirds the price of any article he sells. He told me so." + +"You--you infamous scoundrel!" cried King Sidney, turning extremely red, +perhaps with anger. "Marshal, see this ruffian off the premises--and +look here, just send for that rascally astrologer, will you? I'll make +short work of _him_!" + +"Farewell, then, to your Majesties," said the Ogre, with a jaunty wave +of his big hand. "And farewell to _you_, Princess Edna. If I have not +been as much of a Superman as I could wish, you may still find that I +have profited by your teachings." + +The old Court Chamberlain's chest gave a loud crack as the Count +swaggered out. + +"Thank goodness he's gone!" said Queen Selina. "Really, my dear Duchess, +and you, dear Lady Muscombe, I simply can't _say_ how distressed I am +that anything so unpleasant should have occurred while you were under +our roof. I do _hope_ you won't blame _me_. I always disliked the Count +myself--but I should never have dreamed of asking him to meet you if I +had known the sort of person he really _was_!" + +"Indeed, Ma'am," said the Duchess, "I can quite believe _that_." + +"And, after all," said Lady Muscombe languidly, "I dare say there are +lots of people in town--in houses where they don't keep a page, I +mean--who'd be glad enough to get him to come and dine. Society is so +much less exclusive than it used to be." + +"That," remarked the Duchess, "entirely depends on what you mean by +'Society.' And now, Ma'am," she continued to her hostess, "as the +birds--I think you mentioned that they were storks--which brought us +here should be rested by this time, I shall be obliged if you will order +the car to take me back as soon as I have changed my dress." + +"And me, too, if you don't mind," said Lady Muscombe. "I _must_ get home +before Nibbles does." + +"Oh, but you mustn't leave us so soon!" protested Queen Selina in +dismay. "To come all this way for such a miserable little visit!" + +"A flying visit, let us call it," said the Duchess. "But, candidly, this +country of yours doesn't suit me. I don't feel safe with characters such +as Ogres and Giants and Dragons about." + +"But I assure your Grace there are very very few--hardly any, in fact!" + +"There are more than my nerves can stand," said the Duchess, firmly, and +Queen Selina, though deeply mortified by her guests' eagerness to go, +found that she could no longer detain them. + +The Court Chamberlain and his attendants brought the stork car to the +palace door by the time the visitors had resumed their former costumes. + +"Good-bye, dear Duchess!" said the Queen. "So charmed to have seen you, +even for so short a time. I hope some day you will come again." + +"I think it improbable," was the grim reply. "And if you'll allow me to +say so, Ma'am, when I do stay anywhere, I prefer a house where I can be +sure of the sort of people I am likely to meet." + +"I say, Marchioness," cried Clarence, as he joined them on the steps, +"you're not really going, are you? I wish you'd stay on a bit. We were +getting on thundering well together, you and I!" + +"Very sad, isn't it?" she answered, with a charming but slightly mocking +grimace. "But Nibbles wouldn't like me to stop here philandering with +Fairy Princes--even if they _aren't_ quite the real thing. Good-bye, +Ma'am," she added, with a gay little nod, as she stepped into the car, +where the Duchess was already seated. "Thanks so much for having me! +It's a wonderful house to stay in--and a most interesting experience." + +"I have an impression," said the Duchess drowsily, "that I shall wake up +presently and find all this has been a dream. I trust so, but, if not, +would you mind telling this elderly gentleman to set me down in some +unfrequented part--_not_ Stratford Place, where I should attract more +attention than is at all desirable." + +"That's a good idea, Duchess!" said Lady Muscombe. "He can drop us on +Clapham Common, and we can share a taxi home." + +Queen Selina kissed her hand affectionately to them both as the storks +spread their great wings and the car slowly rose. But her salute was +not returned--principally for the reason that both ladies had already +closed their eyes in slumber. + +"And we might have made those two women our friends for life!" she +lamented, as she went indoors. "I hope, Edna, my love, you see _now_ +what comes of getting your own way?" + +"If I have been mistaken for once," said Edna, in a spiritless tone, +"you needn't rub it in, Mother. I can't imagine now what I could ever +have seen in that detestable creature." + +"Nor I--especially as you could see nothing in Prince Mirliflor, who +really _was_--no, my dear, I'm only speaking for your good. If I was +sure you regretted your treatment of him, I might perhaps find some +way----" + +"I dare say I should act differently if he asked me again. But he won't. +This dreadful story is sure to get round to him somehow. Of course I'm +glad Ruprecht has been found out in time. But he need not have been +exposed so publicly! I _do_ resent that. And you heard what Ruby said? +Miss Heritage was at the bottom of it. She deliberately planned this to +humiliate me! And if you have the smallest consideration for me, Mother, +you will forbid her to appear at Court after this." + +"I'm afraid she is a designing young person," admitted the Queen, "and I +have thought more than once lately of sending her home to England." + +"Then do it, Mother. If you don't, I shall simply refuse to appear in +public myself, sooner than meet her." + +"She shall go, my dear. I'll see the Court Godmother about it at once. +And don't let yourself get too downhearted over the other +affair--Prince Mirliflor, I mean. I've great hopes we can put that +right." + +"I've just left poor darling Edna," she began, as soon as she found the +Fairy alone; "all this has been a terrible shock to her, as you may +imagine. But it seems I was right in thinking she never really cared for +that unspeakable man. He _terrified_ her into accepting him. And, +between ourselves, Godmother, I fancy that, if you _could_ induce Prince +Mirliflor to come forward again, he would not be sent away a second +time." + +"So I should imagine, myself," said the Fairy drily. "But, as it +happens, owing to the result of my previous efforts, I have lost all +influence with Mirliflor. He and I have fallen out." + +"But you could easily make it up with him. You might say she was really +in love with him from the first, only she wished to put him to the +proof--something of that sort. Tell him how delighted we should all be +to see him again. There's _another_ little matter I wished to speak to +you about. Edna has taken the strongest dislike to that Miss Heritage, +who I must say has acted most unwarrantably. I have made up my mind to +part with her, and I thought, if you would arrange to have her taken +back to England as soon as the car returns to-morrow----" + +"Stop," said the Fairy, "I must have time to think over that." She had, +it is true, renounced all further interference in anybody's affairs, but +habit was too strong for her. Her old brain was busying itself once more +with the scheme she had abandoned--a scheme that would certainly not be +assisted by Daphne's expulsion from Märchenland. So she temporised. + +"Yes," she said at last, "I quite see from what you tell me, that Lady +Daphne cannot remain at Court any longer. The difficulty is that I can't +send her back to England just yet. My storks will not be fit for so long +a flight again for a fortnight at the very least. I'm not going to have +them killed on her account. I could do _this_ for you. I could establish +her in a little pavilion in a distant part of the palace grounds and +keep her there, under my own eyes, till the storks are ready for another +journey. It's a very secluded place--almost a wilderness--and none of +the Court ever go near it." + +"That seems an excellent plan," said the Queen. "But I shouldn't care +for them to know that she is a prisoner. They had better be told that +she has resigned her situation and left the Palace. And--you won't +forget my little hint--about Prince Mirliflor, you know?" + +"I will bear it in mind. In fact, if you can spare me for a day or two, +I thought of going over to Clairdelune in the dove-chariot to-morrow and +having a little chat with him." + +"Oh, by all means do!" said the Queen gratefully. "So kind of you to +take so much trouble!" + +"It's more on his account than yours," replied the Fairy, with a candour +that might have been intended as complimentary. "But I don't guarantee +that anything will come of it--at all events for a considerable time." + +"Indeed I quite understand that--that his wound can hardly be expected +to heal just yet." + +The Fairy lost no time in conveying Daphne to the secret pavilion +without the knowledge of any of the Court. It was quite fit for +occupation, and supplied with all that was necessary for comfort; the +Court Godmother provided her with an attendant, and even procured some +ancient volumes of Märchenland history with which Daphne could beguile +her solitude. + +That night the Court Godmother summoned up all her energies to send +Mirliflor another vision of Daphne. It was the best vision she had ever +transmitted, but it was terribly exhausting work, and she grumbled +bitterly to herself that the scheme she had in hand should demand these +excessive exertions. + +But it was one of the good old-fashioned schemes which have always been +beloved by romantic but didactic Fairy Godmothers. It would test the +characters of Mirliflor and Daphne, and be valuable moral discipline for +both, while, if they came through it triumphantly, they would be amply +compensated for any temporary inconvenience. She had not engaged in an +affair of this kind for at least a century and a quarter, and she was +looking forward to a highly interesting and enjoyable experience. First +she must regain her influence over Mirliflor, but she thought she would +not find much difficulty in doing that. + +The Astrologer Royal had been duly summoned before the King to explain +his dealings with the Ogre-Count. But he not unwisely preferred to +disappear instead, taking with him his books of spells and other +apparatus. It was reported that he had found refuge at Drachenstolz. + +"Gone there, has he?" said King Sidney to the Marshal. "Better send +someone to arrest him." + +"It would need an army, sire," said the Marshal, "and a long siege, to +enter the Castle." + +"Oh, is that so?" said the King. "Well, then, have guards posted all +round to see that they don't get out. After all, so long as we keep +them boxed up there, they can't do any mischief." And the guards were +posted accordingly. + +Poor Ruby was almost broken-hearted on hearing from her mother that her +beloved Miss Heritage had gone back to England without so much as a word +of farewell. The Court received the news with murmurs, and a strong +suspicion that she had not left of her own free will. + +Clarence was in the deepest dejection. It was true that he had made no +advance of late in his pursuit of her, but so long as she remained there +had always been hope. Now that she was gone for ever, even his riding +and hunting became uninteresting and purposeless. What was the use of +excelling in them when she was not there to hear of his prowess? + +Early that afternoon he returned from the forest, and, after spending a +few minutes in his own apartments, came down to his father's private +cabinet with a gloomy and slightly startled expression. He found King +Sidney alone and in better spirits than usual. + +"Back from your hunting already, my boy?" he said. + +"Had enough of it," said Clarence. "Felt a bit off it to-day, somehow." + +"Ah, your mother and I are just in from a drive. There's no doubt +this--er--rupture with that disgusting fellow has brought about an +enormous improvement in the public feeling. We were cheered, my boy, +actually _cheered_!" + +"It may be some time before you're cheered again, Guv'nor," said +Clarence. "I mean, you made a grand mistake in letting that little +perisher Xuriel sell those tables of his 'Under Royal patronage,' and +I'm afraid you'll hear of it before long." + +"Eh, why, what's _wrong_ with them? They seemed to give perfect +satisfaction. Have there been any complaints?" + +"There'll be lots if they all go like mine has. When I came in just now +I was feeling a bit peckish, so I got out my table. It laid itself right +enough, only the wine was stiff with wriggly things like tadpoles--and, +when I lifted the dish-cover, I'm hanged if there weren't a couple of +great fat snakes under it, hissing like tea-kettles! And I paid the +beggar a sack and a half of ducats for that table!" + +"Most untradesmanlike!" said King Sidney indignantly. "Of course you can +make him return the money! No, you can't, though, I forgot--the fellow's +bolted!" + +"I wasn't thinking so much of that," said Clarence, "but suppose all the +_other_ johnnies who've bought tables find they're wrong 'uns, and want +their money back--from _us_?" + +"They wouldn't have a leg to stand on, my boy. It's a clear case of +'Caveat emptor.' But, after all, there's no reason at present to suppose +the other tables are--hem--in a similar condition to yours." + +"It's to be hoped not," said Clarence. "There'll be the devil's own row +if they are." + +Unfortunately it soon appeared that they were, and the numerous persons +in Eswareinmal who had purchased them felt their grievance so strongly +that they sent a large and somewhat turbulent deputation to demand an +audience from His Majesty. + +King Sidney received them, indeed he could not very well avoid doing so, +as they forced their way to his presence. He did his best to reason +with them, pointing out the undeniable fact that no guarantee had been +given that the tables would last for ever, and that it was scarcely +surprising if, after being in constant use, they should begin to show +symptoms of wear and tear--a phrase which had the effect of infuriating +them almost to madness. Nor were they pacified when he quoted his maxim +of "Caveat emptor," and pointed out that, if people _would_ invest in +magic tables, some degree of trickery was only to be expected. His +arguments were lost on them. They had discovered somehow that the +greater part of their purchase money had gone to swell the Royal +revenues, and they clamoured for instant restitution. + +So finally the King had recourse to his usual expedient. "Don't let us +have a row about this little matter, gentlemen," he said. "I'm anxious +to meet you if I can, and I tell you what I'll do. I'll have the Council +summoned at once. You can lay your claims before them, and if they can +see their way to granting you any compensation, we shall be as good +friends as ever again." + +King Sidney's idea had been that the Council, if they decreed any +compensation at all, would do so from funds belonging to the State. It +appeared, however, that they did not consider this to be within their +powers. They decided that, as the Sovereign had enjoyed the greater part +of the profit on the sales of the self-supplying tables, he was bound to +refund the money, proportionate deductions being made for the period +during which each table had been in proper order. This required +elaborate calculations, but the Lord Treasurer had a wonderful head for +figures, and worked them out to such effect that there was only +moderate grumbling on the part of the creditors, all of whom received +rather more than their due, while a good many had never bought a table +at all. + +So, on the whole, the decision satisfied all except the Royal Family. + +"It's easy to be generous with other people's money!" said the King. +"But this business has nearly cleared us out. That confounded Treasurer +hasn't left us more than a dozen sacks or so to go on with. He's +suggested that I might try to get a loan from the King of +Goldenbergenland. I'm told he's wealthy, so perhaps he'd be willing to +oblige a fellow-monarch, if I gave him the mine as security." + +"That mine?" said Clarence. "Why, it doesn't cover its working +expenses--and never will, with the wages we pay those miner-johnnies!" + +"Most exorbitant," said the King; "I've been thinking of--hem--bringing +back those yellow gnomes. They wouldn't want wages--and the mine would +be healthier for them than those marshes they're draining." + +"It might," agreed Clarence, "if there were any of the poor little +beggars left. But I believe the climate has been too much for 'em." + +"Has it, though? I'm afraid they must have neglected to take proper +precautions. Very ungrateful, after all I've done for them! But it's no +use trying to benefit _that_ class of persons. I see that now." + +Clarence still wore his pendant, though he rode less and less +frequently. The Marshal told him that there was excellent carp-fishing +to be had on the Crystal Lake a few miles from Eswareinmal, and he took +up this sport, making solitary expeditions to the lake, from which he +returned in better spirits for a time. But even this occupation soon +palled, and the whole Court were struck by his increasing dejection, +which, rightly or wrongly, they attributed to the absence of Lady +Daphne. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +"RIVEN WITH VAIN ENDEAVOUR" + + +After a few hours' flight the Fairy Vogelflug's team of doves had safely +deposited her at the entrance to the Palace of King Tournesol. She +ascertained that Prince Mirliflor was within and went at once to his +apartments. He received her with his usual respect, but there was a +reserve in his manner which showed that the memory of his late fiasco +was still rankling. His reserve increased perceptibly after she had +explained the purpose of her visit. He altogether declined to consider a +second matrimonial venture on her recommendation, hinting as politely as +possible that her idea of a suitable consort for him was too unlikely to +correspond with his own. "You mean with the ideal of your visions?" she +said. "And you saw her again last night. Now didn't you, Mirliflor?" + +"I did," he said; "but how did you know that?" + +"How did I know? Because I sent you the vision, of course. I sent you +the former one, too, though there were reasons why I couldn't tell you +so till now." + +"And why do you tantalise me by making me dream of an unattainable +perfection?" he asked hotly. "Can you suppose that anything short of it +will ever content me now? Since I cannot hope to find so sweet and fair +a Princess in all the world, I am only the more resolved to live and die +unmarried!" + +"She exists, or I could not have shown her to you in a vision. You have +only to do exactly as I tell you, Mirliflor, and you shall see her, and +win her, if you can." + +"You said all that about the other one, Godmother Voldoiseau," he +replied. "No, it's no good. I really can't trust you again." + +"Don't be obstinate, Mirliflor, or you'll put me in a passion, and +that's dangerous at my age. I grant you I was wrong about Princess Edna. +But I'm not wrong now. I assure you that, if you saw this girl, you +would own that she was no less fair than she appeared in your visions." + +"But if there indeed lives so lovely a Princess," he said, "how comes it +that I have never heard of her existence?" + +"She is no Princess, Mirliflor. Merely a poor friendless girl I have +chosen to protect." + +"So much the better," he said. "She is the less likely to refuse me." + +"Because you are a Prince? Just so--but I don't intend that she shall +accept you for any such reason. I shall not allow you to see her at all +unless you promise not to reveal your rank, or even your real name, to +her until I give you leave to do so." + +"You have my word, Godmother," he replied. "After all, it may be that, +even without rank or title, I shall succeed in obtaining favour in her +eyes." + +"You trust to your good looks--but those, too, you must consent to +sacrifice. Love that is based on mere outward appearance soon passes. I +have to be very careful now how I exercise any magic power +whatever--each time it takes more and more out of me, and even sending +you these visions taxed me most severely. Still, I will make another +effort and change you into a less comely form." + +"I suppose you are proposing to turn me into a beast of some kind?" he +said. "If so, I cry off. I know it succeeded with an ancestor of +ours--but that was centuries ago, and I'm not inclined to undertake the +risk myself." + +"I'm not asking you to undertake it. The form you would assume would be +human, and not in the least repulsive. In strict fairness I ought to +transform the girl as well, but as I know very well that, if I did, you +would never so much as look at her, I must leave her as she is. Only if +you don't consent to be transformed yourself, you will never see her at +all." + +"But what if I let myself be transformed and find out when I see her +that she doesn't resemble my vision?" + +"You need not fear that. But if, when you see her, you wish to withdraw, +I will bring you back here and restore you to your own shape again, and +thus you will be none the worse." + +"Well," he said, "on those terms I agree." Upon which the Fairy began +her incantations, and, after one or two failures, succeeded in +remembering the precise formula and accomplishing the metamorphosis. + +"I knew it would come back to me in time," she remarked, exhausted but +gratified. "I shall suffer for it later--but it's certainly a highly +successful piece of work--as you will see if you go and look at yourself +in that mirror." + +When he looked it was a complete stranger that he saw reflected. A young +man of his own height and figure, but with features that, without being +absolutely plain, were quite ordinary. His own curling brown locks were +replaced by short black hair, and his complexion had deepened from its +original slight bronze to a swarthy hue. Even his silk and velvet suit +had suffered a change and was now a coarse leather jerkin with hose and +sleeves of russet cloth. + +"You might just as well have made a beast of me outright!" he said +bitterly. "I should have been as likely to win the heart of any maiden +as I am now." + +"My dear Mirliflor," retorted the Fairy, "if, as you are now, you cannot +win this girl by your own worth, it will either be because she is not +worth winning or you have not sufficient worth to deserve her." + +"And how," he asked, "am I to set about winning her?" + +"You will start at once for Eswareinmal--on horseback if you like, +provided your horse and his trappings are not too fine. You will leave +him outside the City, and find your way to one of the side entrances of +the Palace, where you will ask an attendant to inform me that +'Giroflé'--as you will henceforth call yourself--has arrived in +obedience to my summons. I will arrange that you shall see this girl, +and it will then be for you to say whether you will go any further or +not in this enterprise. You had better leave the Palace without seeing +the King, your father, and I will explain to him that there were good +and sufficient reasons for your secret departure." + +However, when she did obtain an audience from King Tournesol, she saw +that he was not in a mood that promised a favourable reception to any +further matrimonial project on Mirliflor's behalf--at all events from +her. So she merely informed him that Mirliflor had left Clairdelune to +seek a bride for himself, and that he might be absent for some time. She +did not mention his transformation, and was disingenuous enough to +agree with the King that the Prince had behaved most unfilially in +departing without permission. But King Tournesol was too glad that his +son's thoughts had again turned to marriage to be very seriously angry, +and the Fairy left him in tolerable good humour, and got back to +Eswareinmal long before Mirliflor, who reached the Palace at last, after +a journey of entirely unfamiliar discomfort and a total lack of the +deference and attention he had always hitherto received as of right. He +made his way in an aggrieved and rather rebellious frame of mind to a +side entrance and, on inquiring for the Court Godmother, was taken at +once to her apartments. After hearing his tale of hardships, which she +merely said were extremely good for him, she led him down by a private +staircase to the gardens at the back of the Palace, and through them, by +a postern gate of which she had the key, to an uncultivated region of +glades and groves. Here she ordered him to conceal himself behind a +thicket at the edge of a clearing, and to remain there till she gave him +leave to come out. He waited for what seemed an interminable time--and +then his patience was rewarded. The Fairy returned with the very lady of +his visions. _This_ time at least his Godmother had not deceived +him--the living reality was even more radiantly beautiful than his +dream! They passed and repassed him several times, and, if he had not +seen Daphne, the mere sound of her gay sweet voice would have been +enough to enslave him. But he could see her perfectly well, and note the +animation of her every gesture, the easy grace with which she moved, and +her pretty tenderness for the old woman who was leaning on her strong +young arm. When would the Fairy see fit to call him forth and present +him to this adorable being? And yet, inconsistently enough, he was +dreading the moment. How could he hope, changed as he was now, that +those bright eyes would regard him with any interest whatever? But, as +it happened, they did not regard him at all on this occasion, for, after +a few more turns up and down the clearing, the Fairy retired with her +_protégée_, and presently re-appeared alone. + +"Well," she said, as Mirliflor came forward at her summons, "now you +have seen her, what is your decision?" + +"I stay here," he replied, "and will submit to anything as long as there +is a chance of gaining her." + +"I expected as much," she said. "And I have arranged that you shall be +employed here as one of the Royal under-gardeners." + +"An under-gardener!" he exclaimed. "Really, Godmother, that is not +giving me a fair chance! And I've never done any gardening in my life!" + +"Then it is high time you began," she said calmly. "It will not only +give you a greater respect for manual labour, but subdue your pride." + +"You have left me nothing I can be proud of. And what opportunity shall +I have of even seeing her?" + +"You will be given the key which will admit you to the grounds, and the +pavilion in which she lives is not far from here. As to opportunities of +meeting her, you must make them for yourself. Those are my conditions," +said the despotic old Fairy, "and if you don't choose to accept them, +you may as well return to Clairdelune at once, for I shall take care +that you never see her again." + +"Oh, I accept," he said. "I can't help myself. Only, it does seem to me, +Godmother, that if you're really anxious that I should succeed, you +might make it easier for me than this!" + +"No doubt," she said. "But if it was easy there would be no merit in +success. I am putting _her_ to the test, remember, as well as you, and +until I see how you both come through it, I cannot be certain that you +are really fitted for one another." + +She had, as a matter of fact, quite made up her mind that they should +marry, but she could not resist such an opening for one of the practical +moral lessons which, as a Fairy Godmother of the fine old didactic type, +she had often brought to an effectively instructive _dénoûment_. + +But if she was enjoying herself over the probation, it is more than can +be said for the unhappy Mirliflor. It is true that, owing to the Court +Godmother's protection, he was treated by the Head Gardener with some +indulgence, but, nevertheless, he had to work much harder and longer +than he liked. Sometimes, however, he was sent to the outlying part of +the gardens, where he was under no supervision, and then it was easy to +slip away to the postern gate, which his key enabled him to enter, and +he was not long in discovering the pavilion which sheltered his +divinity. He wore a big apron and carried a pair of garden shears with +which he lopped and trimmed a shrub now and then by way of accounting +for his intrusion, and sometimes he was rewarded by a glimpse of her. +But that was all, for, with a diffidence he had never known before, he +did not venture near enough to speak. The fact was that he was morbidly +self-conscious about his altered appearance. If the Fairy had only let +him retain his own form, he thought, he would not have hesitated a +moment, but her disdain was more than he could bring himself to face, +and so he watched from afar, and when she wandered out would follow at a +distance, keeping her in view, while remaining unseen himself. It was, +as he felt, not precisely the way to conduct a courtship, and he +despised himself for his want of courage. But he always hoped that +something might happen to bring them together, though it seemed less and +less likely that anything would. + +Daphne, meanwhile, was growing resigned to her exclusion from the +Palace, which she chiefly regretted because she could see nothing of +Ruby, the one member of the Royal Family for whom she could feel any +real affection. She expected to hear at any moment that the car was +ready to take her back to England, where she would have to find +employment if she could. + +The Queen had certainly furnished her with a character; "Miss Heritage," +the reference stated, "has been for some months in the service of Her +Majesty Queen Selina of Märchenland as Governess-companion to Her +Majesty's younger daughter, Princess Ruby. Her Majesty could not +conscientiously recommend Miss Heritage as a teacher for advanced +pupils, but has no doubt that she would be fairly competent to undertake +a situation as Nursery Governess." + +That was all--and Daphne did not think it would do much for her. And +besides, people might want to know who the Queen of Märchenland +was--which would be awkward to explain. But perhaps the Court Godmother +would see that she was not sent home without funds enough to support her +till she could get an engagement. She would be rather sorry to leave +Märchenland, which, queer country as it was in some ways, she had come +to look upon her home. However, she did not worry much about the future, +being content to enjoy her present restful life as long as she might. + +She was comfortable enough in the Pavilion, where she was well looked +after by an elderly taciturn attendant, one of the Court Godmother's own +waiting-women. + +The old Fairy herself came from time to time to inquire after Daphne's +health and bring her news of the Court, and her visits were welcome. +When alone Daphne spent much of her time over the ancient Chronicles, +which the Fairy had provided for her, and which she found strangely +fascinating. Or when she was disinclined to read or embroider, she would +explore the grounds about the Pavilion, which were wild and neglected +enough to impart a sense of adventure to her wanderings. Often, as she +walked and worked or read, her thoughts would drift into dreams--the +dreams that come to most girls--of a Prince Charming who would discover +her in her retreat, and be her champion and deliverer. In a country like +this, such a dream was less unlikely to come true than elsewhere, and +yet she always ended by laughing at herself for indulging it. + +The Prince (for of course he must be a Prince!) would have to make haste +if he was to find her still in Märchenland. But even if he came in time, +she thought, it would be useless--his arrival would be reported at once +to the Queen. For she had lately become aware that she was being watched +by someone who was obviously not the gardener he tried to appear, and +whom she had more than once detected in the act of following her in +secret. He must be either a spy, or a guard with orders to prevent her +escape--as if she were likely to attempt it when there was no place to +which she could escape! She had made no complaint to the Court +Godmother, being unwilling to trouble the old Fairy with a matter of so +little importance. But she took her revenge on the spy by making his +task as difficult as she could. If she detected him in time lying in +wait in the bushes by the front of the Pavilion, she would slip out at +the back, and reach her favourite haunts by a roundabout path screened +by yew hedges, while he imagined her to be still indoors. He was really +such an unsuspicious spy that there was hardly any fun in baffling him. +She had done so with the usual success one hot afternoon, and was making +for a tree under which she often sat. It had great glossy leaves, and +gorgeous flowers with a delicate but penetrating scent, and the thought +of the coolness beneath its spreading branches was particularly +attractive just then. After looking round and satisfying herself that +she had not been pursued, she sat down and opened the book she had +brought--a chronicle of the lives of the Sovereigns of Märchenland. She +had read most of it already, and instead of reading any more, she found +herself thinking of the contrast between their earlier Kings and Queens +and the present occupiers of the throne. The former Sovereigns had had +their failings; some of them had been arbitrary and wrong-headed, one or +two cruel and tyrannical. But none had ever been vulgar or ridiculous. +She could understand poor Mr. Wibberley-Stimpson's being so hopelessly +out of his element--but it seemed strange that Queen Selina, who was +the daughter of a Märchenland Prince, should not have inherited any +trace of royal dignity. They were quite incapable of governing the +people, who, as Daphne knew, regarded them with scarcely disguised +contempt. And it was such a pity, for the good Märchenlanders had been +so loyal at first! They would be loyal still, if only they had a +sovereign for whom they could feel a particle of--. She had got to this +point in her meditations when she was startled by a stealthy rustle in +the branches overhead. The spy had been too clever for her after all! +Well, she thought, with malicious amusement, if he chose to take the +trouble of climbing a tree to watch her, she would keep him employed up +there as long as possible and see which would tire first. He was +evidently getting cramped already, for the branches were cracking quite +loudly, but she would not look up or show that she was in the least +aware of him. And then suddenly a heavy body fell with a flop on the +open book in her lap--and she realised with terror that it was no spy +she had to deal with, but an infinitely more formidable enemy. It was a +huge serpent that had coiled itself swiftly on her knees, which quivered +under the intolerable weight, while its tail twisted round her ankles, +binding them fast, and it reared its evil flat head, crested like a +peacock's, to a level with her chin. Its markings, in alternate rings of +cream, vermilion, black and orange, were strangely beautiful, but she +was in no mood to admire them as she sat there--spell-bound under its +cold tawny eyes. + +Presently it spoke words which made her wish that its speech had been +unintelligible. "Yes," it said, "you are quite right to be afraid of me. +I am here to kill you." + +"Then don't talk about it!" said Daphne, her throat so parched that she +could scarcely speak; "if you must kill me, do it at once and get it +over." + +"Not yet," it said malignantly. "You have an agony of terror to go +through before that. When I see your eyes close I shall know that the +time has come, and I shall strike my fangs into that white throat of +yours, and you will recover just sense enough to feel what pain it is to +die!" Daphne would very possibly have closed her eyes at once and +received the death stroke rather than listen any longer to the +creature's threats, but she had just become aware that help was at hand. +The person she believed to be a spy was stealing up, treading +noiselessly over the velvet turf, his hands already outstretched with +the evident purpose of seizing the reptile from behind. If she could +only engage it in conversation for a minute or two, there was still a +chance for her. + +"I have done you no harm," she said, after moistening her dry lips. "Why +should you hate me like this?" + +"Ask Xuriel, my master," replied the serpent, "who called me into being +for no other purpose than to put you to death." + +"But I have done Xuriel no injury." + +"Then it may be you are an enemy of the Count, whose servant he is. I +know not--nor is it any matter. All I know is that I have been sent here +to--" and here it broke off in a dreadful strangled scream as a pair of +strong hands clutched it firmly by the throat and dragged it writhing +into the open. Daphne sat helplessly looking on as her rescuer struggled +with the thing, which had wound its coils round his waist and leg, and +was trying hard to free its head and strike. He held the venomous head +at arm's-length, gripping its throat tight, while the foam slavered from +its distended jaws, but it was stronger than he, and, as he recognised +this, he urged Daphne to save herself while there was time. + +She had already risen, as she had got over any tendency to faint, but +she had no intention of leaving him to his fate. She had just seen in a +pocket of his leather apron those big garden-shears which she had +noticed him plying with such marked incompetence, and it occurred to her +suddenly that they might be of some real service now. She ran up and, +watching her opportunity, succeeded in whipping them out. Then she +stepped behind the serpent, and forced the blades together just below +the part of its neck that was in her champion's grasp. There was a +highly unpleasant scrunch and jar as they closed, but she pressed with +all her strength, until the reptile's spine was cut through and its body +uncoiled itself from the young man and went writhing and rolling blindly +through the grass. + +Daphne dropped the shears and got out of its way in sudden panic. "It's +not dead! I'm sure it isn't!" she cried to the stranger, whom she had +somehow ceased to think of as a spy. + +"It is harmless enough now, fair lady," he said as he tossed its crested +head into the undergrowth, "thanks to your courage." + +"I never killed anything before," she said. "I hated doing it, and--it +seems such a silly way to kill a snake!" + +"It succeeded," he said, wondering how those small slim hands could have +had the strength. "I could not have held it much longer. You have saved +my life." + +"I couldn't have," she said, "if you hadn't saved mine first. I know now +that you have only been watching and following me about as you have to +see that I didn't get into any danger?" + +"So you were aware that I watched you?" he said. + +Daphne laughed. "How could I help being?" she replied. "And of course I +guessed at once that you weren't a real gardener." + +"What makes you suppose that?" he said. + +"Well," she said, laughing again, "I happen to have seen you at work, +you know." + +"I may have little skill," he said, "nevertheless, I have obtained +employment here as a gardener." + +"I mustn't ask you questions," she said, "but I'm quite sure that, +before you came here, you were in a very different position from any +labourer's." She had noticed a refinement in his speech and manner, and +also the shapeliness of his hands, which the Fairy had been considerate +or forgetful enough to leave unaltered. + +But Daphne's words gave him a sudden hope. Had she detected that he was +a Prince? If so, he was released from his promise of silence! + +"All I may tell you," he said, "is that there were reasons which obliged +me to leave my own country and live here where I am unknown. But I think +you have guessed more than that already!" + +"I will tell you what I think," she said. "I believe you are really a +student, and, whatever you had to leave your country for, it was nothing +you've any cause to be ashamed of. I expect you were accused of plotting +against your Government--and I don't care if you did, because you +wouldn't have if they'd governed properly. Anyway, you escaped, and +thought you'd be safe if you could get a post in the Royal Gardens. +There! it is only a guess, of course, and you needn't tell me whether +I'm right or not." + +He allowed her to think she was, as it was a far more creditable +explanation than any he could have invented for himself. + +"It was rather clever of me to guess all that," she said. "But it would +have been cleverer of you to choose something you knew a little more +about than gardening, wouldn't it? And we can't be strangers after this. +That thing there," and she indicated the headless serpent, which had now +ceased to writhe, and lay limp in the grass, with all its brilliant +colour faded to dingy grey, "introduced us, but it carelessly forgot to +mention our names." + +"Perhaps," he said, quite seriously, "it did not know them." + +"That _would_ account for it, certainly," agreed Daphne, with equal +gravity, though her eyes danced. "Then I'd better explain that I was +Princess Ruby's governess before we came here. Since then I've been a +sort of lady-in-waiting--and now I'm nothing at all. I'm in disgrace, +like you. My name is Daphne Heritage. Now, tell me yours ... Giroflé?... +Well, I am going back to the Pavilion now. I don't feel safe anywhere +else.... Yes, you can see me out of this dreadful place--just in _case_ +there should be another snake about," she conceded, for her nerves were +beginning to feel a reaction, and she was glad of his protection. + +So he walked humbly by her side, saying little for fear of saying too +much, till they came within sight of the Pavilion and then she +dismissed him. "We will say good-bye here," she said; "and you mustn't +keep at a distance any more--it would be too absurd, now--you must come +and speak to me, of course. Though I _may_ be sent back to England at a +moment's notice, and then you won't see me again. But if you don't, I +shall never forget how bravely you risked your life for me." + +She gave him her hand; he held its cool silken softness for a moment and +would have raised it to his lips but for this new humility of his. Then, +with a friendly but almost careless little nod, she was gone, leaving +him with the conviction that it was indifferent to her whether they ever +met again or not. + +He felt that the Fates had not been as propitious as they might. They +had permitted him to rescue her--but then he had been rescued by her +immediately afterwards--a most humiliating anti-climax! There was one +service he could still do her, he thought, and, cutting himself a stout +stick, he made a thorough search of the groves, where however, rather to +his disappointment, he discovered no serpents of any kind. But, in his +anxiety for Daphne, he insisted on seeing the Court Godmother at once +and warning her of the dangers to which she was exposing her _protégée_. + +The old Fairy was secretly disconcerted, though she did not of course +admit that there had been any neglect on her part. "I am not at all +surprised, Mirliflor. In fact, I fully expected something of this sort +to happen," she said unblushingly. "But I knew very well that there was +no danger while you were there to look after her." + +"But it may happen again," he urged. "That accursed Xuriel may create +another serpent, and the next time I mayn't be at hand--unless you can +get me excused altogether from working in the gardens." + +"I shall not do that, Mirliflor," said the inflexible old Fairy. "And +what you fear will not happen again. To begin with, that serpent was +never created by Xuriel." + +"But I heard it say that he had called it into being!" + +"And have you ever known a serpent tell the truth? No, no, Mirliflor, +Master Xuriel is clever enough in his way, but he couldn't make a +serpent of that size. From what you tell me, it was evidently a Crested +Serpent which he had got hold of and trained, and I happen to know it +was the last existing.... But I will have a rope of fine silk, woven +with a certain spell, laid round the Pavilion, and no snake, magic or +otherwise, will be able to cross _that_. It's quite unnecessary, and +will be extremely exhausting to me, still I'll do it, just to set your +mind at ease. And I'll tell her not to go about alone in future.... But +I can't have you going in there whenever you choose in future. The Head +Gardener was complaining to me that you are neglecting your work, and it +won't do to excite his suspicion. You must not attempt to see her till +the close of the day, which will leave you ample time for your +lovemaking.... No, she is not going to be sent back to England. _I_ +shall take care of that. So you can keep a good heart, Mirliflor. I +consider you have made an excellent beginning!" + +He was far from sure of it himself, but at least Daphne would be better +protected henceforth, and even if he could no longer look after her by +day, which he fully intended to do when he found an opportunity, he +could at least see her every evening. It was some comfort, too, to feel +that he could rely on her remaining in Märchenland. + +On her next visit to the Pavilion the Court Godmother heard Daphne's +version of the meeting with Giroflé. "I take an interest in the young +man," she said. "Indeed I got him his place here. He seems to have +behaved very creditably--for a mere gardener. Though I dare say you +think him beneath your notice." + +"After he had saved my life!" said Daphne indignantly. "As if I +_could_--whoever he was! But, as you take an interest in him, Court +Godmother, you must know as well as I do that he isn't really a gardener +at all." + +"Oh, indeed," said the Fairy suspiciously. "And how did you find _that_ +out? From _him_?" + +"No, I guessed. And then he had to admit it." + +"And what did he admit?" + +"Well, that he is a student and has had to go into hiding because he was +suspected of being mixed up in some plot or other. He didn't tell me any +more than that." + +"Ah," said the Fairy, concealing her relief, "he told you more than was +prudent as it was. But I suppose he thought he could trust you with his +secret." + +"And don't _you_, Court Godmother?" flashed Daphne. + +"Oh, I don't think you would betray him. You mustn't go and lose your +heart to him, though. That would never do!" + +Daphne laughed. "Court Godmother!" she said, "you're not really afraid +of my falling in love with him, are you?" + +"Well, no, my dear. Fortunately he's not good-looking enough to make me +very uneasy about that. I should be much more afraid that he might fall +in love with you." + +"Oh, I hope he won't do _that_, poor fellow," said Daphne with a sudden +and uneasy recollection of how he had followed her in secret. "But I'm +going home so soon that I mayn't even see him again." + +"You may have to stay here some time longer," said the Fairy, "so it's +quite possible that he will try to see more of you. However, it will be +easy for you to tell him plainly that you don't want to have anything to +do with him." + +"But I don't mind his speaking to me," said Daphne. "I told him he +might. I should hate hurting him like that. And, after all, Court +Godmother, if he _should_ show any signs of--of what you're afraid of, +he will soon see that it's no use, and be sensible about it." + +"I dare say you're right, my dear, I dare say you're right," agreed the +Court Godmother. "And anyhow, it will be time enough to trouble about +that when it happens--which very likely it never will." + +But in her heart she was more convinced than ever that Mirliflor had +made a very good beginning. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +"A CLOUD THAT'S DRAGONISH" + + +At the first opportunity Mirliflor had returned to the pavilion groves, +where he need no longer worship from a distance. Daphne had received him +graciously enough, but somehow he went away with a feeling that he had +lost ground. He saw her every day after that, occasionally in the +daytime, whenever he could evade the Head Gardener's eye, and always in +the evening. She would talk to him from her window, or sometimes she +would consent to come out and stroll with him in the golden dusk along +grass-grown paths bordered with high and ragged walls of yew. And yet he +parted from her with a sorer heart every evening. She had been as +enchanting as ever, but quite as indifferent. It was useless to tell her +how he loved her; whenever he had tried she had made him understand +that, if he said any more, he would spoil the friendship between them. +So he said no more. + +Sometimes she had made him angry. Unfortunately he could never quite +forget his rank, and he resented the airy way in which she treated him +as a person of no particular importance. She would even laugh at his +efforts to assert his dignity--and he was unused to being laughed at, +especially as he often did not even understand why she laughed. For +Fairy Princes have never been noted for their sense of humour, and poor +Mirliflor was certainly no exception. Once, when she had innocently +permitted herself to remark that she thought Prince Mirliflor had shown +very little spirit or determination in his wooing of Princess Edna, he +lost his temper so completely as to tell her that she would be wiser not +to pass judgment on matters of which she knew so little. Daphne's +silence showed how deeply he had offended, but he was too proud to +conciliate her, and so his evening came to an abrupt end in mutual +coolness. On his way back he cursed himself for his folly. He had done +for himself now--she would never forgive him, never speak to him again! +How could he have been so mad when his only happiness was being near +her? But when he ventured back the next evening, prepared for final +dismissal, he found her as frank and friendly as ever; she seemed to +have forgotten that they had ever fallen out at all. Unfortunately this +was rather humiliating than gratifying, since it only showed how utterly +insignificant he was in her eyes. + +But Daphne did not actually consider him insignificant at all. She was +rather interested in this plain, ordinary-looking youth with a lofty +manner and an air of authority that seemed so incongruous, and yet, even +while she laughed at him for them, impressed her in spite of herself. He +was not quick at seeing a joke--especially against himself--and she +enjoyed teasing and provoking him as she would not have done in the case +of anyone she disliked. + +She knew he was absolutely devoted to her, and although she had made him +understand that he must avoid any approach to sentiment, she was touched +by his devotion, and sorry that she could make him no better return. + +"But it's no use," she thought remorsefully, "I simply couldn't care in +that way for any man who hadn't _some_ good looks. I can't be more than +a friend to Giroflé--and, luckily, I believe he's beginning to see that +at last!" + +Mirliflor had certainly begun to see that he was too severely +handicapped to have a chance of success, and he paid a secret visit to +his Godmother's apartments to tell her so. But she was deaf to all his +protests, and declined to restore him to his own form until he had +either won Daphne or been refused by her. He came away furious, +regretting that he had ever been such a fool as to put himself at the +mercy of this obstinate old Fairy's whims. If he had not, he would not +have met Daphne--but better a thousand times that he had never seen her +if she was not to be his! + +His visit had one result. Old Baron von Eisenbänden happened to observe +him leaving the tower, and it struck him as suspicious that so august a +personage as the Court Godmother should have any dealings with an +under-gardener. She must be using the fellow as her agent in some +intrigue or other, he concluded, and, as she had not chosen to confide +in him, it was clearly his duty to his Sovereigns to discover what she +was about. + +His cap of darkness might be of service to him here, but since the +fiasco of the self-supplying tables he had been distrustful of any +article supplied by the Astrologer Royal. However, it seemed as though +the sudden decay of the tables had been due less to any malicious +revenge on Xuriel's part than to some imperfection in his magic--for the +cap proved to be as efficient as ever. So, after satisfying himself of +this, the worthy Baron put it on and prowled unseen about the Court +Godmother's tower. For some days his vigilance was unrewarded, but at +length he saw Giroflé hurrying down a gallery that led to the Fairy's +door, and immediately gave chase. Unfortunately he arrived too late to +slip in behind him, and the thickness of the door made it impossible to +overhear anything of the conversation till the very end of the +interview. Then, as the door was open and the Court Godmother had +accompanied Giroflé to the threshold, their parting words were perfectly +audible. + +"You are setting me an impossible task, Godmother Voldoiseau!" he heard +the mysterious young under-gardener declare. "I am no nearer her than +when I came. And I never shall be till you restore me to my proper +self!" + +"I shall do that when I see fit, Mirliflor," the Fairy replied, "and not +a moment before. You have only to be patient a little longer and all +will be well. I know her better than you can, remember, and, believe me, +you have no cause to despair." + +"So you have told me before!" he said bitterly. "But I can't and won't +endure this much longer, and if you refuse to make it easier for me, I +shall give up and go back to Clairdelune!" + +"My dear Mirliflor," she retorted, "you won't be such a fool!" + +He left her at that without another word, but the Court Chamberlain had +heard enough to surprise him considerably. So this young gardener, it +seemed, was really Prince Mirliflor transformed! The Baron knew that +such a transformation was within the Fairy's powers, so, in spite of the +total dissimilarity between the Prince and the Gardener, he never for a +moment doubted that they were one and the same. + +But why the Court Godmother should have chosen to act in this arbitrary +manner, and how she supposed it could promote Prince Mirliflor's object, +was incomprehensible. + +It was only natural that he should rebel against her, and the Court +Chamberlain felt so much sympathy for the ill-used young prince that he +resolved to follow him to the gardens and offer his advice and +assistance. + +Mirliflor had already begun to rake a flower-bed with vindictive energy, +when he heard himself addressed from behind, and turned to recognise the +elderly official he had good cause to remember. + +"Hard at work, I see," began the Baron, with a casual air intended for +any witnesses of the interview. "Work," he added, cautiously lowering +his voice, "which, if I may be allowed to say so, Sire, can hardly be +other than distasteful to his Royal Highness Prince Mirliflor of +Clairdelune." + +Mirliflor noticed the purple cap which was still in the other's hand, +and knew it would be useless to deny his identity. "So, Baron," he said, +"you have been eavesdropping _again_, have you? Well, if you were in the +Court Godmother's chamber just now, as I suppose you were, you know how +I come to be in this position." + +"I am aware, Sire," he said, "that your Royal Highness has been induced +to accept it in the hope of obtaining the hand of--of a certain person +whom it would perhaps be inadvisable to name." + +"Certainly we will not name her," said Mirliflor, "nor need we discuss a +matter that so entirely concerns myself." + +"I should not permit myself the indiscretion, Sire, if I did not so +ardently desire that your Royal Highness's suit may prosper. But, so +long as you remain in--in the form you have deigned to assume, I cannot +think you will approach your Princess with the least chance of success!" + +"I agree, Baron, but as the Court Godmother happens to think otherwise, +I'm powerless, you see." + +"She is a most gracious and venerable lady," said the Baron; "but, +though her will is as strong as ever, her mind is evidently weakening. +If your Royal Highness would be guided by me, I will venture to say that +you would find it more to your advantage." + +"Well, Baron, and what is your suggestion?" + +"I have but to inform her Majesty of the facts," he said, "and she will +at once order the Court Godmother Vogelflug to restore your Royal +Highness to your own form, in which, believe me, Sire, you need have no +fear of refusal." + +"Listen to me, Baron!" said Mirliflor, who knew very well how his old +Godmother would treat such an order. "You will say nothing whatever to +her Majesty of my being here--and I'll tell you _why_ you will not. If +you do, she will necessarily have to hear of your method of acquiring +the information. And it's not a very creditable method, Baron!" + +"I have done nothing I am ashamed of," he said doggedly; "her Majesty +will recognise that I have acted solely from devotion to her interests." + +"Possibly--but I fancy she will also recognise that a Court Chamberlain +who uses a cap of darkness to overhear private conversations is an +official whose devotion might be occasionally inconvenient. I really +don't think I should mention it, Baron, if I were you." + +Even he appeared to see the force of this. "Since your Royal Highness +desires your presence here to remain unknown, I will observe the +greatest discretion," he said stiffly; "I have the honour to leave your +Royal Highness to pursue his occupation." And with this he withdrew, +with very obvious affront. He left Mirliflor even more disturbed than +before. The Baron, having been present unseen at his interview with his +Godmother, evidently knew all about his hopes with regard to Daphne, and +seemed--for some reason that Mirliflor could not fathom--anxious for his +success. But, though the Court Chamberlain had promised discretion, +Mirliflor doubted whether he would be able to keep such a secret long. +He was quite capable of thinking that, in Mirliflor's own interests, he +was justified in disclosing it. And then--Mirliflor pictured himself +summoned in his present form before the whole Court--where he had last +appeared as Princess Edna's suitor, the difficulty of explaining his +recent behaviour--the general indignity and humiliation he would be +exposed to--even if the Fairy did not repudiate all knowledge of him, +which she was quite capable of doing! No, he could not stay to face all +that--he must leave the Palace that very night, and without a word to +his Godmother. Why should he see her when nothing he could urge would +have the slightest effect? Perhaps, when she heard he was back at +Clairdelune, it would bring her to her senses. + +Nor would he go through any parting scene with Daphne--what was it to +her whether he went or stayed? If he saw her, he might be tempted to +tell her how passionately and hopelessly he loved her--and she would +only laugh at him. In self-respect he would spare himself that. + +He adhered to this resolution till long past their usual hour for +meeting, and he had made all his preparations for departure, when he was +suddenly seized with an uncontrollable longing to see her once +more--whatever pain it might cost him afterwards. So, with some scorn of +his own weakness, he let himself through the postern gate and went in +search of her. At the end of one of the yew walks was a rusty astrolabe +on a moss-grown marble pedestal, and by this he found her. Her back was +towards him as she faced the western horizon, where clouds of rose and +gold were sailing in a sky of warm apple-green which toned above them to +a luminous silvery blue. On the edge of the slope in the foreground some +cypresses were silhouetted in purplish bronze. She turned as she heard +his footsteps, her face so wondrously fair in the half light that his +heart ached afresh at the sight of her. "I'd quite given up expecting +you, Giroflé," she said, with a nonchalance that concealed her _pique_ +at his unusual tardiness--for it must be owned that she had become a +trifle exacting of late. "It's so late now that I shall have to go in +very soon." + +"I shall not keep you long, Daphne," he replied, determined to show +himself no less indifferent than was she. "I had to prepare for my +journey, as I am leaving Eswareinmal to-night, and I have only come to +say good-bye." + +She was not only startled but deeply hurt. If he had really been so +devoted as he had seemed, she thought, he could never have spoken of +leaving her in this casual tone--but she would not let him see how he +had wounded her. "To-night," she repeated, "I'd no idea you meant to go +so soon as this. But I dare say you are only too glad to get away." + +"Is one ever sorry," he said, in spite of himself, "to get away from a +place where one has suffered?" She had turned to the astrolabe again, +and was idly tracing out the incisions in one of its hoops with her +supple forefinger, when she next spoke. "Of course I know it must have +been hard for you, Giroflé," she said, "still, I hoped--it was very +foolish and conceited of me, I know--but I hoped that perhaps _my_ being +here made it more bearable." + +"If you had not been here, I should never have come at all," he said; +"you did not know that, Daphne, but I may tell you now. And at first, it +is true, that just to see and be near you now and then, was happiness +enough--but of late the hours I have spent here have brought me little +but the misery of longing for what must ever be denied!" + +She could no longer misunderstand. So far from his devotion having +abated, it was stronger than she had ever imagined, and the discovery +made her sorrier for him than ever. "Giroflé!" she cried remorsefully, +"I never knew you felt it like that--I thought you understood, and were +content with--with all that I could give you. Oh, why _can't_ you be?" + +"And what have you given me, Daphne? What am I to you? Nothing! +Nothing!" + +"You are my friend--the dearest friend I have ever had. Is _that_ +nothing, Giroflé?" + +"Nothing compared with what I once hoped to be! Hoped--while, even then, +I knew how impossible any hope was. And yet--and yet--what adds to my +torment is that I know--yes, Daphne, I _know_--that--if--if by an evil +fate I had not been what I am, I could have made you love me. I am very +sure of _that_!" + +She was looking at him as she spoke--and somehow she ceased to think him +plain. And suddenly she knew that he had become necessary to her--so +necessary that the thought of losing him was unendurable. + +"And why," she said, "are you so sure that it is impossible now, +Giroflé?" + +"Daphne," he cried incredulously, "do you mean that you can love +me--even as I am?" + +She did not reply in words, but her face as she raised it to his was +answer enough; and then he held her in his arms, into which she nestled +with a little sigh of perfect content. He could not understand how so +marvellous and unlooked for a thing could have happened to him, and +Daphne herself might have been at some loss to account for her sudden +surrender. But she did not try--she only knew that she had been quite +powerless to help it, and did not regret it. + +"And you will not go away from Eswareinmal now, Giroflé?" she said a +little later, when they were sitting on a stone seat under an ilex, and +the gold and silver stars were beginning to come out in the deep violet +sky. + +"Not alone, dearest," he replied. "But it will not be wise to stay here +long. I was recognised this afternoon by that meddling old imbecile of a +Court Chamberlain." + +"Giroflé!" she exclaimed, clinging to him in terror, "will he give you +up--can they do anything to you? If there's danger, let us escape at +once--for of course I shan't let you go alone!" + +"There's no danger," he said. "If he lets out that I am here, it would +be--inconvenient, but no worse. And I think my--the Court Godmother will +see me through it now. I will tell her our news to-morrow morning." + +"I'm afraid," said Daphne, "she won't at all approve of my marrying +you--she may even try to prevent it, but she won't succeed!" + +"She is more likely to be on our side," he said. He refrained, even +then, from telling her why; he might be already released from his +promise of silence, but he no longer rebelled against it, nor had he any +impatience now to regain his own form. And so they talked on far into +the night, discussing their future life together, which Daphne +cheerfully assumed would be humble enough for a time--and he said +nothing to disabuse her. Why should he not enjoy as long as he could the +sensation--denied to most princes and millionaires--of being beloved +"for himself alone?" + +At an early hour the next morning, after carefully ascertaining that the +Baron had not yet risen, he waited on the Fairy, who heard what he had +to tell with high good-humour and complacency. "Most satisfactory, my +dear Mirliflor!" she said. "And everything has turned out exactly as I +always told you it would. I shall visit her this morning and prepare her +for the future in store for her. As for you, you must get to your work +as usual, and at noon you will find us at the end of the yew walk behind +the Pavilion. I shall have to change you back to yourself again, and I'm +thankful to say it will be the last time I shall ever be called upon to +do anything of that sort. Then I shall take you both in the stork-car to +Clairdelune, and we shall hear what your Royal father thinks of the +bride you have chosen. He _may_ consider that an ex-lady-in-waiting is +not----" + +"He has only to see her," declared Mirliflor. "But object as he may, no +thing and no one shall separate us now." + +"Well, well, if it comes to that, I dare say I shall manage to overcome +his objections," she said. She might have been more explicit if she had +not decided to reserve the surprise of Daphne's royal descent until the +final scene at Clairdelune--which would be far more effective, as well +as safer. + +"And don't worry yourself about that foolish old Baron," she concluded. +"We shall be gone before _he_ can give any trouble. Now be off with +you--I shan't want you till noon, and a few more hours' gardening won't +hurt you!" + +There was no need to hurry, so she did not leave her tower till it was +nearly half an hour to mid-day, when she went slowly and by unfrequented +paths through the gardens and thence to the Pavilion. Daphne, who had +been anxiously expecting her, saw her from the Pavilion and came to meet +her, feeling and looking rather guilty. + +"Have you heard?" she asked. "But I can see you have.... _Well_, Court +Godmother?" + +"Well," said the Fairy, bent on prolonging the test to the last moment, +"this is a pretty thing you have done, upon my word! _You_ to fall in +love with a penniless student! If you had only had the patience to +wait," she continued, as she led her towards the yew walk, "I'd have +found a handsome young Prince for you. It's not too late, even now." + +"I used to think I would only marry a Prince, I don't now," said Daphne. +"I wouldn't change Giroflé for any Prince in the world. And what am _I_, +after all? Just a Governess!" + +"And when you have married your student, what do you suppose you are +going to live on?" + +"Oh, we shall manage somehow," said Daphne tranquilly. "We shall be +poor, of course, but what does that matter so long as we're together?" + +"Ah," said the Fairy, "but I can't understand what a beautiful girl like +you can see in such an ugly young fellow!" + +"He _isn't_ ugly!" Daphne declared. "And I shouldn't mind a bit if he +_was_! He'd still be Giroflé!" + +"All the same," pursued the Fairy, "you wouldn't object to his being +handsomer?" + +"I don't know," replied Daphne, contracting her pretty brows, "I can't +imagine him any different." And then she laughed. "It's not a bit of use +trying to put me out of conceit with him, Court Godmother--so you may as +well give it up!" + +The Fairy was satisfied at last; Daphne had stood the test triumphantly, +and the time had come for her to be told of the reward that awaited her. +"I am far from wishing to lower him in your eyes, my child," she said. +"On the contrary, I may now tell you that he possesses advantages you +little dream of. And though true love may be inspired without the aid of +wealth, rank, or good looks, there was never a maiden yet who--but I +perceive," she broke off with offended dignity, "that I am not so +fortunate as to have secured your attention!" + +They had left the yew walk by this time and entered an avenue of ilexes, +beyond which lay the valley and distant hills. "I'm so sorry, Court +Godmother," said Daphne, whose eyes were fixed on the view, "but--but +doesn't Drachenstolz lie over there?" + +"It does," said the Fairy drily, "though I fail to see why that should +interest you just now." + +"I--I can see something flying," explained Daphne. "It _may_ be only a +vulture--a _large_ vulture." + +"A vulture--where?" cried the old Fairy. "Nonsense. It's your fancy, +child. _I_ see nothing." + +"It _is_ a dragon!" faltered Daphne. "Can't you see it now? It's coming +towards us! And oh, I'm afraid the Count has sent it--like that +snake--to--to kill me!" + +A dragon was a danger which the Fairy, with all her precautions, had +somehow omitted to foresee, and for a time she exhibited about as much +calmness and self-possession as a hen at a fox-raid. "Heaven preserve +us!" she wailed. "If we were but safe at Clairdelune! What can we do?" + +"Hide," said Daphne, trembling. "Quick! In the undergrowth!" + +"It would spy us out from above," groaned the Fairy. "No, we must run +for the Pavilion and shelter there." + +Daphne seized her hand and they ran together, but they had not gone far +before the Court Godmother suddenly collapsed. "My old legs fail me!" +she said, "I can go no further! Run on, child, while you can!" + +"And leave you!" cried Daphne. "No, I shan't do that! But oh, can't you +do _anything_ to save us! Think!" + +The Fairy rose to her feet, shaking all over. "I knew a spell once," she +mumbled. "I never tried it--but if I could only remember it now, it +might--But I can't--I'm too old--too old! That all my plans should have +come to _this_!" + +The dragon was forging along at a tremendous pace. It would soon be near +enough to single out its prey--and still the old Fairy stood there, +racking her memory in vain. + +Close upon noon Mirliflor had thrown away his hoe and torn off his apron +for ever. In a few minutes more he would be with his love--and yet his +heart was oppressed by a certain fear that had been haunting him all the +morning. The Fairy would re-transform him--but could he be sure of the +effect on Daphne? What if he lost, as Mirliflor, the love that Giroflé +had won? He was so absorbed in these disquieting reflections, as he +alternately hastened and checked his pace down the broad walks, that he +scarcely noticed a faint outcry, and sounds as though firearms were +being discharged, which seemed to come from the Palace behind him. +Perhaps, he thought, a revolt had broken out, but, if so, it did not +concern _him_. His Daphne was in no danger in those grounds beyond the +wall. He passed through the gate, and presently came to the astrolabe, +and then the stone bench, both hallowed now by the sweetest +associations. And yet it might be that those associations would be his +last with her! It was almost a relief, on reaching the yew walk, to find +it deserted. He went to the Pavilion, and there he elicited from +Daphne's elderly duenna, who was rather hard of hearing, that, as her +young mistress was certainly not indoors, he would probably find her in +the grounds. + +He searched all the yew walks in vain, and then, with a new and growing +uneasiness, turned towards the avenue, but he had got no farther than a +small pool in a marble basin when he heard a strange and dreadful noise +above him. He glanced upwards, and saw the bulk of a huge dragon sailing +high above the tree-tops. It was making swiftly for the valley; one of +its claws held a pendent form in fluttering drapery, and he knew too +well that the captive could only be she for whom he had been searching. +He had saved her once from the malice of her enemies--this time he was +powerless! He raved and cursed in impotent rage and despair while a +sudden gust swept the pool and sent it surging over the brim, and a +slender cypress that stood hard by rustled and shivered as though in +terror. And as he stood there, he suddenly saw the old Court Chamberlain +before him, holding in one hand his silken cap and in the other a sword +and belt. + +"Sire, Sire!" he stammered, "that accursed beast! It is bearing her off +to Drachenstolz! But you may save her yet!" + +"Show me how to get there!" said Mirliflor fiercely. "If I can't save +her I can at least die with her. But those two devils shall pay for it +first!" + +"Follow me," said the Baron, giving him the sword and, followed by +Mirliflor, he ran at a very creditable speed for his years in the +direction of the Palace. + + * * * * * + +A little before noon that morning the Royal Family had collected on one +of the terraces. King Sidney was pacing up and down engaged in private +and apparently important conversation with the Crown Prince. The Court +as usual kept a respectful distance and chattered and gossiped in +whispers. The Princess Royal and Princess Ruby were sitting at a jade +table playing the game that resembled Halma, while the Queen was +confiding her maternal anxieties to the Court Chamberlain's sympathetic +ear. + +"To tell you the truth, Baron," she confessed, "I've not been at all +happy lately about Princess Edna. She _says_ nothing, but I can see +she's fretting over Prince Mirliflor's silence. I hear he hasn't been +seen at Clairdelune lately--taken his dismissal so much to heart that +he can't appear in public, I suppose. But surely if he meant to try +again he would have done so before this!" + +The worthy Baron was too faithful a servant to refrain from saying +something to reassure his Royal mistress, though a salutary recollection +of Mirliflor's warning made him careful not to say too much. + +"I can assure your Majesty from my own personal knowledge," he replied, +"that his Royal Highness has by no means given up his intention of +renewing his addresses to the Princess Edna." + +"Then why _doesn't_ he? There's nothing to prevent him--now." + +"That, Madam," said the Baron importantly, "I am not at liberty to +explain" (as a matter of fact he had no idea why Mirliflor was +conducting his courtship in so eccentric a manner), "but I may say I +have reason to know that at this very moment he may be nearer the Palace +than is generally supposed." + +"Really?" cried the Queen. "I must go and tell dear Edna that. It will +cheer her up." + +"I must beg of your Majesty to treat it as strictly confidential for the +present," said the Baron hastily. "His Royal Highness prefers to take +the Princess by surprise." + +"What a dear romantic person he is!" said Queen Selina. "Then, of +course, he must be humoured and I'll say nothing. But I'm so glad you +told me, Baron. It's taken _such_ a load off my mind!" + +"Well," the King was telling Clarence, "those are old Goldenbergenland's +terms. If you'll marry his daughter, Princess Popanza, he'll let us have +all the gold we want; if you refuse, he won't even advance us a ducat. +Couldn't you see your way to--to meeting him, my boy?" + +"Nothing doing!" said Clarence very decidedly. "Why, Hansmeinigel was +telling me the other day she's humpbacked, with a squint or something. I +couldn't take it on--even if," he added gloomily, "there weren't _other_ +reasons to prevent me." + +"Then," said his father, "I don't know how we're to get a fresh supply +of gold--the mine's stopped working, and the confounded Council won't do +anything for us." + +"What's the matter with selling a few jewels?" suggested Clarence, as +his eye fell on the Halma board in passing, "they must be worth a lot." + +"Not here. Too common. The people think they're of no value except to +kings and queens. Nothing but gold will go down in these parts. So you +see, my boy, that unless you can bring yourself to----" + +"I say, Guv'nor," interrupted Clarence, who seemed to welcome a +distraction just then. "Look over there. That beggar Rubenfresser has +let loose that poisonous dragon of his! Infernal cheek!" + +"He was expressly told to keep it under control," said the King. "Most +irregular!" + +"It's not only loose," said Clarence, "but it's coming straight over +here." + +Ruby had seen it too, and sprang up delighted. "Look!" she cried, +"there's darling Tützi! He's got away from his horrid master--and now +he's coming to live with _us_! I _must_ get some cake for him!" and she +darted into the Palace. + +"I'll go and tell those sentry-johnnies to take a pot at it," said +Clarence, as he went down to a lower terrace, where the Palace sentinels +were on duty. By the time he returned with them Tützi was almost +overhead, his great wings beating with a resonant leathery clang as he +flew round in ever descending circles, stretching his scaled neck and +horny head in deliberate quest, until he was so low that the sunlit +chalcedony slabs shed a reflected glare on his great burnished belly. +"Now blaze away at it, can't you!" shouted Clarence to the sentinels, +who appeared to have some difficulty in loading their antiquated pieces. +"You mustn't shoot Tützi!" cried Ruby, running out at that moment with a +heavily gilded slice of gingerhead, "he's only come for some cake!" + +"Don't encourage the thing!" said the King, dragging her back. "Get +away, you brute! Go home, Sir!" + +As he spoke the monster made a sudden downward swoop at Edna, and, with +a deftness that was quite extraordinary, hooked one of its steely claws +in her girdle and soared rapidly aloft with her. It was fortunate that +the belt, which was of stout jewel-studded leather, was able to sustain +her weight. + +"Stop firing, you fools!" yelled Clarence, as the sentinels opened a +wild fusillade. "You'll only hit _her_!" + +And, even if their bullets could have pierced the dragon's plated hide, +it was soon out of range. + +"It's carrying her off to that wretch!" screamed the distracted Queen. +"Is there _nothing_ we can do?" + +"One thing, your Majesty," said the Baron eagerly. "Offer the Princess +in marriage to anyone who will rescue her. It's the usual course!" + +"To--to _anyone_?" repeated Queen Selina in despair. "Oh, Baron--_must_ +we?" + +"You can safely do so, Madam," he whispered. "Mirliflor will be the +man--and I know where to find him." And with this he rushed off first to +his own chamber, then to the Crown Prince's apartments, and finally to +the gardens in search of Giroflé. + +"Sidney," said the Queen, "tell the heralds to proclaim that we will +give our poor darling to anyone who succeeds in delivering her.... Don't +argue about it--do as I tell you!" which King Sidney did. + +As for the Court, they were too paralysed by so unexpected a calamity to +be of the least assistance. The ladies-in-waiting were all in floods of +tears, distressed, not only by the awful fate that had overtaken +"Princess Four-eyes," but by the painful reflection that any one of them +might be the dragon's next victim. + +"This couldn't have happened except in a place like this!" declared the +Queen, now on the verge of hysteria. "And why it should have been +permitted to happen to US!--It _wouldn't_ have, Sidney, if you had only +had the sense to insist on that thing being destroyed! But you +didn't--and this is the result!" + +"My love," said the King, "you forget. The poor girl herself insisted on +its being spared. It--it's most unfortunate!" + +And it certainly was. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE REWARD OF VALOUR + + +If the Fairy Vogelflug could only have known that it was Edna and not +Daphne who was really in danger from the dragon, she would have been +comparatively calm. But since she did not know this, she was, as has +been already stated, entirely unnerved for a time. + +Fortunately--or at least she thought it fortunate then,--just before the +creature was near enough to detect them, the long-forgotten words that +formed the spell recurred to her memory. It was a spell that was +admirably adapted to enable any fugitive to escape discovery, but she +had never had occasion to use it before, and to perform it required an +amount of mental concentration from which, in ordinary circumstances, +she would have shrunk. Now she must act at once or they would both +perish, and so she gabbled the necessary incantations, till, though the +effort took a great deal out of her, she eventually succeeded in +changing Daphne into a tall and slender cypress, and herself into a +circular pool in a marble basin--a double transformation which was +calculated to deceive the most observant and intelligent dragon. But, +changed as she was, Daphne remained perfectly conscious of her own +identity and aware of all that was happening. At first she was much +impressed by the Court Godmother's ingenuity and presence of mind, but +as time went on, and the dragon, instead of searching for them, seemed +to have swerved away towards the Palace, she began to wonder whether +there had been any real need for such excessive precautions. + +And then Giroflé appeared, and she gathered from his despair what must +have happened to the ill-fated Edna, and that he was under the erroneous +impression that she herself was the victim. Surely now the moment had +come for the Fairy to reverse the spell--but, except that the surface of +the pool was becoming violently disturbed, she made no sign. Daphne +tried by rustling all her branches to attract his attention and assure +him of her safety, but naturally failed. Even when the Court Chamberlain +arrived and Giroflé had rushed away with him, she was forced to stay +behind as an apparent cypress, while the Fairy still retained the +semblance of a more and more agitated pool. Daphne's uneasiness and +anxiety would have been even greater, but for the fact that the reason +for this agitation was mercifully hidden from her. The truth was that +one of those accidents had happened which are not infrequent with +persons who only occasionally practise the Magic Art. The Fairy had +impulsively pronounced the spell that accomplished the transformation +without waiting to recall the precise formula that was needed to regain +her normal appearance, and for several agonising minutes the vitally +important words persisted in evading her. To Daphne it seemed an age +before the marble rim began to contract and the pool dry up, and +presently, to her unspeakable relief, all trace of pool and basin +disappeared, and in their place stood the Fairy Godmother in a sadly +shaken and exhausted condition. She had strength enough, however, to +restore Daphne, which she did with many groans. "I've been trying to do +this for the last quarter of an hour, child," she panted. "I was +beginning to think I'd forgotten the spell altogether. And now he's gone +off on a fool's errand to rescue _you_! But I may still be in time to +stop him!" + +"You won't stop Giroflé!" declared Daphne. "He will try to rescue Edna, +just as he would me. And if it can be done he'll do it. I can't bear his +going, Godmother--and yet I hope I shouldn't prevent him, even if I +could!" + +"He can't do anything!" said the Fairy. "He couldn't even get into the +Castle, and he won't be so mad as to attempt it. Go you to the Pavilion, +and stay there till I can find out what that old fool of a Baron is +about with him." + +Daphne obeyed. She would not deter Giroflé, but to encourage him in his +desperate errand was more than she was equal to just then. The Court +Godmother hitched up her quilted skirts, and went off at a hobbling run +in the direction of the Palace Gardens. + + * * * * * + +The Baron had led Mirliflor through the Gardens, and then round to a +Courtyard at the back of the Palace in which stood a massive round tower +pierced with many pigeon-holes. Here he brought out a small shell-shaped +car on two wheels, and at his whistle a flock of white doves fluttered +down from the tower, and permitted him to attach them by collars and +traces to the car. "The most gracious the Court Godmother is nowhere to +be found," he explained as he did so, "but assuredly she would not +grudge lending her car for such a purpose as yours, since by no other +means could you hope to get over the walls of Drachenstolz. Once within +them you will find the sword of inestimable service, and I doubt not +that you will wield it to better effect than would its owner. I would +willingly lend you this," he added, fingering the cap, "only maybe your +Royal Highness would not deign to employ means which I understood you +are pleased to consider discreditable?" + +"Don't be an ass, Baron!" said Mirliflor, seizing the cap and stepping +into the car. "Where _her_ life is at stake I have no scruples in using +anything whatever. But I've no experience in driving doves--how do I +guide them?" + +"They need no guidance, Sire. You have but to utter the words 'To +Drachenstolz,' and they will carry you straight to the Castle and set +you down within its walls. God speed you!" cried the Court Chamberlain, +as the Prince gave the direction, and the birds ascended with the car. +"Heaven grant you bring back your Princess unharmed!" + +"Heaven grant I reach her in time!" came the answer from the +dove-chariot, which, after making a few preliminary circles, flew away, +to all appearances unoccupied. + +It had scarcely disappeared when the Court Godmother arrived on the +scene. "Where is Giroflé?" she demanded breathlessly. + +"His Royal Highness Prince Mirliflor of Clairdelune," replied the Baron, +"has just departed for Drachenstolz in the dove-car, which I knew you +would wish to be at his disposal." + +"And pray," said the old Fairy, "what made you think I should wish him +to throw away his life for Princess Edna?" + +"He will not fail to rescue her, never fear, Madam. No Prince ever +_does_ fail in these enterprises. And if he succeeds--he need no longer +hesitate to disclose himself, for you will be gratified to hear that +his Majesty has promised the Princess's hand to the person who may +accomplish her rescue. At," added the Baron proudly, "my own +suggestion." + +"Oh, indeed?" retorted the Fairy. "Then it is high time you knew +what kind of a Royal Family you have given to Märchenland!" And in +a few sharp sentences she let him know the truth about the pendant +which he had so rashly accepted as all-sufficient proof of Mrs. +Wibberley-Stimpson's title to the throne. + +The poor Baron was aghast at the information, and still more when he +heard who was really entitled to the crown. "The Lady Daphne!" he cried. +"But she has been sent away to that far country--and who knows where she +may be now!" + +"She is here still, and under my protection," said the Court Godmother. +"In her own interests I had determined to keep silent as to her claims, +and planned that Mirliflor should win her under the form I made him +assume. All had fallen out as I expected--I had just arranged to carry +them both off to Clairdelune, and leave these usurpers in possession for +as long as the Country would endure them--when you blunder in, like the +meddlesome idiot you are, Baron, and upset everything!" + +"I have been blind indeed!" he confessed. "A traitor when I thought +myself most loyal! Tell me, most Gracious Court Godmother, how I may +best repair my error?" + +"You _can't_ repair it without making more mischief," she said. "The +only thing you can do _now_ is to hold your tongue about it, as I shall +do myself unless I am obliged to speak out. And now we had better go +and see what this precious King and Queen of yours are doing, and +remember, Baron, your own safety will depend on your preserving absolute +secrecy as to all the matters I have found it necessary to acquaint you +with." + + * * * * * + +On the terrace meanwhile Queen Selina had implored the Marshal to do +something--anything--towards the rescue of her elder daughter. He was +not sanguine; "We could raise a force, your Majesty," he said, "to ride +to Drachenstolz and assault the Castle walls,--but it would be quite +impossible to take it by storm, even if that dragon were not among its +defenders." + +"We'll have a try anyway," said Clarence gallantly. "Come on, you +chaps--get into your fighting kit," he cried to the Courtiers. "And two +of you boys," he added to the pages, "just run and fetch me a helmet and +breastplate and things--and bring me down a sword you'll find in my room +somewhere. I shouldn't mind tackling even a dragon with that sword," he +added to his mother, as the Courtiers and pages ran into the Palace. "It +goes clean through anything." + +But the pages, when they returned with the breastplate and helmet and +riding-boots, reported that the sword was nowhere to be found, so +Clarence had to content himself with a more ordinary weapon. At the last +moment the Queen tried to detain him. "No, Clarence!" she cried, "you +mustn't go. Your life is too valuable to be risked--there are enough +going without _you_! Stay here--if only to protect us!" + +"Hang it all, Mater!" he said, "you can't expect me to stay here and +have them saying I shirked!" And he went off to the stables with the +Marshal and other members of the Court. + +"It'll be no good!" groaned King Sidney. "It's as likely as not that +beast has eaten the poor girl by this time!" + +"I can't believe anything quite so horrible as that has happened, +Sidney," cried the Queen. "It has only delivered her into that wretch's +power--which is quite horrible enough! But there's hope still. The Baron +says Prince Mirliflor is quite near here--and he's sending him to rescue +her. And a real prince like dear Mirliflor _ought_ to be a match for +that miserable Rubenfresser and his dragon too!" + +"If he could get at them he might be," said the King lugubriously; "but +that's just what he can't do!" + + * * * * * + +On finding herself borne swiftly through the air by a dragon, Edna had +done what was the correct thing to do in the circumstances--she had +promptly fainted. She opened her eyes to find that she had been +deposited uninjured, on a truss of straw in a Courtyard. On her right +was the massive front of Castle Drachenstolz; before her were its lofty +walls and the grim towers that flanked its heavy gate; to the left were +the stables, from the windows of which some of the black carriage horses +looked out, their wrinkled lips exposing their long yellow teeth in +ghastly grins. Some distance away the owner of the Castle was caressing +the dragon, which lay with its huge wings compactly folded, giving its +unconscious imitation of a tremendously powerful dynamo. On perceiving +that she had returned to consciousness the Count came towards her, +followed by the ex-Astrologer Royal, who was smirking and rubbing his +hands. + +"I couldn't do without you," began the Count by way of explanation, "so +as I couldn't come myself I sent Tützi for you." + +Edna resolved to bear herself with all the dignity of a Queen's +daughter. She sat up and felt for her _pince-nez_, and, discovering that +it was intact, she adjusted it on her nose. "Considering," she said, +"that all is at an end between us, you had no right whatever to send +your dragon to bring me here. It was a thing that no _gentleman_ would +have done!" + +"Wouldn't that great and learned gentleman you told me of--the one whose +name I always forget--have done it?" he inquired. + +"Nietzsche," said Edna, instructively superior even in such a crisis; +"most certainly not. Even if he had _owned_ a dragon!" + +"You told me he did," he insisted; "a great meta-something dragon that +talked and said, 'Thou shalt not.' But if he wouldn't send _his_ dragon +for anybody, he would approve of my sending mine for _you_, because I +was doing as he advised, and acting exactly as I thought fit." + +She realised the hopelessness of reasoning with him. "You thought fit to +act most improperly," she said severely, "and you will gain nothing _by_ +it, you know!" + +"Oh, yes I shall," he said, "or I shouldn't have done it." + +"You are quite mistaken," she assured him, "if you are imagining I shall +ever consent to renew our engagement now I know what you _are_." + +"I'm what you wanted me to be," he said, "a Superman." + +"You're not, you're an--an Ogre. I couldn't possibly bring myself to +become an Ogress!" + +"You wouldn't make much of an Ogress," he said dispassionately. "You +haven't the build for it. But I'm not an Ogre even yet. It's not _my_ +fault. I meant to begin with those pages of yours--but you all seemed to +have some ridiculous objections. Then I've sent Tützi out to forage and +pick up a small child or two, but the peasants round here are so selfish +and unneighbourly that they never give him the chance--actually shutting +all the children up indoors!" + +"What else can you _expect_?" she demanded indignantly. "Surely +your--your better self must see that even to _attempt_ to devour poor +helpless children is--is too perfectly disgusting for words!" + +"It's disgusting when one doesn't succeed," he admitted; "I see nothing +in it to object to myself. Of course the average man may, but you've +taught me what to think of _his_ opinions." + +"You entirely misunderstand me," said Edna. "But I've no wish to discuss +such subjects with you now--I insist on your allowing me to go home at +once." + +"Before I do that," he said, "you must write a letter on my behalf to +your parents." + +"I don't mind asking them to overlook the way you have treated me, and +assuring them that you regret it and will behave yourself properly for +the future," conceded Edna, "if you mean _that_." + +"I _don't_ mean that," he said; "I don't _want_ to behave properly--what +_they_ would call properly. I want to lead a fuller life than I can +while I'm cooped up in my own Castle. You see, it's no good having the +Will to Power if you're not allowed any opportunities of exercising it. +And I'm not, with guards stationed all round my walk to see that I don't +get out. I might set Tützi at them, it's true, but he is the only dragon +I've got, and it would be very annoying if they hurt the poor thing. So +you must get the King to send me free permission to go wherever I choose +and do whatever I like. Then I can make a start as an Ogre. At present +I'm hampered at every turn!" + +"Father and Mother," said Edna, "wouldn't hear of setting you free for +such wickedness as that. It would be contrary to all their principles." + +"What I think you called 'Slave-morality,' eh?" he said. "But you +needn't tell them _why_ I want to get out. Besides, I've _other_ +reasons. My carriage horses want airing, and I should like to drop in to +lunch at the Palace now and then, as I used to. Not as your betrothed, +you know--that's all over--but just as a friend of the family. I always +enjoyed my meals at the Palace." + +"Oh!" gasped Edna, "I'm sure, quite sure, they would never consent to +receive you again. How _could_ they?" + +"They would," he said, "if you told them what would be the consequences +if they didn't." + +"And--and--what _will_ the consequences be?" inquired Edna. + +"Well," he replied darkly, "poor Tützi will never reach his full growth +on his present diet. I fancy he would rather relish a change." + +"You _couldn't_ see me--me you were once engaged to--devoured by your +horrible dragon!" she cried. + +"Why not?" he asked cheerfully. "I am great enough now to be able to +bear the sight of others' pain, as your learned What's-his-name said I +ought to be." + +"Listen," said the unhappy Edna. "If--if I write this letter will you +promise me, on your sacred word of honour, to become a vegetarian at +_once_?" + +"Certainly," he said. "It won't _bind_ me, you know. You might put in +the letter that I've promised to. Rather a good touch! Now go and write +it at once, and I'll send Tützi over with it. You can say, 'Please send +answer by bearer!' Xuriel, show the Princess to a chamber and provide +her with writing materials." + +"If your Royal Highness will graciously come this way," said the +despicable Xuriel, bowing low. Poor Edna had to follow him up a steep +outside staircase to a gloomy room where deep-set windows commanded a +view of the Courtyard below. He found some sheets of parchment and a +reed pen, and lent her the inkhorn from his own girdle. As he was +depositing these on a great oaken table, he glanced out of the window +and gave a high cackling laugh. + +"I fear my venerable and respected friend the worthy Court Godmother +must have met with some mishap," he sniggered. "For see, Princess, her +dove-chariot has just descended, _without_ its Gracious occupant, on the +roof of the bastion! Hee-hee! I trust--I sincerely trust that Tützi may +not so far forget himself as to snap up any of those dear little doves!" + +And, so saying, he hurried to the Courtyard. Edna was naturally +concerned at any possible accident to the Court Godmother or her doves, +but her letter had to be written, and it was not at all an easy letter +to write. She got as far as: "Dear Father and Mother,--You will be +relieved to hear that I am, so far, unhurt. But"--and there she stuck. +It was really _very_ difficult to find any plausible wording for the +Ogre's preposterous terms. + +Xuriel had rejoined his patron, and both were watching Tützi with +interest. He had already become aware of the doves and reared his head +above the level of the bastion roof, where they were strutting about +unsuspicious of danger. His hideous lidless eyes regarded them intently, +with a view to selecting the plumpest bird. + +"Those pigeons will be quite a treat for poor Tützi," remarked Count +Rubenfresser. "But what is that thing flashing there on the roof? There +it is again! Can't you see it?" + +Xuriel looked, and saw a thin scintillating ray of light which shifted +capriciously from place to place. "It is the blade of a sword!" he said. +"More--it is the blade of the enchanted sword I sold to Prince +Clarence." + +"Fool!" said the Count, "how can any sword be there with no hand to +wield it?" + +"The Crown Prince is wielding it," replied Xuriel. "He is rendered +invisible by the magic cap I made for the Court Chamberlain!" + +"You had no business to make such things," returned the Count, "they +were very properly forbidden. But Tützi will very soon----" + +Before he could say more there was another flash--a sweeping circle of +light--and Tützi's head flew from his neck, which sent up a column of +blood. + +"The wretch!" shrieked the Count, "the cruel, cold-blooded wretch, he's +killed my Tützi!" + +"It will be _our_ turn next!" cried the little Astrologer Royal, too +terrified to stir. + +"Help!" the Count bawled, "we are attacked! Where _are_ you all?" A few +retainers had run out to various doorways at his summons, but when they +saw the dragon's great body rolling convulsively round the Courtyard, +its hooked wings thrashing up the cobblestones, while its head bounded +independently about, barking and snapping like a mad dog, they very +prudently withdrew. + +Xuriel had recovered strength to run, but he had not gone far before the +head, probably quite automatically, seized his right calf and brought +him down. There was another sharp glint of light--and his body was +headless, like the dragon's. What with the endeavour to avoid Tützi's +head, and Tützi's body, and the terrible sword flashes, all at once, the +Count was kept pretty busy for the next minute or so. He rushed, leaping +and yelling, roaring and dodging, from side to side and corner to +corner, and then made a frantic bolt for the outer staircase, but he had +only got half-way up when his head fell with a splash into a water-butt +below, while his body slid down to the bottom of the steps, where it lay +in a limp crumpled heap. + +The noise of all these proceedings was not exactly conducive to literary +composition, and Princess Edna had already been obliged to abandon her +letter. In fact she had begun to realise that it would no longer be +necessary to finish it. Her brother, she thought, had come to her +deliverance with a promptness and energy which she would really have +hardly expected of him. She put on her _pince-nez_ again, and went out +to the head of the staircase. "Clarence!" she called, "where _are_ you?" + +She was immensely surprised to encounter a plain young man in homely +costume whom she had certainly never seen before. Mirliflor, who had +just removed his cap and was springing up the steps in search of Daphne, +was at least equally surprised at finding Edna. + +"_You_ here, Princess!" he cried breathlessly, "Tell me! Is--is Daphne +safe?" + +"If you refer to Miss Heritage," replied Edna, "I have not seen her for +weeks, but I have no reason for believing that she is _not_ safe--in +England." + +"Then," he said blankly, "the dragon carried off _you_--not _her_?" + +"I should have thought that fairly obvious," said Edna frigidly. "You +have evidently rescued me under a misapprehension, though, of course, I +am just as much indebted to you. And I shall be glad to know who you +are. In answering, kindly address me as 'Your Royal Highness.' It is +more correct." + +This was highly embarrassing, he thought, though he felt thankful that +his Godmother had not had time to make him recognisable. "My name, your +Royal Highness," he replied, "is Giroflé. I have the honour to be one of +his Majesty's under-gardeners." + +"Oh," said Edna, "one of _them_? Really. Well, you have behaved most +creditably--very creditably indeed. I really don't know _what_ mightn't +have happened if you hadn't arrived just then. I have never been in such +a trying situation before. And, even as it is," she added, "there +doesn't seem to be any means of getting _out_ of this odious place." + +By this time Tützi's death-throes were over; his body lay extended half +across the Courtyard, while the head, after having bitten one or two of +the carriage horses rather severely, had also ceased from troubling. +"Perhaps," said Mirliflor, "your Royal Highness will condescend to make +use of the dove-car which brought me here? It will carry you back in +safety to the Palace." + +"It looks rather tit-uppy," said Edna, as the doves flew down with it at +his call. "And it only holds one. How are you going to get away +yourself?" + +"I shall order some of those varlets to open the gate," he said, "and +they will be wise to obey." + +"Clarence's sword _is_ a great help!" said Edna. "Then--_you_ will be +all right. And you may be sure that his Majesty will pay you a suitable +reward." + +"The satisfaction of having been of any service to your Royal Highness," +he said, "is reward enough in itself." + +"Oh, but that's such a _pose_!" said Edna. "Of _course_ you expect to be +paid for it!... And you will be. Must I tell these birds where to take +me?... I _see_. Then--Home, please!" + +And the doves, glad to escape from such uncongenial surroundings, +whirred upwards with the car and, after a few tentative circles, took it +clear over the battlements. + +As for the retainers, they waited for no order to unbar the gate for +Mirliflor, being all eagerness to facilitate his departure. He strode +unconcernedly out, and, finding a party of the Royal guard outside, he +informed them that they would find one or two severed heads within if +they cared to collect them, and then, borrowing a charger, he galloped +off to Eswareinmal, impatient to know what had befallen Daphne. + +On the Palace terrace there had been a period of painful surprise. The +Crown Prince was the first of the rescue party to return. He would have +much preferred to do so by a back way, but, perceiving that he had been +observed, took the manlier course. "Clarence!" shrieked the Queen as he +limped up with his breastplate and hose covered with mire, a bent sword +and badly dinted helmet, "is she saved?" + +"Couldn't tell you, Mater," he replied heavily. "I've done all I could, +and so--and so I came back." + +"He's wounded!" cried Ruby tearfully. "Oh, Clarence, was it that horrid +Tützi?" for she was effectually disillusioned at last. + +"No, Kiddie, no," he said, "_I'm_ all right. Took a bit of a toss, +that's all." + +"My poor boy," said his mother, "was it at the Castle? Did the thing +attack you?" + +"I never _got_ to the Castle," he replied, "only about half-way. It was +like this. That bally pendant you made me wear, Mater, got unfastened +somehow, slipped down inside my breastplate and was hurting like the +very deuce. So I got off and unbuckled a bit and pitched it away. When I +got on again the horse was all over the shop with me in a jiffy. +Couldn't hold him for toffee! And, before I knew it, I was over the +brute's head. I tried to mount again, but he wouldn't let me. I tried +some other gees, and none of _them_ would. Somehow I seemed to have lost +the knack all at once. So, after I'd come off once or twice more and was +getting a trifle lame, I thought the best thing I could do was to leg it +home." + +"Hem!" said his Father. "Rather unfortunate thing to happen just _now_, +my boy!" + +"Well, Guv'nor," he replied, "I should never have got there in time, +walking." + +"You were quite right to come back, Clarence," said his Mother, +"And--oh, look, look!" she cried suddenly, "our darling is safe after +all! She's coming back in the dove-car!" + +The car landed shortly after on the terrace, and Edna was frantically +embraced and plied with questions. "I am _quite_ all right, thank you," +she said as soon as she had an opportunity of speaking. "Of course it +was a most disagreeable thing to happen to one, and I don't feel equal +to talking about it just yet--but I am very little the worse for it +now." + +"But how did you get that awful man to let you go?" inquired the Queen. + +"He couldn't very well help himself--his head had been cut off. So had +the dragon's, and that abominable little wretch Xuriel's too." + +By this time not only the Marshal but the Court Godmother and the +Chamberlain had joined the party. + +"But who was brave enough to do all this?" asked the Queen. "Though I +think I can _guess_!" + +"I fancy he said he was one of the under-gardeners here. Of course he +couldn't have done it without Clarence's sword, but still----" + +"I never lent him it," said Clarence. "If _I'd_ had it--however, perhaps +it's as well he _did_ borrow it. Jolly plucky of the beggar, I call it!" + +"He behaved extremely well," Edna admitted. "You will have to reward him +or something, Father." + +"His Majesty," said the Marshal, with a certain gusto, "has already +offered your Royal Highness's hand in marriage to whomsoever should be +so fortunate as to effect your deliverance." + +"Without consulting Me!" cried Edna. "_Really_, Father, these things +aren't done nowadays! It's too absurd!" + +"My love," said the Queen with a glance of secret intelligence at the +embarrassed Baron, who looked another way, "the circumstances were +exceptional. And a King can't go back on his _word_! Besides, this +ex-gardener may be not such a common person as he _seems_--may he not, +Baron?" + +"But, dash it, Mater!" said Clarence, while the Baron could only blink, +"an under-gardener--what!" + +"I'm bound to say--" began the King, when the Queen interrupted: + +"You are bound to say that you'll keep your promise, Sidney, and that is +enough till the dear fellow comes to claim his reward." + +It was the Marshal whose superfluous zeal led him to order Giroflé to be +stopped and brought into the Royal presence as soon as he arrived at the +Palace. + +The Royal Family, with the Court Godmother, the Baron, and other members +of the Household, had assembled in the Throne Room when the Marshal +entered, leading the reluctant Giroflé, acutely conscious of looking his +very worst. After him came some men-at-arms, who carried the dragon's +still terrific head, with those of the Count and Xuriel, as trophies of +the hero's exploit. + +They caused a general but by no means unpleasant shudder to run through +the beholders. + +"Your Majesties," said the ex-Regent, "I have the honour to present the +gallant youth who has nobly earned even such a prize as the hand of her +Royal Highness." + +"But--but," stammered Queen Selina, "this isn't--there's not the least +_resemblance_! Baron, Baron, what did you mean by telling me that the +Prince----?" + +"I--I must have been misinformed, your Majesty," said the Court +Chamberlain, having no better explanation to offer. + +"You should be more careful about what you tell _Us_, Baron," said the +Queen. "And, really, there was no need to bring those dreadful heads +into our Throne Room, making all that horrible mess! It's a piece of bad +taste which, perhaps--in an under gardener--please have them removed +directly. Well, young man," she continued to the indignant Mirliflor, +who, it need not be said, had nothing to do with the gruesome +introduction of the heads, "I'm sure we are all very much obliged to +you--very much obliged indeed. If you hadn't come forward as you did, +it's dreadful to think what might have happened. And, though it seems +you _did_ take the liberty of borrowing the Crown Prince's sword without +permission, we are the last to blame you for that. We think you are +entitled to be very handsomely rewarded. But if you're expecting our +daughter, the Princess Edna's hand, I think your own good sense----" + +"Yes, yes," said the King; "mustn't open your mouth _too_ wide, you +know. There's a limit to all things! And a round sum of money with which +you could start in business and marry some nice little woman in your own +class of life would be far more _useful_ to you." + +"I ask for no reward," said Giroflé. "And the hand of a Princess is an +honour to which I do not aspire, since I am already affianced!" + +"That," replied the Queen, "is very satisfactory. We shall certainly +send the young person a wedding-present. Who _is_ she? One of the Royal +kitchen-maids, I presume?" + +"She was in your Majesty's service as a lady-in-waiting," he said, "and +her name is Daphne." + +"Oh," said Queen Selina. "Really? Miss Heritage? Well, you are to be +congratulated, I'm sure." + +"But, Mater," said Clarence, "it can't be _her_! I thought you'd had her +sent home?" + +"I had made arrangements for her return, Clarence, but it seems to have +been postponed for some reason--luckily, as things have turned out. She +has been given rooms in a pavilion behind the Palace Gardens, where no +doubt she managed to become acquainted with this young man." + +"And he may take it," said the Fairy, "that the Lady Daphne is at +liberty to depart with him at once?" + +"Certainly," said the Queen. "It is hardly, perhaps--but Miss Heritage +is no doubt right in accepting the first offer she receives." + +"Quite," said Princess Edna, "though it seems odd--even for a +Governess--to think of marrying a gardener! But I'm sure I wish her +_every_ happiness." + +There is no doubt that the Court Godmother should have been content with +this, but her anger and disgust were too much for her discretion. She +could not resist the temptation to humiliate and confound these upstarts +by a sensational stroke, whatever it cost her. + +"Perhaps," she said, "the Lady Daphne has made a wiser choice than any +of you may imagine." With this, after muttering an incantation, she +touched Giroflé with her crutch-handled staff, and in his stead Prince +Mirliflor stood revealed in rich and splendid attire before them all. + +The Queen was electrified for a moment, as were Edna and most present. +But as soon as the shock had passed she cried: "This _is_ a surprise! +But, my _dear_ Prince Mirliflor, why--_why_ didn't you tell us who you +were before? You see, we couldn't possibly----!" + +"It was really too naughty of you to play us such a trick, Prince!" said +Edna, "when, as you might have known----!" + +"Never mind!" purred the Queen, "we'll forgive him--won't we, Edna?" + +"Of course you only said that about Miss Heritage to tease us?" said +Edna, who really believed it was so. + +"I said but the truth, Princess," he replied. "She has promised to be my +wife." + +"And the match," put in the triumphant Fairy, addressing Queen Selina, +"already has your sanction!" + +"Oh," said the Queen, "but that was before--I think," she went on with a +forced smile of much sweetness--"I think you and I, my dear Court +Godmother, must have a little talk over this in private before I can +make up my mind _what_ I ought to do. Perhaps you will be kind enough to +follow me to my Cabinet? Excuse my deserting you for a little while, my +dear Mirliflor. I shall leave you to Edna, who, I know, is dying to +express all the gratitude and admiration she feels." + +And she swept with great stateliness out of the Throne Room towards her +Cabinet, the Court Godmother following with a presentiment that her pet +scheme was about to encounter some opposition, and no very definite idea +how to meet it. + +But that it must and should be overcome somehow she was thoroughly +determined. + +It should be mentioned here that, shortly after his transformation, +Mirliflor found inside his rich doublet something which proved to be the +Chamberlain's cap. He was about to return it, but the Baron showed so +little desire to receive his property in public that the Prince decided +to keep it until a better opportunity presented itself. And then he +forgot all about it, for which, as things turned out, both had reason to +be thankful afterwards. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +A PREVIOUS ENGAGEMENT + + +"Well, my dear Court Godmother," began the Queen, as she sank on an +ivory and cloth-of-gold settee in her private Cabinet, and cooled her +somewhat heated face with a jewelled ostrich-feathered fan, "I had +better tell you frankly that I think both you and that designing little +adventuress have behaved in a very underhand way in this business--a way +that I naturally resent. Mirliflor, as you very well know, came here on +darling Edna's account, and you deliberately threw that Miss Heritage in +his way--I haven't the least doubt you told her who he really was!" + +"That," said the Fairy, "is just what I did _not_ do. It was part of the +test I put to her. She still has no idea that he is more than a +student." + +"Well, you egged her on to set her cap at him, and if he cares for her +at all it can be no more than a passing fancy. I cannot be a party to +letting the poor, dear young fellow be entrapped into a _mésalliance_ to +please you, and I shall see that she is sent back to England at once, +as, but for you, she would have been long before this." + +"I don't want to lose my temper with you if I can help it," said the +Fairy, with an ominous flush on her peaked old nose, "because I've been +through a good deal as it is this morning, and I'm feeling very far +from well in consequence. But you had better understand that Lady Daphne +is not going to be sent back to England--she is going with Mirliflor and +me to Clairdelune, and we shall start immediately." + +"_You_ are at liberty to go where you please, but Miss Heritage will +certainly not leave the Palace except to return to her own country." + +"And I tell you I intend to take her to Clairdelune with me, and you are +powerless to prevent it." + +"Indeed?" said the Queen, in high wrath. "Answer me this: Am I Queen of +Märchenland, or am I not?" + +"You are _not_!" retorted the Fairy, before she could prevent herself, +for the opening was really too tempting. She had not meant to go so far, +but, having started, she proceeded to enlighten the Queen as to her +title, and the very slender evidence on which it was based. + +"I don't believe a single word of it!" declared Queen Selina, as +defiantly as if this were the fact. "It's a wicked plot to set up my own +governess as a pretender, but there's a very short way of settling +_that_! I shall send for the Marshal"--and she made a movement towards a +handbell of exquisitely engraved crystal with a sapphire tongue. "I +shall tell him what you have dared to say, and have you and that +wretched girl arrested as traitors!" + +The Fairy shook with mingled fury and fear, for she saw too late that +she had made a wrong move. "Before you do that, listen to me," she said. +"All I have said is true, and you know it is true, but it was you who +forced me to say it, and I am willing to be silent so long as you permit +me to convey Lady Daphne to Clairdelune. As she has no suspicion of her +claims to the throne, you need have no fear that she will assert them." + +"I can't trust either of you--you are much too dangerous," said the +Queen, and she rang the bell. + +"You had better take my warning," said the Fairy, her wrinkled mouth +working with passion. "Old as I am, I have some powers left that you +little suspect. Scarce an hour ago I changed myself into a pool and Lady +Daphne into a cypress" (she naturally omitted to add how narrowly they +had escaped having to remain so indefinitely), "and by aid of the same +spell I could transform you to a shape which--which you will discover +after I have caused you to assume it. And it is a shape that you will +not _like_!" + +"Pooh!" said the Queen, on whom the re-integration of the under-gardener +into Mirliflor seemed to have left little impression. "Either you're +trying to frighten me or you're crazy. Whichever it is, you ought to be +put under restraint--and I shall see to it that you are!" + +"After that I'll do what I threatened!" snarled the Court Godmother. "It +may kill me--but I don't care--I'll do it!" And she mouthed words of +mystic sound and import, though her jaw trembled so violently that she +could scarcely pronounce them. "Now," she concluded, pointing her crutch +at the Queen's breast, "become--become a----!" + +But what the Queen was to become never transpired, for before the +infuriated Fairy could manage to name it her features suddenly became +contorted, the stick fell from her hand, and she sank down in a heap +just as the attendants entered in answer to the Royal summons. + +"I'm afraid," said Queen Selina, "that the Court Godmother has fainted. +I daresay it's nothing serious, still one of you had better bring the +Royal Apothecary at once. Be careful to keep it from the Court, as I +wish to avoid unnecessary alarm." The others endeavoured to restore the +afflicted Fairy, but, though still alive, she was in some kind of +cataleptic condition which was beyond the ordinary remedies. The Court +Apothecary arrived and applied blisters without result, and finally gave +it as his opinion that, while she might survive for some time, she would +in all probability never speak again. + +So Queen Selina ordered her to be removed to her apartments, and the +fact that she was indisposed to be suppressed for the present, after +which she left her Cabinet, feeling that Providence had been more than +usually judicious. Her next step was to send for the Marshal and +instruct him to remove Daphne from the Pavilion to a chamber in one of +the Palace towers, where she was to remain a prisoner under his +guardianship. "It's only for a short time, Marshal," she said. "And of +course you will see that Miss Heritage is made thoroughly comfortable." + +And then, the ground having been thus cleared, she returned to the +Throne Room. "Just a moment or two, my dear Mirliflor," she said +suavely, "if Edna can spare you," and she drew him aside. "Well," she +began, "I've been telling the dear old Court Godmother the difficulty I +am in. You see, I would willingly recognise this engagement of +yours--whatever I may _think_ about it--if I only _could_. But really, +you know, I can't _possibly_ allow you to take Miss Heritage away until +I am satisfied that your dear Father approves of her as a +daughter-in-law. As her employer I feel responsible for the poor girl. +And, besides, he _might_ think I had _encouraged_ this match, and I +can't afford to put myself in such a false position as _that_!" + +"But," he objected, "my Godmother is going with us to Clairdelune, and +she will explain all." + +"She has altered her plans," said the Queen, who was developing a quite +unsuspected talent for diplomacy. "To tell you the truth, I fancy she is +getting a little nervous about how King Tournesol may take what she has +done. She feels--as I am afraid _I_ do--that it is wiser to keep dear +Miss Heritage here under her own care till you have broken the news to +your Father and obtained his consent." + +"My Father is certain to consent," said the Prince, "and if he did +not----" + +"Oh, quite so--quite so--but both your Godmother and I consider that we +ought to wait till he _does_ consent. Of course, if you can bring us a +letter from him stating that he approves, all will be well. I'm sure you +must quite understand that that is really as far as I _can_ go under the +circumstances. And, if you start at once, you will be back here again in +a very few days, bringing, I hope, a favourable answer. We shall be most +pleased to lend you any horse you like in the Royal Stables." + +She was so plausible that poor Mirliflor, who, like most Fairy princes, +was not very deeply versed in feminine wiles, was quite taken in. He +thought her lacking in distinction for a Queen, but well meaning. And it +was so like his Godmother to impose one more test on him. + +"I will set forth, then," he said, "as soon as I have seen my Daphne and +assured her of my speedy return." + +"I'm afraid, my dear Mirliflor," said Queen Selina, "I'm _afraid_ you +can't see her before you go." + +"And why not?" he asked. + +"Well, you see, the dear Court Godmother--mistakenly, _I_ think--has +told her what a great person you really are, and Miss Heritage feels +that she has not the right to see you again unless and until she can +hear that she will be welcomed at your Father's Court. I said all I +could to show her that she need not be so over scrupulous as that, but +she is such an extremely sensitive girl, and feels her social +inferiority so acutely that nothing would persuade her to alter her +resolution. You will only be distressing her by attempting it." + +He pleaded and argued as long as he could, but eventually he was +convinced that it was in vain. And so, as he knew that Daphne would be +safe under the Fairy's protection, he took his leave, and, choosing the +best horse in the Royal stud, set out on his journey to Clairdelune. By +so doing, he was only--little as he suspected it--giving his hostess +time to consider how she could best deal with the girl who, she no +longer doubted, was the rightful possessor of the throne. But then Miss +Heritage was not aware of her birthright, which seemed to suggest more +than one way of coping with the situation. + +After Queen Selina and her Royal Consort, with the Crown Prince and the +Princess Edna and Ruby, had waved their last adieus to the departing +Mirliflor, the Marshal approached Clarence. "Allow me, Sire," he said, +"to restore this jewel, which was picked up close to the spot where your +Royal Highness's steed became so suddenly and unaccountably +unmanageable." + +Clarence reddened--for there was a covert sneer in the ex-Regent's tone +which he did not like, while he was angrily conscious that it was quite +undeserved. "Oh thanks, Marshal," he said as he took the pendant. "I +say, Mater, no wonder the bally thing slipped down--the clasp's worn +out. Whoever you bought it from ought to have put it in proper repair +before he sold it. Pity you can't send it back and make him mend it!" + +"Do I understand," inquired the Marshal of the Queen, "that your Majesty +_bought_ this pendant?" + +"Certainly not," replied the Queen, flushing in her turn. "You're +mistaken, Clarence--it--it has been in the family for years!" + +"You're mixing it up with something else, Mater," he said. "Don't you +remember? You wore it for the first time that evening the Baron came to +fetch us. And you told us you'd bought it out of old Uncle Wibberley's +legacy. I'm _sure_ I'm right!" + +"That was a different ornament altogether," said his mother; "but it's +not worth discussing." Accordingly the subject was dropped, for the +time, at all events, though the Marshal did not forget it. His was not a +brilliant intellect--brilliant intellects being rare in Märchenland--but +he had the faculty of putting two and two together, and inferring that +the total was more likely to be about four than any other number. The +Astrologer Royal had predicted that the Queen would be discovered in a +certain spot in England, and would be identified by being the possessor +of Prince Chrysopras's jewel. But the Marshal was now satisfied that she +was the possessor by purchase only. The original owner--if Xuriel had +read the stars correctly--was in the same locality. Was it not possible +that Lady Daphne might be that owner? If so, it would explain the +Queen's motive for placing her under arrest. Marshal Federhelm resolved +to play a bold stroke. When in the course of his office he had next to +visit his prisoner, whom he made a point of treating with all courtesy, +she begged him to tell her what fresh offence she had given that she +should have been condemned to solitary imprisonment. + +"I know but this," said the Marshal, "her Majesty is displeased at +finding that a certain jewel she purchased from you is of less value +than she had been led to believe." + +"But, Marshal!" protested poor Daphne, naturally imagining that the +Queen had been complaining to him of the transaction, "surely it's worth +at _least_ thirty pounds! If it isn't, I'd willingly take it back and +return the money. Only I can't--because I used it all to pay my bill. +But I always thought that pendant was valuable, and, as it belonged to +my father, I would never have sold it at all if I hadn't been obliged. +What do you think I ought to do?" + +"You can do nothing, Lady Daphne," he replied, "save trust that her +Majesty's anger will pass away. For whatever price she may have paid for +such a jewel, it is assuredly of far greater value than she is pleased +to assert." + +"I'm _so_ glad to hear you say that!" said Daphne. "It would be hateful +to think I had cheated her Majesty--even though I never meant to." + +That was all that passed between them--but the Marshal had learnt all +that he wanted to know, though he made no immediate use of his +knowledge. It was enough for him to feel that he had a card which he +might play to his own advantage when the opportunity came. The Court +Godmother was now generally known to be _hors de combat_, and as for the +old Baron, he could be left for the present in ignorance of his blunder. + +Queen Selina meanwhile had already formed her plans. She was not a +positively wicked woman, and even still thought herself irreproachable. +If she had managed to separate Mirliflor and Daphne by some hard +fibbing, it was only what her duty as a Queen and as a Mother demanded +of her. She had never liked this Miss Heritage, and firmly believed that +Daphne had alienated Mirliflor's affection from Edna to herself. And +now, it seemed, she was the lawful Queen of the country, and Queen +Selina had grown too habituated to power and grandeur to give them up to +this inexperienced girl. Her first idea had been to carry out her +original intention and have Daphne sent home to England without further +delay. But this, she began to see, would expose her to considerable +criticism at Court, and it occurred to her that there might be a simpler +and more satisfactory way out of her difficulties. + +So, full of her latest project, she went in search of Clarence, whom she +found lounging with a very moody and disconsolate air in one of the +balconies. Clarence was in low spirits just then, and not without +reason. He had entirely lost his nerve for horsemanship, as his mounts +had become as refractory as ever; he could not help perceiving that the +courtiers had lost all respect for him, and received his overtures with +hardly veiled impertinence; and, besides all this, there was another +matter that had been weighing on his mind for some time past. + +"Why, Clarence, dear boy," she began, "what are you keeping away from +everybody like this for?" + +"I wasn't 'keeping away' that I know of," he said. "There are times when +a fellow's glad to get a quiet moment to himself, that's all." + +"Perhaps," she said, "I know the _real_ reason why you've been so mopy +lately." + +"What do you mean, Mater?" he asked. "You haven't----?" + +"My dear Clarence, do you think I can't see that you've never got over +your fondness for little Miss Heritage? I can't bear to see you looking +so unhappy, and I've come to think that I may have been wrong in keeping +her out of your way. So--and this is what I came to tell you--if you +feel that she is necessary to your happiness, I shall not oppose you any +longer--and I will see that your father doesn't." + +"I wish you'd said so before, Mater!" he replied. "The Governor's been +at me to propose to old Goldenenbergenland's daughter, but I had to tell +him I couldn't take it on." + +"Of course not, dear, I'm told she's hideous. While Miss Heritage, at +all events----" + +"But she's engaged to Mirliflor! Lucky chap he is to get her, too. _I_ +might have once, perhaps--if I'd had the pluck!" + +"You may get her _still_, dear boy," said his fond Mother. "You see, she +doesn't know who Mirliflor _is_ yet--she thinks he's a student or +something, pretending to be a gardener. Well, she's much too clever a +little person not to get out of such an engagement as that if she knew +she could be the Crown Princess." Which was no more than Queen Selina +actually believed. "Trust me, Clarence," she concluded, "you've only to +ask." + +"I dare say you're right, Mater," he said, "only the worst of it is I'm +not _free_ to ask her." + +"Not free? What do you mean?" + +"I didn't like to tell you before," he said, "but--well, I--I've gone +and got engaged to someone else." + +"Engaged! Who to?" demanded the Queen, in her own English. "If it's +anyone in my Court----!" + +"It's no one _you_ know, Mater. But she's all _right_, you know. At +least, she's a King's daughter of sorts. Her Father's King of the +Crystal Lake." + +"The Crystal Lake!" cried Queen Selina. "You--you wretched boy! Don't +tell me you're engaged to--to a _Water-nixie_!" + +"Well, I suppose that's what it _amounts_ to," he said. "I never +_wanted_ to be. I met her when I was fishing there. She came up out of +the water, and we got talking and that, and I told her who I was. And +after that, whenever I got to the lake, she was always popping up. I +thought she was rather a jolly sort of girl if she _was_ a trifle on the +damp side, and it amused me to talk to her, but I never said a word to +her that could--till her old Dad suddenly turned up and insisted on our +being regularly engaged." + +"And you gave way? Oh, Clarence, how _could_ you be so weak?" + +"I told him I'd see him blowed before I said yes, and he pulled me in +and threatened to hold my head under water till I promised," said +Clarence. "I didn't see any point in being drowned--and so--and so, +sooner than have a row about it, I _did_ say yes. What else _could_ I +say?" + +"Well," said the Queen, "no engagement made under such circumstances can +be binding, and you must break it off at once. Go and tell him that +your Father and I refuse to hear of your engagement." + +"It'll make him most awful ratty if I do," objected Clarence. + +"What if it does? Clarence, you _must_ get free. I'm extremely anxious +that you should marry Miss Heritage before Mirliflor returns (if he +_does_ return) for her. It's most important, for your Sister's sake. +Because, when he finds himself forsaken, he is sure to turn to Edna +again. _Now_ do you see?" + +"I see," he replied lugubriously, "and I don't mind going to the Lake +and trying to get the old boy to let me off--but I bet you he won't." + +"Don't ask him anything. Simply inform him that your parents decline to +allow such a match, and refer him to _us_." + +"Perhaps that _would_ be the neatest way out of it," he agreed. "Yes, +I'll just tell him _that_--from a safe distance--and he can do what he +jolly well pleases. But it won't be a pleasant job. What?" + +It was some miles to the Crystal Lake, but he went on foot without any +member of his suite in attendance, and in a plain cloak and slouched +hat, which prevented him from being recognised as he passed through the +streets of the Capital. + +During his absence his Mother was engaged in long and anxious +consultation with the King and Edna. "I'm surprised at Clarence," King +Sidney had observed, "thought he knew his way about too well to be drawn +into an entanglement of this kind!" + +"He never would have been," said his mother, "if he hadn't had to choose +between that and being held under water. And you can trust Clarence to +make it clear that he would not be allowed to keep such a promise, even +if he wanted to." + +"If he marries any one," said the King, "it ought to be this Princess of +Goldenenbergenland--he'll get money with _her_, and we want some rather +badly." + +"Pardon me, Sidney," said the Queen, "but I intend him to marry Miss +Heritage." + +"Mother!" exclaimed Edna, "Miss Heritage! What _can_ you be thinking +of?" + +"I know what I am doing, my love. The poor boy is devoted to her and +always has been, and, in short, I've decided that he shall have his way. +It will be to your advantage that he should." + +On reflection Edna saw this. Mirliflor might feel mortified for a time, +but there was at least a chance of catching him on the rebound. + +When Clarence returned later his entrance was hailed with an +interrogatory "Well?" from his family. "Well," he replied, "I +interviewed the old King. Told him you couldn't stick my marrying his +daughter. He took it very quietly--better than I expected. All he said +was that, if you would come to the big fountain in the Palace gardens +(it's supplied from the Crystal lake, you know) at sunset, he'd be there +and let you know his terms." + +"Wants to blackmail us, does he?" said the King. "He won't get a +farthing out of _me_!" + +"It is like his impudence," added the Queen. "Still, it may be as well +to see him." + +And just before the sun's final disappearance, the four stood on the +margin of a small artificial lake, from the centre of which a great +column of water shot up to a colossal height against the crimson and +orange sky. + +"He doesn't seem to have kept his appointment," said the King. "Thought +better of it, hey?" As he spoke, the tall column sank and resolved +itself into a solid grey-green figure of little above the average +stature, a long-bearded elderly personage in a flowing mantle which only +partially covered his suit of glittering iridescent scales. + +"There _is_ the old blighter!" whispered Clarence. "This is my Father +and Mother, Sir," he added aloud, "and anything you've got to propose +must be settled with _them_." + +"O King and Queen of Märchenland!" said the Lake King, in a voice like +the roar of a cataract, "is it true that ye consider a daughter of mine +unworthy to wed your son?" + +"Without entering into personalities," replied King Sidney, "which are +better avoided at all times, I may say that an alliance with a family +whose nature is so--er--amphibious could not be seriously entertained by +any civilised monarch." + +"It would be _too_ grotesque!" said Queen Selina, "even in a country +like _this_!" + +"I have set my heart on becoming the Father-in-law of a Prince of the +Royal blood," said the Lake King, "and I will not be denied." + +"Now--now--now," protested King Sidney, "what _is_ the good of taking +that tone? If we were in England I should say this was a matter that +could be settled in few minutes by our respective solicitors. As it is, +you had better tell us how much you'll take to compromise it. I don't +admit that your daughter has suffered any material damage--still, if +you're reasonable in your ideas of compensation, you'll find us disposed +to meet you--as far as we can, you know, as far as we _can_," he added +hastily, as he remembered his shrunken gold sacks. + +"My terms are these," the Lake King answered. "Unless the betrothal of +Prince Clarence to my daughter Forelle be proclaimed throughout the City +before nightfall, the waters of the Crystal Lake shall overflow and +submerge the whole land to the tops of the highest houses. It is for ye +to choose." + +"That would be an outrageous thing to do, if you could do it," said the +Queen, "but you know very well you can't!" + +"Can I not?" retorted the Lake King. "Behold if I have boasted vainly or +not!" And he waved his sceptre, which was surmounted by a crystal fish. +Instantly the artificial lake came pouring over its marble border, and +the Royal Family were ankle-deep in water. "It's no good!" said King +Sidney, as the flood spread and threatened to rise higher still, "we've +_got_ to give in." + +"Nothing but the safety of our poor subjects would make me consent," +declared the Queen, "but as it is, I must. Stop this horrid flood, and +we'll agree to everything!" + +The water flowed back into the basin at a motion of the Lake King's +sceptre. "It is agreed, then," he said, smiling for the first time, +"that the betrothal is to be proclaimed before nightfall, and that the +nuptials shall take place within eight days?" + +"Oh, very well," said Queen Selina pettishly, "I can't think your +daughter will ever settle down or be really _happy_ with us--but that is +_her_ affair, and--and I will try my _best_ to be a Mother to her." + +"It is enough," said the King of the Crystal Lake, "I have your word. +Should ye retract now, what follows will be upon your own heads!" And, +with these parting words, he merged into a column of water which towered +up as before, its spray falling like fine bronze dust against the now +purple sky. + +"I don't much think I shall ever get on with _him_," was all Clarence +could find to say, as they walked back with wet feet. "But +Forelle--well, she really isn't at all bad-looking--in her way." + +"Has she got the same coloured hair as her father?" inquired Edna. + +"It's green," he confessed, "but a much prettier _shade_ of green--_Eau +de nil_, I should call it." + +"And I suppose all the furniture will have to be covered in oilskin?" +went on Edna. "One of the delights of having a Nixie for a +sister-in-law." + +"_You_ needn't talk!" he said angrily. "You came jolly near giving me a +bally ogre for a brother-in-law--what?" + +"There is just this difference, Clarence," replied his sister, "_I_ was +able to break it off--which you are _not_." + +"Well, if I'm not, it's not my fault, so you needn't nag," he said +savagely, for the thought that all hope of Daphne was now irretrievably +lost had just begun to gall him. + +"We shall all have to change our shoes when we get in," was her answer. +"And it is lucky if we escape a bad cold in the head. But I dare say," +she added sweetly, "that when dear Forelle is one of us we shall _soon_ +grow inured to damp." + +"What _I'm_ thinking of," said the King sombrely, "is how the Court and +the populace will take this business. It's to be hoped that the Lake +King is--er--_liked_ in these parts." + +"Who could _help_ loving him?" jeered Edna. "No doubt the wedding will +excite the greatest enthusiasm--especially if the bride goes through the +ceremony in a tank!" + +"Oh, shut _up_, can't you!" cried the worried Clarence. "Don't make it +out more rotten than it is!" + +Queen Selina was too occupied with her own reflections to interfere. Her +plan for securing the succession to the throne by a union between +Clarence and Daphne was clearly no longer practicable. She had been +anxious to treat the girl with consideration, and even indulgence--but +events had made this impossible. It was absolutely necessary now to get +Miss Heritage safely out of the way as soon as it could be managed. "I +must speak to the Marshal about it," she was thinking, "and have her +sent back to England in that stork-car. The poor dear Court Godmother is +much too ill to be consulted just now. I have just _that_ much to be +truly thankful for!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +SERVANTS OF THE QUEEN + + +If breaking the news of Edna's engagement to Count von Rubenfresser had +been a matter of some delicacy, to inform the Court and Public of +Clarence's betrothal to a Water-nixie was, as his parents felt, +infinitely more so. Queen Selina told the Baron first, but, rather to +her surprise, he took it calmly and almost apathetically. "I'm afraid, +Baron," she said, "you will think it very weak of us to allow it, but, +between ourselves, there are--er--State reasons which left us no +choice." To which he replied that he would much prefer to be excused +from offering any opinion as to the policy their Majesties had chosen to +pursue. + +The Marshal, on the other hand, expressed cordial satisfaction. His +lizard-like eyes sparkled as he assured his Sovereigns that he would see +that the heralds proclaimed the betrothal in the City before nightfall, +and that he expected it would excite heartfelt enthusiasm. + +It certainly had not that effect on the Court. The ladies-in-waiting +resented the prospect of having to acknowledge a new Royalty the greater +part of whose existence had been spent under water. The Courtiers +shrugged their shoulders with sardonic resignation. In vain the Crown +Prince attempted to carry off his secret uneasiness by clapping them on +the back and saying, "You haven't seen Princess Forelle yet, you know, +dear boy. When you do, you'll agree that she's a regular little +ripper--what?" They made it sufficiently clear that they had no wish to +see the future Crown Princess. In fact, if he had not already lost all +the prestige he had ever had, he would have lost it now, and his +feelings were not to be envied. + +Marshal Federhelm requested a private audience from the Queen, who +received him in her Cabinet. He began by asking permission to absent +himself for a few days on a hunting expedition in the Forest, which +permission was graciously accorded. + +"If the Crown Prince had not--er--ties to keep him at home," she added, +"I'm sure he would be delighted to join you." + +"I doubt it, your Majesty," said the Marshal. "His Royal Highness's +ardour for such pursuits has languished much of late. However, he is +better employed. And, ere I leave, I must ask your Majesty's wishes in +regard to my prisoner, the Lady Daphne." + +"Ah, I was going to talk to you about that, Marshal," said Queen Selina. +"There are many reasons why it is undesirable that Miss Heritage should +remain here any longer. After the underhand and ungrateful manner in +which she has tried to pervert Prince Mirliflor from his attachment to +Princess Edna, I feel it my duty to have her removed." + +"I understand, your Majesty," he said, "and it shall be done. But I +would recommend, in your Majesty's interests, that the execution should +take place in private, and that the Lady Daphne's decease should be +supposed to be due to sudden illness. Otherwise there may be trouble +with the Court." + +"_Execution!_" cried Queen Selina, genuinely horrified. "Good gracious +me, Marshal, you don't suppose I want the poor girl put to death, do +you? What do you take me for?" + +"It would be a prudent course," he said with meaning, "for any Sovereign +to adopt in your Majesty's situation." + +"For a Märchenland Sovereign, perhaps! But _I_ have been brought up with +very different ideas. I should consider it most wicked to give orders +for anybody to be killed. That is not at _all_ what I meant in saying +that I want Miss Heritage removed." + +"Then I fail to understand your Majesty." + +"It's perfectly simple. I merely wish to have her sent back to England. +The Baron can take her in the Court Godmother's stork-car. She'll never +be well enough to know of it now, poor old soul! And the dear old +Baron's so devoted to Us, and has always been so anxious that Edna +should marry Mirliflor, that I know I can depend on him." + +"If it should be known," said the Marshal, "that your Majesty had +banished Prince Mirliflor's chosen bride, there would be such an outcry +that it might cost you your Kingdom." + +"Oh, do you really think that, Marshal? But it _is_ so essential that +she should be sent to England! Surely it can be managed somehow without +any scandal?" + +"There _is_ a way, Madam, if your Majesty is prepared to take it." + +"I am prepared to do anything, Marshal--that is, _almost_ anything. What +do you advise?" + +"Your Majesty should inform the Baron that, the Court Godmother being +unhappily too indisposed to act as guardian to Lady Daphne, you desire +him to convey her in the stork-car to Clairdelune and place her under +the care of Prince Mirliflor." + +"But, my dear good Marshal, that's the very _last_ thing I desire!" + +"I know, Madam, I know. But it is what he should represent to the Court +and Lady Daphne, and he is more likely to do so if he believes it to be +the fact. I will give him sealed instructions which he is not to open +till after he is started, directing him to take her--not to Clairdelune, +but to the land of her birth. Your Majesty will be good enough to write +such instructions at once." + +"It seems simple, and yet, Marshal, I'm not quite sure," demurred the +Queen. "The Baron is an old dear, but just a bit of a chatterbox. He +might let the whole thing out when he gets back!" + +"He will not get back," said the Marshal. "I know a certain drug that I +will administer to the storks before the journey. It is slow to act, and +will not affect them until after they have reached the country that you +call England. But they will never leave it again. And then it will +merely be supposed that he has acted treacherously." + +"I see," said Queen Selina. "Yes, I should be perfectly safe _then_. If +there was any _other_ way, or I didn't feel so strongly that it was +really a kindness to Miss Heritage to save her from occupying a position +she is so unsuited to, I really don't think I _could_. But I suppose I +must do as you suggest." + +She wrote the order, which she signed and sealed and handed to him. "I +shouldn't like her to be left stranded in England without any means of +support, Marshal," she said. "_That_ would be a thing I could _not_ +reconcile to my conscience. So you will kindly see that she is supplied +with a sack of gold." + +"That will be a truly royal act of generosity," he said, "especially as +I understand the number of sacks in your Majesty's treasury is by no +means large just now." + +"I was forgetting. On second thoughts, perhaps you had better make it a +_purse_ instead," she amended. "It will keep her while she is looking +out for another situation." + +"No doubt. And it would be wise, I think, if your Majesty would speed +her departure with your good wishes in presence of the Court." + +But even Queen Selina shrank from such duplicity as that. "I--I don't +think I'll see her again myself," she said. "I--I'd rather not. It's +most distasteful to me to have to deceive her at all, Marshal, and I +shouldn't if it wasn't absolutely necessary in self-defence." + +"Your Majesty has no need to assure me of that. I entirely understand," +he said. "I would recommend that you send for the Baron at once, and +direct him to convey Lady Daphne to Clairdelune to-morrow. Then, after I +have given him the secret order, my part will be done and I shall be +free to enjoy my hunting." And with that he bowed himself out. + +Queen Selina followed his counsel so well that the old Court Chamberlain +was completely deceived. Usurper as he now knew her to be, she was, he +thought, still unaware of it, and such magnanimity to her daughter's +successful rival gave him a better opinion of her. After all, he could +bring himself to continue in her service, now that the Court Godmother's +main object was attained. Like her, he had no wish to confess that he +had been so mistaken as to saddle the Kingdom with a bogus Sovereign. So +he spread the news of Lady Daphne's approaching departure with great +satisfaction and the warmest eulogies of the gracious consideration +Queen Selina had displayed. But even this could only partially check +their disaffection, for they could not forgive her for subjecting them +to the indignity of accepting a Water-nixie as their Crown Princess. + +After dismissing the Baron, the Queen had felt somewhat shocked at her +own talent for dissimulation. "I little thought at Gablehurst that I +should ever fib like this!" she reflected. "But I wasn't a Queen _then_! +And I can't afford to be too particular, when it's a question of keeping +the Crown in the family!" + +The Marshal waited until the Baron had concluded his interview with the +Queen, and then visited him in his own quarters. The Court Chamberlain +mentioned the instructions he had just received, and spoke in the +highest terms of his Royal mistress's benevolence. + +"As you say, Baron," said the Marshal, "such conduct does honour to her +Majesty. She has, however, given me further instructions for you with +which it is well you should be acquainted at once." And he drew out the +secret order, and, after breaking the seal, presented the parchment to +the Baron, who read it with honest amazement and indignation. + +"I cannot believe her Majesty can have devised such wickedness!" he +said. "What can be her reason--unless--unless--" and here he checked +himself. + +"You were about to say: Unless she knows--as you and I, my dear Baron, +know beyond all doubt--that the Lady Daphne is the real Queen of +Märchenland?" + +"So _you_ know that, too!" cried the Baron, recoiling in terror. "I +swear to you, my lord, that I myself had no suspicion of it until it was +revealed to me by the Court Godmother but two days since!" + +"I accept your word for it--though whether _others_ will do so is +another matter," said the Marshal as he picked up and thrust in his +doublet the document which the other had let fall. "But what I should +like to know is, which of your orders you intend to execute?" + +"The first, of course," exclaimed the Baron indignantly. "Lady Daphne +has a higher claim to my fealty than this interloper. I shall do my duty +and carry her to Clairdelune." + +"You forget that Prince Mirliflor will not be there as yet to receive +her. Nor is it seemly that she should quit her Kingdom without making +any assertion of her claim. My plan is better than yours, Baron. +Hearken: I leave the Palace to-night on the pretext of hunting in the +Forest of Schlangenzweigen. I take with me a company of my own--all +tried soldiers on whom I can rely. To-morrow you will set out in the +car, as though to Clairdelune, and Queen Selina will naturally believe +that her secret order will be obeyed. But, after having gone a certain +distance, you will head your storks for the chapel of St. Morosius in +the forest. There we shall be waiting to swear allegiance to our young +Queen and escort her in triumph to Eswareinmal. I shall have taken +measures beforehand to proclaim her title, and it is certain that the +populace will rise in her favour. You cannot fail to see, my dear Baron, +that your best--in fact, your only way of escaping the penalty of your +folly--to call it by no harsher name--is to aid us in undoing it." + +"Enough, Marshal," said the Baron, "you can count upon me." + +"I am sure of it, Baron, and, as I am leaving the Palace, I will deliver +the Lady Daphne into your custody. See that you say nothing to her of +our scheme till the fitting moment. For the present she must be told +that she is to be taken to Clairdelune. And now I must quit you, for I +have much to attend to before I start, which should be within an hour. +To-morrow at mid-day we shall expect you at the Chapel in the forest, +and have a care for your own sake that you fail us not." + +An hour later, having disposed of the business he had attended to and +left everything in train for his project, he set out with a chosen band +on his alleged hunting expedition. "Whether this will fall out as I +calculate, or in some other way, I know not," he told himself, as they +clattered out of one of the City gates and took the road to the forest +of Schlangenzweigen. "But this I know--whatever happens, I shall shortly +be King of Märchenland." + +After he was gone the Baron began to reflect on what he had undertaken, +and to feel that he would be glad of an excuse to get out of it, if he +could find one. It was hardly credible that Queen Selina could have +devised so treacherous a plot; it seemed far more likely that the +Marshal had deceived him. After all, the secret order he had been shown +might not be genuine. If it were not, the Queen was innocent, and the +Baron was only too willing to leave her in peaceful permission of the +throne. Before he committed himself any further he must satisfy himself +on this point. His difficulty was that he could not ask her directly +whether the secret order had indeed been given by her, as he might +betray the Marshal, which might entail unpleasant consequences for +himself. After some thought he hit upon a stratagem that was rather +brilliant--for him. He obtained a private interview with the Queen, and +begged her to consider whether it was altogether judicious to restore +Lady Daphne to a Prince who might otherwise come forward once more as a +suitor for Princess Edna. "Would it not be safer, Madam," he suggested, +"to send Lady Daphne to her own country, where he would never be able to +find her?" + +Queen Selina was so convinced of his honesty and loyalty that she fell +into his little trap without a moment's suspicion. "Now, it's really +very curious you should have thought of that, my dear Baron!" she said, +"very curious indeed! Because--I suppose the Marshal gave you a sealed +letter from me before he left?... I thought so, and of course it isn't +to be opened till after you've started. Still, I may tell you _now_ that +it contains instructions for the very identical course you suggest! I +needn't say you must be careful not to mention it--but it may be a +satisfaction to you to know that I've already decided on it." + +"A great satisfaction indeed, your Majesty," he said, "for now my duty +lies clear before me." + +"And nobody, I'm sure, my dear Baron, will do it more faithfully!" was +her gracious response. He proceeded to Daphne, who had heard that her +Giroflé had succeeded in his attempt to rescue Edna, but knew nothing of +what had happened to him afterwards. He relieved her anxiety by +informing her, not only that she was to rejoin Giroflé at Clairdelune +next day, but who he actually was, which last piece of information +turned all her joy to dismay. Prince or no Prince, she knew that Giroflé +would be true to her--but what if the King, his father, forbade him to +marry anyone so far below his rank? She would have to undergo the ordeal +of being presented to King Tournesol, and the thought made her heart +sink with terror. + +"But the Court Godmother will come with me, Baron?" she asked anxiously, +only to hear why this was impossible. "Too ill even to see me!" said +Daphne sadly. "And that is why her Majesty is letting me be sent to +Gir--I mean, Mirliflor? It's really very good of her. I suppose, Baron, +I shall be able to see her and thank her before I go?" + +"Undoubtedly," he said, and, having said as much as he thought prudent, +he left his prisoner to her own reflections. + +Most of the Court gathered to see her off the next morning, but the only +Royalty present was little Princess Ruby, who held her former Governess +in close and tearful embraces. "_Darling!_" she said, through her sobs, +"it's perfectly beastly to think you've been here all this time and I +never knew it! And now you really _are_ going and I mayn't see you for +ever so long! It will be so dull, for of course I wouldn't play with the +Gnomes now--even if they weren't all down with mumps. And Edna's so +snappy, and Clarence is going to marry a nasty wet Water-nixie--and I +wish we'd all stayed at Inglegarth, that I do!" Daphne had not heard +before of Clarence's engagement and, though she naturally made no +comment, she could not think he was to be congratulated on his choice. +She did her best to comfort Ruby, and after taking leave of her nearly +as inconsolable friends in the Household, she at length found herself +seated in the car with the Baron, who had dispensed with the usual +attendants. And then the Courtyard, with the mass of upturned faces and +waving hands, slowly sank to the rhythmical beating of the storks' wings +as they obeyed the order, "To the Palace of Clairdelune." + +Clarence saw the car pass overhead from the grove in the Palace Gardens, +to which he had betaken himself in his dull misery. He knew that Daphne +must be on her way to rejoin her lover, and tried to console himself by +the reflection that it didn't matter to him. _He_ was done for, anyhow, +whether she went or stayed. But again came the bitter thought that there +had been a time when, if he had only gone the right way about it, he +might have--"I thought she wasn't good enough to marry," he said to +himself. "Not _good_ enough! a girl like her! Now I'm booked to marry a +Lord-knows-what with green hair. Serves me damned well right too!" + +Edna also saw the car as she walked with the Queen on the terrace that +commanded the City. "There goes Miss Heritage!" she said. "Delighted to +recapture her Mirliflor, no doubt! I don't wish to reproach you in _any_ +way, Mother, but I _can't_ think you've shown much consideration for +_my_ interests in packing her off to him like this!" + +It was painful to Queen Selina to be so misunderstood, but she decided +that the injustice must be borne for the present. "My love," she said, +"I could not possibly keep her _here_. And perhaps," she could could not +help adding, "perhaps _some_ day you will see that I have been a better +mother to you than you imagine!" + +To which pathetic appeal Princess Edna merely responded by a short +sniff, expressive rather of incredulity than any softer emotion. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +AT THE END OF HER TETHER + + +Both the Queen and Edna that morning had observed an unwonted stir in +the usually quiet and sleepy streets of Eswareinmal as they looked down +on them from the Terrace parapet. + +The great square was black with citizens, and from it rose a faint but +angry drone that was unpleasantly suggestive of the results of pitching +a large stone into a hornets' nest. + +"I expect," remarked Queen Selina, "they're all busy discussing this +engagement of Clarence's. If we drive out this afternoon we mustn't +forget to take at _least_ two sacks of gold with us." + +"I doubt if we can afford to drive out at _all_ just now," said Edna. + +"Perhaps," agreed her mother, "it _would_ be wiser to wait till things +have settled down a little. Why they should get so excited about it I +can't think. It's _most_ inconsiderate and troublesome of them--at a +time, too, when, goodness knows, I've enough to worry about!" + +Just then she was chiefly harassed by a doubt whether she had been +wholly wise in accepting the Marshal as a confederate, and especially in +committing her secret instructions to writing. What if he knew or +guessed her real reasons for getting rid of Miss Heritage? But, even if +that were so, he had probably acted as he had out of goodwill and +desire to maintain the dynasty. He had never shown the slightest +jealousy or chagrin at having been deprived of the Regency. No, on the +whole, she thought he could be trusted to be silent--if only because he +could not betray her without admitting his own complicity. Still, there +was a danger that he might presume on his knowledge--which would be +disagreeable enough. If their Majesties were reluctant to show +themselves just then to the populace, the populace on the other hand +were determined to be both seen and heard. The proclamation of +Clarence's betrothal had served as the breaking strain to the attenuated +links that still attached them to the Throne. They had murmured against +the enfranchisement of the Yellow Gnomes; their deception in the matter +of the self-supplying tables had weakened their loyalty seriously for a +time; the projected alliance of the Princess Edna with the surviving +member of a race whose scutcheon bore the taint of Ogreism had aroused +their bitter resentment. But all these grievances had been redressed, +and the amiable easygoing Märchenlanders were willing to forgive and +forget them. Now they were called upon to put up with a humiliation +beyond all endurance. The prospect of seeing the throne occupied in days +to come by a creature who was not only of dubious extraction, but +probably did not possess so much as the rudiments of a soul, infuriated +them to madness. + +So much so that the Royal Family had scarcely finished lunch when they +were startled by news that the people were once more advancing _en +masse_ up the road to the Palace, and would soon be battering at the +gates for admittance. + +"I can't see 'em," said King Sidney peevishly, plucking at his auburn +moustache. "What am I to say to them about this engagement? There's +nothing _to_ say except that it's most----" + +"If you say that again, Sidney," said the Queen, "I shall throw +something at you! Tell them the truth." + +"I--I'd rather the Council explained it to them, my dear," he said. + +"The Council have been sitting tight with closed doors all the morning," +said Clarence, "like a bally lot of broody hens. I don't know, of +course, but I've a notion they're discussing a Republic or something." + +"If _you_ won't speak to the people, Sidney," declared the Queen, with +the courage of despair, "I must order the guards to close the Courtyard +gates, and tell the mob that, if they promise to be quiet and behave +themselves, I'll come out and talk to them myself." + +"Good egg, Mater!" cried Clarence, "I'll come with you. It's really _my_ +show!" + +"You'll only make them worse! Much better keep indoors and take no +notice. More dignified," said the King. But as his wife and son paid no +attention to him, he followed them out for very shame. + +As they came down the front steps and advanced to within hearing +distance of the crowd, which had not attempted as yet to break through +the closed gates, they were received with yells and howls of execration, +frantic shaking of fists and brandishing of improvised weapons. The +strength of the gates and the presence of the guards gave the Queen more +confidence than she might otherwise have felt. + +"Now, good people!" she said in rather a tremulous voice, "it's quite +impossible to speak while you're making all this noise!" + +She had sent up for her crown, and perhaps this impressed them +unconsciously, though she had been too nervous to put it on straight. +Gradually silence was obtained. + +"I know why you've come," she began, "and we _quite_ understand your +feelings about our son's engagement. In fact we _share_ them." This +provoked a renewal of the uproar and a vehement desire to know why, if +that were so, the union had ever been contracted. + +"If you'll only listen, I'll tell you," said the Queen. "We shouldn't +have consented to it at all but for the sake of our beloved people." At +this the beloved people very nearly had the gates down. "You don't +understand," she shouted. "Even now, if you insist on the marriage being +broken off, we are quite willing--indeed we shall be only too happy--to +put a stop to it." + +Here there were shouts of "We do! We do insist! Stop it! No marriage!" + +"Very well then," said Queen Selina with more assurance, "only I am +bound to tell you what the consequences will be. The Crystal Lake will +overflow till the whole of Märchenland is under water. At least that's +what the Lake King threatens. _You_ know best whether he can do it or +not." + +Her hearers knew too well, and the cries and murmurs took an altered +tone at once, though some voices cursed the Prince whose weakness and +folly had brought them to such a dilemma. + +"Weakness and folly!" cried the Queen indignantly. "How can you be so +wretchedly ungrateful? When my poor, noble, unselfish boy is +sacrificing himself--for you don't suppose he can have any affection for +a Water-nixie?--sacrificing himself on--on the altar of his country!" + +"Mater!" whispered Clarence in admiration, "you're the limit!" + +"And all the reward he gets," the Queen went on, pressing her advantage, +"all the reward _we_ get--for providing that you can sleep safe and warm +in your beds--instead of being drowned in them--is violence and rude +remarks! Really, if you have any consciences left you ought to be +thoroughly ashamed of yourselves!" + +They undoubtedly were. For a moment or two there was a hush, and then +the whole mob broke into tumultuous cheers--for the Queen, the King, and +more particularly the Crown Prince. Never since their accession had the +Royal Family been so popular. + +"There now," said the Queen, when she and her family were weary of +bowing their acknowledgments, "that will do. Now go quietly away, like +respectable loyal persons, and tell all the other citizens what we're +doing for them." + +"I must say, my love," observed the King, after the crowd had melted +away in a vastly different mood from that in which they had come, "you +showed wonderful presence of mind. I quite thought myself we should have +been massacred." + +"And so we _should_ have been, Sidney," she replied, "if I'd left it to +_you_!" + +On re-entering the Palace they heard that the Council was still sitting. +"_Let_ 'em sit!" cried Clarence. "This'll be a bit of a suck for them. +What price a Republic _now_, eh?" + +"They simply _daren't_ depose us!" said the Queen, "now the dear people +are with us heart and soul!" + +Some time later, while they were sitting in the lapis-lazuli Chamber, a +page entered to announce that a messenger had just arrived with tidings +which he wished to communicate to their Majesties in private. "Tell him +to come in," said the Queen. "I do hope it isn't some fresh trouble!" + +The messenger brought grave news. The Marshal, it appeared, had been +killed while hunting in the Forest. Particulars were wanting, but there +was no doubt that he was dead. + +"How very very sad!" exclaimed the Queen. "The poor dear Marshal! To be +cut off like this in the prime of life! It must have been a wild boar, I +suppose--_or_ a bear. But, whichever it was, it is a terrible loss. I +don't know exactly how long the Court ought to go into mourning for an +ex-Regent--but at _least_ a month!" + +She was shocked, of course, by the suddenness of it. At the same time +she could not help a renewed sense of gratitude to Providence, which had +once more gone out of its way to smooth her path. "I've always said +hunting these wild animals is a very dangerous sport," said King Sidney. +"Glad you've given it up, my boy!" + +"Fed up with it, Guv'nor. But I dare say I shall go in for it +again--some day or other," Clarence replied, while he was thinking that +it would have to be a day when he discovered what had become of his +irresistible sword, and when he could find a horse among his numerous +stud that would permit him to get on its back. + +They were still discussing the Marshal's untimely end when an usher +came from the Hall of Council with a message that the Councillors had +ended their deliberations, and requested their Majesties to honour them +by attending to hear their decision. + +"I like their nerve!" remarked Clarence. "Of course, Guv'nor, you'll +tell 'em they've jolly well got to come to _us_, what?" + +"No, Sidney," said Queen Selina, flushed with her recent victory, "you +will say that we are coming in presently to preside over the Council and +give them our advice. I shall know how to put them in their proper +places. I shall wear my crown again, and you had better put on yours, +and--yes, I should certainly take your sceptre too." + +She kept them waiting as long as her own dignity demanded, and then +sailed into the Council Chamber, the King and Crown Prince following in +her wake. The whole Council rose and remained standing until the Royal +Family had taken their seats under a canopy. + +The President then informed them that the Councillors had resolved to +use every means to prevent a union which, if contracted, would +infallibly cover the entire Kingdom with contempt. + +"Oh, very _well_, gentlemen," said the Queen. "_I_ should have thought +even that was better than having it covered with water--but if you in +your wisdom think otherwise, we bow to your superior judgment." And she +explained the situation much as she had done to the mob at the gates, +though with less effect, for the President's answer was that, if such +were the alternatives, their Majesties would best show their anxiety for +their subjects' welfare by abdicating immediately. + +"I don't see that at all," she retorted. "Why in the world _should_ we?" + +"Because," was the reply, "when this so-called King of the Crystal Lake +learns that your son is no longer a Prince, he will cease to desire him +for his daughter." + +"And may I ask, supposing we did abdicate, whom do you propose to put in +our place?" inquired the Queen. + +"We should appoint Marshal Federhelm as Regent once more--or even elect +him Sovereign." + +"A very pretty plan!" replied Queen Selina, "only there's one objection +to it, as you would know if you hadn't shut yourselves up here all day. +You will be sorry to hear that the poor Marshal was killed this very +afternoon while hunting. So you can't get _him_. And, as there's no one +else available, and as my husband and I feel that it would be very wrong +to desert our dear people when they've just assured us of their perfect +loyalty and affection--(_another_ fact you seem to be ignorant of!)--I'm +afraid, gentlemen, that, whether you like it or not, you will have to +put up with us." + +"It is true, O Queen!" the President admitted with a deep groan. "We can +do naught except pray that Heaven may yet save this most unhappy Country +from so deep a degradation!" And all the other Members of the Council +groaned too, while several beat their breasts or tore their long white +beards in senile wrath and despair. + +"They _are_ a cheery complimentary lot of old devils!" commented +Clarence. "If I were you, Mater, I'd--what d'ye call it?--prorogue 'em." + +The Queen was inclined to accept this suggestion, but at that moment a +loud rapping was heard at the closed doors. "Go and see who it is, +somebody," she commanded, "it may be important news." She thought it +probable that an attendant had come to announce the decease of the Fairy +Vogelflug, which was hourly expected. + +The doors were partly opened, and then a voice she had never thought to +hear again cried in weak and quavering accents: "Let me pass. I claim my +right of admission as Court Godmother." + +The Queen changed colour, but felt that, inopportune as the demand was, +she could not refuse it without laying herself open to suspicion, and +perhaps worse. "Oh, let her come in, poor old soul," she said, "and find +a seat for her. I'd really no idea she was well enough to get up." + +The Fairy hobbled feebly in, looking incredibly old and shrunken, and +like a grim ghost of her former self in her clinging grey night-rail. +Her hollow eyes glowed like live coals as she faced the Queen, and stood +labouring for breath before she could speak. + +"So glad to see you looking so much better, dear Court Godmother!" said +Queen Selina. "But was it _wise_ of you to come downstairs so soon?" + +"I have visited the pavilion and found it untenanted," said the Fairy, +without troubling to explain how she had contrived to elude her +attendants and get there. "Now, answer me, what have you done with Lady +Daphne?" + +"Oh, haven't they _told_ you?" replied the Queen. "I should have +consulted you, of course, if I had known you were conscious; but, as it +was, I did what I thought you would wish and sent her off with the Baron +in the stork-car this morning--to Clairdelune." + +"Is this the truth--or are you trying to deceive me by lies?" + +"Really!" cried the Queen, "this is most uncalled for! I don't know what +you suppose I've done with the girl?" + +"You may have imprisoned--murdered her, for all I can tell. It is more +likely than that you would permit her to depart so easily." + +"Well," said the Queen, "if you don't believe me, you have only to make +inquiries. I was not in time to see her off myself, but I believe there +are members of the Court who were more fortunate." + +Several Councillors corroborated this by affirming that they themselves +had not only been present but had heard the Baron give the order, "To +Clairdelune." + +"I daresay you don't think much of us, Ma'am," said Clarence, "but after +all we're _English_, you know, and you might give us credit for playing +the game, what?" + +He spoke with a resentment which convinced his Mother of her wisdom in +having played her own game without seeking any co-operation from him. + +The old Fairy's suspicions had been completely quelled. "I perceive," +she confessed, "that I have been over ready to think evil, and can but +crave your forgiveness, Madam, for having done you so great an +injustice." + +"Pray don't mention it!" returned the Queen. "There was some excuse for +it, and we willingly forgive you, if there's anything to forgive. And +now," she added, after ordering the attendants to be fetched, "you +really _must_ take more care of yourself and get back to bed at once." + +"I will return to it," was the reply, "for now that my mind is at ease I +am well content to die." + +"Oh, but you mustn't talk like that!" protested Queen Selina, "when +you've just made such a marvellous recovery! Why, you're looking _ever_ +so much brighter than any of us could have hoped. All you really need +now is a good long sleep." + +"That is all, and I shall have it ere long. You may rest assured," she +added, with a significance which the Queen alone understood, "that +henceforth your peace shall not be disturbed by any word or deed of +mine." + +The attendants entered and she suffered them to lead her away, while +King Sidney graciously extended his sceptre for her to kiss in passing, +but drew it back shamefacedly on finding this civility ignored. + +"It's evidently the last flicker, poor old thing!" said the Queen, after +the Fairy had retired. "I don't at all expect we shall ever see her +alive again!" + +If she had so expected, her conscience might have troubled her more than +it did. As it was, it did not reproach her too severely. It was not nice +to deceive a dying person, but it was much nicer than confessing and +losing a Kingdom for it. It would have been too ridiculous to begin to +be squeamish now. And, after all, it was her misfortune rather than her +fault if the family interests had necessitated a slight temporary lapse +from principles she still held as rigidly as ever. + +She dismissed her Council, which broke up in a chastened spirit, and the +Royal Family, after a light meal which was the nearest approach to +afternoon tea that Märchenland afforded, went out for an airing on their +favourite promenade--the terrace that overlooked Eswareinmal. + +The market-place was still thronged, but such sounds as reached them +were no longer menacing. "I do believe they haven't done cheering for us +yet!" said the Queen. "And some of them seem to be waving flags! I +shouldn't be the least surprised, Clarence, if your wedding next week +goes off quite well after all!" + +"I wish it _would_ go off," he said, "but there's no chance of that +now!" + +"Well, it's no good being gloomy about it. Er--Forelle may turn out to +be charming when we come to know her. Which reminds me, dear boy, you +might tell her we should be delighted if she can come to tea here some +afternoon before the ceremony." + +"She could easily slip up through the fountain," suggested Edna. "I +shall be anxious to see how she does her hair. Let me see--didn't you +say it was green, Clarence?" + +"Oh, give her hair a rest!" he replied. + +"I saw before we left England," said the Queen tactfully, "that green +hair was going to be quite the fashion this season. But, however strange +she may be to society, we should remember, Edna, my love, that she will +shortly become one of ourselves and treat her with every civility. We +must avoid anything that might offend her Father." + +Queen Selina was inclined that afternoon to take a more roseate view of +the future. She felt herself once more secure on the throne now that all +the dangers which had threatened to overturn it had been averted. The +rival Queen would soon be landed in England, where, even if she ever +heard of her rights, she would be powerless to claim them. Of the three +persons who knew or might discover the truth, the Marshal was dead, the +Court Godmother might just as well be so for all the harm she could do, +and the Baron was on his way to a land from which he would never return. + +As for Mirliflor, it would not be difficult to persuade him that some +blunder of the Baron's must have caused the stork-car to go astray, and +it was quite possible that when the Prince had abandoned all hope of +recovering Miss Heritage he would return to Edna. + +"Look at the dear people now!" she cried, as she looked down on the +square, "they're actually forming a procession to march up to the Palace +and thank us again!... Yes, they really are! It's quite wonderful the +effect Clarence's self-sacrifice has had--it seems to have rallied them +_all_ round the Throne. But I _knew_ it would, if it was put to them in +the right way.... Did you hear that?" she asked later, when the +procession had reached an angle of the zigzag incline which was directly +below. "They're shouting for Me! I distinctly heard 'We want our Queen!' +So nice and warm-hearted of them!" + +The shouts had ceased, but the tramp of thousands of feet grew louder, +until the sound was deadened as the demonstrators passed under the wing +of the Palace on their way to the central entrance. + +"Sidney, we must go in and show ourselves to them," said the Queen. "If +they _insist_ on a speech _I_ will make it--you always manage to say the +wrong thing!" + +As they entered the Palace they heard a clamour which appeared to +proceed from the great Entrance Hall. "_Quite_ right to have asked them +in," remarked the Queen with approval. "I shall order some refreshments +for them, and then we can go up by a back way and appear at the top of +the Grand Staircase." But this part of the programme was not destined +to be carried out. + +On attempting to pass through they were stopped, to the Queen's +indignant amazement, in an inner hall by the Captain of her own Guards. +"Really!" she cried, "I never _heard_ of such a thing! What do you +_mean_ by it?" + +He either could not or would not give any other explanation than that he +had instructions to detain them. "Prince Hansmeinigel!" said the Queen, +as she saw him approaching, "can _you_ inform us why his Majesty and I +are prevented from addressing our faithful subjects?" + +"I think, Madam," he replied smoothly, "that you would find none here to +address." + +"How dare you tell me that, when you can hear them calling for 'their +Queen' at this very moment!" + +"But not for _you_, Madam. The Queen they are demanding is the Lady +Daphne." + +"Miss Heritage!" gasped Queen Selina. "Why should they want _her_?" + +"It seems," he said, "that certain information has reached the +Burgomaster and chief citizens which has convinced them of her title to +the throne, and they are now in conference with the Council on the +matter." + +"So that treacherous old vixen of a Court Godmother had betrayed the +secret after all, in spite of her promise!" concluded Queen Selina. But +the battle was not lost yet by any means. She was not going to give in, +when she had so many chances in her favour. + +"They might have had the decency to invite us to be present," she said. +"Surely we have _some_ right to be consulted!" + +"They will summon you before them presently, no doubt," he said, and +almost as he spoke an official came towards them and whispered to the +Captain of the Guard, who turned to the Queen: + +"My orders are to bring you before the Council," he said, "if you will +be good enough to follow me. We will go round by the outer corridor, so +that you will be in no danger from the mob." + +"What's all this about, my dear?" whispered King Sidney, as he walked +with his wife and son between a strong guard. "I thought things had +quieted down again." + +"Oh, don't ask _me_, Sidney!" she returned, "you will know quite soon +enough. But you needn't be uneasy. I've brought you through much worse +things than this." She entered the Council Hall endeavouring to look as +much like Marie Antoinette as she could. That her own Council should +arraign her like this was, as she protested, most unconstitutional--they +had no right whatever to do it. But, however that might be, they _were_ +doing it--a fact which even she was compelled to recognise. + +The President began the proceedings by reciting the evidence of Daphne's +title, which it now appeared had been put into the hands of the +Burgomaster and other notables of Eswareinmal by the Marshal, just +before he had gone to meet his sudden end. He then asked, in the name of +the whole Tribunal, what the present occupants of the throne had to urge +in their own defence. + +If the Queen had possessed the legal mind she would have perceived at +once that the evidence was merely hearsay--inferences that the Marshal +had drawn from what Daphne had told him, and as proofs quite worthless. +But she had not a legal mind; and besides she knew that the proofs were +quite good enough for Märchenland--also that the allegations happened to +be true. + +So she did not attempt to deny them. "All I can say is," she declared, +"that this is quite new to _me_. When we were brought here I was given +to understand that the Kingdom had descended to me, and of course I +accepted the responsibility. If there has been any silly mistake about +it, you can't blame me or my husband either. We've tried to do our +duty--even so far as consenting to our son's making a marriage we could +not approve of--for the sake of saving our Country from inundation. It's +not every King and Queen who would have done _that_." + +"That peril," replied the Burgomaster, "is no longer to be feared, since +the King of the Crystal Lake, on being notified of the facts in our +possession, has withdrawn his demands, saying he desires no union with a +family of ignoble and beggarly pretenders." + +"That's a let-off!" said Clarence, "though he might have put it a bit +more pleasantly, what?" + +Queen Selina felt that this repudiation had put one of her heaviest guns +out of action, but she was still undaunted. "I'm sure," she said, "_We_ +have no wish to be associated with such a person. And, as for being +pretenders, I can only say that if the Marshal had come to me and told +me what I now know, I should have been quite ready to resign in Miss +Heritage's favour. But how _could_ I, when he never breathed a word to +me about it?" + +"I should like to add," put in King Sidney, "that it has come as a +complete surprise to _me_. I'm anxious to do whatever is right and +proper, and if any reasonable arrangement can be come to, I won't stand +in the way." + +This attitude produced an immediate reaction in their favour, as was +visible from the expressions on the faces of the whole Tribunal. + +"Then," the President asked, "is the Council to understand that you are +prepared to resign at once?" + +"Certainly," said the King. "Only too pleased!" + +"Not at once," said Queen Selina. "We cannot leave the Kingdom without a +ruler--that would be very wrong. But as soon as Miss Heritage--or Queen +Daphne, if you like to call her so--chooses to come forward to claim the +crown we shall be delighted to give it up. Till then we are merely +holding it in trust for her." + +"And where is Queen Daphne at present?" asked the Burgomaster. + +"Well," said Queen Selina, "she _ought_ to be at Clairdelune by this +time." + +"She must be sent for without delay," said the President, and the order +was given that messengers on swift steeds should be despatched to +Clairdelune at once. + +"Well, gentlemen," said the Queen, after this business had been +concluded, "I hope you see that you owe us an apology for daring to put +us under arrest and treat us like criminals. Until Lady Daphne arrives +we are still the King and Queen of Märchenland, and you will be good +enough to regard us as such." + +"The Council wishes to express its deepest regret," said the President, +"for having exposed your Majesties' persons to undeserved indignity." + +"And now, perhaps," said Queen Selina triumphantly, "we may consider +ourselves free to resume our thrones, if only to dissolve the Council?" + +The guards fell back instinctively, and she and the King were proceeding +to their usual seats under the canopy without any protest from the +President, who was engaged at the time in deciphering the contents of a +packet which had just been brought to him. + +Before they had reached the steps of the dais, he looked up, and ordered +them to halt in so peremptory a tone that even Queen Selina obeyed +involuntarily. + +"What's up _now_?" inquired Clarence in an undertone. + +"This packet directed to myself," said the President, "was found on the +body of the late Marshal. It contains an order under the Royal seal and +signature, which I will now read to the Council." And he read the +Queen's secret order to the Baron to convey Daphne to England, which +provoked general horror and execration. + +The Queen was thunderstruck as she heard this fresh proof of the +Marshal's duplicity--she felt more than ever that she had been a fool to +trust him--she might have known that he would take some dishonourable +advantage of her confidence! + +"What have you to answer to this?" the President was saying to her, and +she could see that both her husband and son were waiting anxiously for +her reply. + +"Is it necessary for me to deny that I ever gave such an order?" she +said, with a virtuous indignation that was really very well done. "Of +course it was forged by that wicked Marshal!" (so fortunate, she +thought, that he was dead!) "It is easy to see with what motive." + +Clarence and his father breathed again. For a few dreadful minutes they +had been haunted by an ugly fear--lest--but they ought to have felt +assured that no member of the Wibberley-Stimpson family could be so +unworthy of the name. + +"It is possible," said the venerable President doubtfully, "that the +handwriting may be but an imitation." + +"Nay," struck in the sturdy Burgomaster, "it is hers, sure enough. There +can be no doubt to my mind that both our unlawful sovereigns and their +son have plotted to deport our true Queen, the Lady Daphne, and that +their vile design has succeeded but too well!" + +"You're quite out of it, old cock!" shouted Clarence, through the roar +of assent that greeted the Burgomaster's speech. "Why should we plot +against her, when we hadn't an idea she had a right to the throne?" + +"So you allege," said the Burgomaster. "But this order speaks for +itself, and if the Council will take my advice it will order all three +of the prisoners to be executed at once in the City Square, in sight of +the people they have wronged and deceived." + +This suggestion evidently commended itself to the majority, but the +President demurred. "We must not act too hastily," he said, "lest we +find too late that we have been misled by appearances. It may be that +Queen Daphne has reached Clairdelune in safety, but of that we cannot +have sure knowledge until our messengers return. In the meantime our +prisoners must not be regarded as though they were proved guilty. I +shall order that they be removed to apartments in the North Tower, where +they are to be given honourable treatment and every indulgence save +their liberty. Should it be found that they are innocent, due reparation +shall be made them." + +"And what if we hear that our Queen is not at Clairdelune?" asked the +Burgomaster. + +"Then they shall receive no mercy," replied the President. "Their heads +shall be struck off that same day, in the great square of the Capital." + +"Good!" said the Burgomaster. "I will have the scaffold put up the +moment I return." + +"I just want to say this, Gentlemen," said Clarence before he was led +away: "if we were really guilty of trying to get rid of poor little Lady +Daphne, we should be such a set of rotters that we should jolly well +deserve losing our heads for it. But you'll find we're not." + +"I can answer for my poor wife as for myself," said King Sidney. "She is +far too much of a lady to dream of doing anything that isn't strictly +correct." + +Queen Selina said nothing--she was not feeling well enough just then. + +"Not half bad!" remarked Clarence, as he went through the suites of +rooms that were to form their prison. "Pleasant look-out from all the +windows, and the rooms jolly comfortable, considering. We shall do very +well here for a day or two." + +"Don't talk in that light way, Clarence," said his mother, "or you'll +drive me mad!" + +"Why, there's nothing to be down in the mouth about, Mater. We may have +to stick this longer, of course--depends how long those chaps take +getting back from Clairdelune. But as soon as they do get back we shall +be let out, and I shouldn't wonder if the Country gave us a thundering +good pension. It's no more than it ought to." + +"You--you mustn't count on that. You--we must all of us prepare for the +worst, the _very_ worst." + +"What skittles, Mater! What can they do to us, unless, of course, Daphne +wasn't sent to Clairdelune. But I saw her in the car myself." + +"It--it doesn't follow that--that she got there, Clarence." + +"Why on earth shouldn't she?" + +"The Baron might--might have missed the way somehow." + +"Not he! He may be an old foozle, but the storks know their job, +anyhow." + +"We mustn't make too sure--of anything," said his mother, who had the +best reasons for knowing that Miss Heritage would never be found either +in Clairdelune or Märchenland, and that a shameful and probably +exceedingly painful death on the scaffold was their inevitable fate. + +It was terrible to think that she, the acknowledged head and master-mind +of the family, had brought them to such an end as this--more terrible +still to see both her son and husband so utterly unprepared for it. Her +nerves were jarred and fretted by King Sidney's apathy and Clarence's +light-hearted optimism, and the impossibility of arousing them to a +proper sense of their position. She could only do that by confessing +what she had done--and she shuddered at the mere thought. If it would +save them--but nothing would do that now! No, she could not lower +herself so immeasurably in their esteem; she would carry her secret with +her to the block itself! + +"Now, Mater," said Clarence, "you mustn't give way to the blues like +this. You can take it from me that we're as right as rain. So cheer up, +and let's see you smiling again." + +The unhappy Queen made a heroic attempt at a smile, but the result was +so extraordinarily ghastly that it disheartened even Clarence. + +"Oh, very well, Mater," he said, "you needn't--if it hurts you as much +as all _that_. But you've been so plucky up to now, I never thought +you'd come out as a wet blanket!" + +Even Marie Antoinette herself, thought Queen Selina bitterly, had never +had to bear being called a wet blanket! + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +"WHOSE LIGHTS ARE FLED, WHOSE GARLANDS DEAD" + + +Daphne had taken her seat in the car with somewhat conflicting feelings. +She was going to Clairdelune, where she would be reunited to Giroflé--an +altogether joyous prospect, if she could hope to find the Giroflé with +whom she had last parted. But he was now the magnificent young Prince +Mirliflor, and it was quite uncertain whether she would even be able to +recognise him. It would be dreadful if she discovered that she did not +care for him any longer! Perhaps it was anxiety, but still more probably +the fact of her Fairy blood that prevented her from being overcome by +the somnolence that none of purely British birth seemed able to resist +for long after entering that magic car. + +Daphne was not in the least drowsy, and thus was startled, after the +Palace and Eswareinmal had vanished out of sight, by hearing the Baron +suddenly order the storks to go to the Chapel in the forest of +Schlangenzweigen, and seeing them wheel in a direction she knew was not +that of their original destination. "What are you doing, Baron?" she +cried. "I thought you were to take me straight to Clairdelune?" + +The Baron put his hand to his heart (which he had once more been obliged +to compress by a metal hoop) before he could speak. "It is now time," he +began, "that you should be told who you are, Madam, and the glorious +future that awaits you." And, with a prolixity that may here be avoided, +he informed her of her right to the crown of Märchenland and of the +Marshal's arrangements for placing her on the throne. + +"But I don't want to be placed on the throne!" said Daphne. "Do you +really think I should turn out these poor Wibberley-Stimpsons now--when +they behaved so decently in letting me go? It would be too horribly mean +of me if I did." + +At this he thought it his duty to enlighten her upon Queen Selina's +perfidy, which naturally altered Daphne's opinion, but did not shake her +determination. + +"If she is so keen about her crown she may keep it," she said. "All I +care for now is to get to Clairdelune and see Giroflé--I mean +Mirliflor." + +"But," objected the Baron, employing the Marshal's argument, "we should +arrive there days before the Prince." + +"Then," said Daphne imperiously, "tell the storks to take us to +him--wherever he is." + +"If I did so," he objected, "the Marshal's plan would fall through!" + +"And what if it does? How do you know that he's to be trusted? I always +thought myself he had a bad face, and I don't feel at all inclined to +put myself in his power. So you will please not be a pig, Baron, but do +as I say." + +No doubt her diction should have been more on a level with her dignity, +but then it must be remembered that she had not been brought up as a +prospective Fairy Queen. + +"I am convinced," he persisted, "that the Marshal's devotion to your +Majesty's cause is beyond suspicion." + +"And I'm quite sure that it isn't," retorted Daphne. "If, as you tell +me, Baron, I am your Queen, it's your duty to obey my orders, and I +order you to take me to Mirliflor." He did not venture to oppose her any +longer, so he gave the necessary command, and the great birds wheeled +round once more towards Clairdelune. + + * * * * * + +Mirliflor had discovered, after accomplishing a third of his journey, +that his horse had suddenly gone so lame that it was unable to proceed +at any pace but a walk. He had dismounted, and was leading it until he +could reach a hostelry and provide himself with a fresh steed, when he +heard a loud throbbing in the air behind him. The next moment a large +flight of storks passed over his head and descended with a car on a spot +some yards in advance of him. He saw at once that one of the occupants +was Daphne, and leaving his horse by the wayside he went forward to meet +her, not without some constraint and uncertainty, however, for his fear +that she would love him no longer had not ceased to haunt him. + +She had alighted and was standing still, her face expressing wonder and +something of alarm. Could this splendid gallant cavalier really be her +homely Giroflé? she was thinking, and if he were, how could he help her +to overcome this paralysing sense of his being a stranger? He came +towards her, feeling almost as shy as she. + +"Daphne! my dearest!" he said, stretching out his arms, "am I so changed +that you can't care for me any more?" And, as she heard his voice, all +her doubts and apprehensions suddenly fled. + +"No," she murmured, placing a fair hand on each of his broad shoulders +and looking fearlessly up into his face. "You are just the same, +really. My very own Giroflé! And, oh, I'm so glad!" + +"And you forgive me for deceiving you, dearest?" he asked when the first +rapture of meeting and reassurance was over. "I was bound in honour to +tell you nothing." + +"I know," she said; "the Court Godmother is to blame for that--not you. +And I was prepared to find you changed, Gir--Mirliflor--only--not quite +so changed as this." + +"If you would love me better as I was, darling," he said, "tell me so, +and I will make her transform me again. I will become Giroflé for the +rest of my life--rather than lose you!" + +"I don't think she is well enough to be asked to do that now," replied +Daphne. "And, besides"--and here she held him from her at arm's +length--"besides, now I look at you, you really are rather nice, you +know! No, darling, I won't have you altered again." + +After all, this was only in accordance with Märchenland's precedents. +Did Beauty, for instance, resent her Beast's emergence into a Prince? +All the same, Daphne was a little ashamed of herself for the increasing +satisfaction she felt in Mirliflor's good looks--it seemed almost an +infidelity to Giroflé--but she could not help it, and did not even try. + +The Baron had tactfully remained with the storks until, in his opinion, +it was time to interrupt the lovers, when he stepped towards them, +cracking loudly. + +"Sire," he said, "accept my congratulations on a good fortune that is +perchance even greater than you yet know. You have won a lady who is not +only lovely, but, as I shall show you, no other than the daughter of +our late Prince Chrysopras, and thus rightfully entitled to the crown of +Märchenland." + +"And you knew this, Daphne?" cried Mirliflor when the Baron had +concluded. "Why did you say nothing to me about it?" + +"I only heard of it myself just now in the car," she said. "And what +does it matter? I don't want to claim the crown--all I want is to live +at Clairdelune with you." + +But he told her it was her duty to her Country to assert her just +rights, and, on being informed of the appointment with the Marshal, he +was in favour of keeping it. "He will be useful," he said, "if he is an +honest supporter of your cause." + +"But I'm quite certain he isn't!" said Daphne. + +"We can only make sure by meeting him," he replied, "and as of course I +shall be with you, you will be in no danger." + +He had no weapon but the sword that had served him so well at +Drachenstolz, which he had brought away with him rather as a _souvenir_ +than with any idea that he might need it on his journey, but Daphne felt +that, so long as Mirliflor was at her side, she had nothing to fear, and +so she readily consented to re-enter the car and be taken to the Chapel +in the forest, where the Marshal in all probability was awaiting her +arrival. + +As the car neared the borders of the forest, Mirliflor took out the silk +cap which the Baron had lent him. "I meant to have returned this to you, +Baron," he said, "but I find I have it still. With your permission, I +will keep it a little longer, as I fancy it may be useful. Don't be +alarmed, darling," he added to Daphne, "if you don't see me when I put +this on. Remember that, though I shall be invisible, I shall be near +you all the time." + +"I'll try to remember, Mirliflor," said Daphne. "But--but don't stay +invisible longer than you can possibly help." + + * * * * * + +The Chapel stood in a clearing in the very middle of the forest, and the +storks calculated their descent with such nicety that they brought the +car up in front of the door. + +The Marshal, in his plumed helmet, golden cuirass, and high boots of +gilded leather, was waiting, and now came forward to help Daphne to +alight. His vizor was raised, but the company of knights with him wore +theirs down, so that it was impossible for her to know who they were or +whether they intended her good or ill. + +"We expected you long ere this, Lady Daphne," said the Marshal as he +handed her out. + +"Did you, Marshal?" she said, trying to appear unconcerned. "We went a +little out of our way." She noticed that, either by accident or design, +several of the knights had interposed themselves between herself and the +Baron. + +"We have the less time at our disposal," said the Marshal, "so I will +come to the point at once. You have no doubt been already informed of +your rights, and that I and my companions are here to place you on the +throne, provided you accept my conditions?" + +"I--I was not told of any conditions," said Daphne. + +"There is but one," he said, and at this the Chapel door was thrown open +and a priest of extremely disreputable exterior appeared on the +threshold, with the lighted altar as his background. "Wed me--and you +shall be Queen of Märchenland." + +"I've no wish to be that," she replied, "and, as you know, Marshal, I +have already promised to marry Prince Mirliflor." + +"You may dismiss all thought of that," he said blandly, "for if you +refuse my hand, both you and the Baron will meet with instant death, the +car and birds will also be destroyed and buried, and I have so arranged +that it will be believed that her Majesty Queen Selina has had you +removed to the distant land from which you came." + +"Marshal," pleaded Daphne, trying hard to remember that Mirliflor was +really by her side, "I must have time--time to think over your--your +proposal." + +"It may help you to decide, Lady Daphne," he said, "if you reflect that, +in any case, you will never again behold Prince Mirliflor of +Clairdelune." + +"And why not, Marshal?" said Mirliflor, as he flung away the cap of +darkness and stepped in front of his beloved. + +The Marshal knew at once that his fate was sealed. He stood no chance +whatever against a Prince who had slain a dragon singlehanded. The +knights also seemed to recognise this, or else their sympathy had veered +to Daphne's side, for they stood back in a circle without attempting to +interfere, while the priest, who perhaps had not till then understood +that the marriage ceremony was to be compulsory, promptly re-entered the +little Chapel and blew out all the candles. + +The combat was over in a second or two--as any combat would necessarily +be in which one of the antagonists was equipped with an irresistible +sword. Mirliflor, to be sure, did not know that he possessed this +somewhat unsportsmanlike advantage, and had disdained to shelter +himself, as he might have done, under the cap. But it is more than +possible that if he had known more about the sword, he would have +stretched the point of honour in this particular case. As has already +been seen, he had occasional lapses from the ideals the Fairy had +bestowed on him at his baptism, and he was quite incapable of troubling +himself about them when Daphne's life was at stake. Perhaps he ought to +have been more consistently punctilious, but he was not--which was +fortunate for both of them. + +As soon as the knights saw the Marshal fall, they hastened to protest +their loyalty to their young Queen and offer their congratulations, +which Daphne thought it politic to accept at their face value. Horses +were found for her and Mirliflor, who decided to make, with a picked +body of the knights, for a village a league from Eswareinmal and await +developments there. Of the rest of the party, some were instructed to go +back to the Palace and report the Marshal's death while hunting, the +rest remained to bury his body, and it was one of these who found the +packet, and, most unluckily for Queen Selina, thought it necessary to +deliver it in hot haste to its addressee. + +The Baron was directed to go on in the car to Clairdelune and inform +King Tournesol that his son had found a bride at last. + +On reaching the village near Eswareinmal, Mirliflor had sent on two of +his escort into the city to ascertain the state of feeling there. They +brought back the unexpected news that all the citizens now knew that the +Lady Daphne was entitled to the Crown and were demanding her; that +Queen Selina, with her husband and son, had been imprisoned on suspicion +of having made away with her, and, if she were not forthcoming by an +early date, would be executed publicly without fail. + +In the heat of his resentment at the treachery which had so nearly +succeeded in parting him from Daphne for ever, Mirliflor declared that +they should be left to the doom which they would certainly meet if +Daphne's return were kept secret for a few days. + +"Mirliflor said that--not Giroflé," she told him. "Giroflé would never +be so horribly cold-blooded. But even Mirliflor didn't really mean it! +Of _course_ we can't let these Stimpson people be executed. Besides, I +_know_--I can't say how, but I _do_ know--that Mr. Stimpson and +Clarence, at any rate, haven't been parties to any plot to get rid of +me. And as for Mrs. Stimpson, I dislike her, and I want to go _on_ +disliking her--which I couldn't possibly do after she had her head cut +off! So we'll go into Eswareinmal at once, Mirliflor, and do what we can +for the poor things." + +"I spoke in haste, dearest," said Mirliflor. "I was wrong, and you are +right as usual." + +"And now we're _both_ going to be right, darling!" said Daphne. + + * * * * * + +"I wish," Clarence remarked later the same day, "I wish these windows +looked out on the front. We might see her coming back in that blessed +stork-car. She'll be sure to come the quickest way when she hears we're +in the soup like this--don't you think so, Mater?" + +"I'm sure _I_ don't know!" said the tortured Queen Selina. "She mayn't +come back at all. I mean, she may keep the messengers and leave us to +perish. It is only what I should expect of her!" + +"No, dash it all, Mater, she's too much of a sport for that," he said. +"She'll either turn up or send word that she's all right." + +"Don't deceive yourself, Clarence!" said his mother. "I know better than +you can, and I tell you that she will do neither." + +"Not when it's to save our lives?" he replied. "She's bound +to--unless--unless anything has happened to her. I'm a bit worried about +that, because--well, time's getting _on_, you know--what?" + +"I trust, my boy," said his father, "we shall not be brought to +the--er--scaffold by any mistake of that kind. If that occurred, it +would be most un--" he caught his wife's eye and substituted +"unsatisfactory. I'm not sure," he added, "but I fancy I hear shouting. +Seems to come from below." + +"It certainly _is_ shouting," said Clarence, "and it's getting louder. +They're coming this way. I--I hope I'm wrong--but I've a strong +impression that we're going to get it in the neck after all!" + +"Sidney! Clarence!" cried Queen Selina, as she sank on her knees, unable +to bear her guilty burden any longer. "I--I can't die without asking you +to forgive me for--for what I have brought on you!" + +"It's no fault of yours, Mater," said Clarence. "Just the family luck, +that's all!" + +"Ah, but listen--listen!" implored his Mother; but, before she could +proceed, the door was suddenly unlocked, and Prince Tapfer von +Schneiderleinheimer entered with every sign of respect. + +"I am charged by her Majesty Queen Daphne to desire your attendance in +the Throne Room," he said, "and to convey her and Prince Mirliflor's +regret that you should have been subjected to any inconvenience by +having permitted her departure to Clairdelune." + +Queen Selina--or rather Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, as she was now once +more--hastily rose from her knees. So the Baron had disobeyed his +orders, and Miss Heritage did not even know that they had been given! +This was indeed an unhoped-for deliverance. _What_ a mercy, she thought, +that it had come just before she had spoken words she could never have +recalled! "Kindly assure--your Mistress," she said, with all the dignity +of fallen grandeur, "that while we cannot but feel that we have been +most unjustly suspected, we are willing to make every allowance for the +circumstances, and shall have much pleasure in coming down to offer our +congratulations presently. But first I want to see the Princess Royal +and Princess Ruby if they are well enough to leave their dungeons." + +"Your daughters, Madam, have merely been required to remain in their own +apartments, and are in perfect health," he replied; "I will have them +conducted to you immediately." + +"Oh, Mummy!" exclaimed Ruby a little later, as she ran to her Mother's +arms, "is it really true? Aren't you and Daddy King and Queen any more?" + +"No, my darling," said Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, "it seems the people +would rather have Miss Heritage." + +"Oh, I don't mind so much if it's Daphne. And will Prince Mirliflor be +King?" + +"I really can't say how they will arrange it--nor does it interest me +_what_ they may do." + +"It does _me_," said Ruby. "I hope they'll let us stay here with them." + +"I consider it most unlikely--even if I were willing to be a guest in my +own Palace. But I've no doubt they will make some suitable provision for +us." + +"Speaking for myself, Mother," said Edna, "I should be far happier +leading a simple life in retirement than ever I've been in this +pretentious place. And, though I never cared much about being a +Princess, we can scarcely be treated as commoners after what we _have_ +been." + +"I shall settle all these matters myself with Miss Herit--Queen Daphne, +I suppose I _ought_ to call her, but it's so difficult to get into just +at once. And now I think we will all go down to the Throne Room. +Remember on no account to show the slightest ill-feeling. Let her see +that, if we have lost everything else, we still retain our manners." + +She was herself so far from betraying any ill-feeling when she entered +the Throne Room that she was almost overwhelmingly affectionate. + +"My dear child!" she said, advancing to Daphne, who was standing in the +centre of the room with Mirliflor, "so pleased to see you both back! but +we're _all_ of us _that_! And, as I was saying to His--to my +husband--only a few minutes ago, 'I'm sure, Sidney,' I said, 'there's no +person in the world I would give up my crown to so willingly as I would +to dear Miss Heritage!'" + +"Most happy," said her husband. "We've abdicated already, your--your +Majesty--both of us--as soon as we knew the facts." + +"I--I'm most awfully glad to see your Majesty back again," said +Clarence, noting the flush on her cheeks and the sparkle in her eyes as +she glanced at Mirliflor, whom he envied more than ever. "I was +beginning to think I--er--shouldn't--you ran things a trifle close." + +"Perhaps I did," said Daphne, "but you see, I thought it was wiser to +try to find Mirliflor, before being taken to--to Clairdelune." She said +this quite simply, for she could see that, as she had been sure of from +the first, both Clarence and his father were no parties to Mrs. +Stimpson's design, and she was anxious to spare them all knowledge of it +if she could. + +Her words only confirmed Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson's sense of security; +Daphne evidently suspected nothing, probably because the false Marshal +had never handed the Baron his secret instructions. "_Much_ the best +plan, I'm sure, your Majesty!" she agreed, "though it was fortunate for +_us_ that you found dear Prince Mirliflor so soon. However, it has all +ended happily, so we will say no more about it. And now I want to beg +that you mustn't consider Us. If you would like to have possession of +the Palace at once, you have only to say so. Or if I could be of any use +to you by staying on for a little, just to show you how things ought to +be done----?" + +Daphne forced herself to be civil to her for her family's sake, not her +own. + +"It is very good of you," she said, "but I'm afraid it won't be possible +for you to stay here." + +"Well," said Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, "we shall be perfectly satisfied +with any residence--if it's only quite a moderate-sized castle--that +your Majesty is good enough to put at our disposal. Not _too_ far from +here, or poor Ruby"--here she glanced at her younger daughter, who had +taken possession of one of Daphne's hands, which she was kissing and +fondling--"would be _quite_ inconsolable at losing her dearest friend!" + +But her remarks were lost on Daphne, for just then, to Mrs. Stimpson's +surprise and secret dismay, the entrance was formally announced of the +Court Godmother, whom she had imagined to be at least moribund, if not +dead. She came in, looking frail and feeble, but still with much of the +energy and vitality that had seemed to have departed for ever. + +"Really," thought the disgusted Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, "Mother +Hubbard's dog is a fool to her!" + +Daphne had already gone to greet her and lead her to a seat. "I'm much +better, my child--in fact almost as well as ever. A day or two ago I +thought I was dying--but a little rest and the good news of your return +have quite set me up again. I begin to think I shall see my second +century out yet!" + +"It is indeed a marvellous recovery, my dear Court Godmother!" chimed in +Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson. "We've all been _so_ anxious! We should have +sent to inquire, only we couldn't--because--well, you'll hardly +_believe_ it, but we've been imprisoned (and very nearly _executed_, +too!) on a ridiculous charge of having made away with our dear young +Queen here! When, as _you_ know, I had actually gone out of my way to +have her sent to Clairdelune as soon as I found you were too ill to see +to it yourself." + +"And well for you that you did so!" said the grim old Fairy, "for if you +had played--or even sought to play--her false, I would have seen to +it--old and ailing as I am--that such treason did not go unpunished!" + +Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson shivered inwardly under the implacable old eyes; +she knew well that she could expect no mercy if the Fairy discovered +that these secret orders had ever been handed to the Baron. Only, as +the Baron had never received them, he could tell her nothing, and as the +Council now believed them to be a forgery of the Marshal's, Mrs. +Stimpson felt herself fairly safe. + +"Yes, dear Court Godmother," she said sweetly; "but you see, I +haven't--so we needn't discuss that _now_, need we? When you came in +just now, I was just telling her Majesty that we had no desire to stay +on at the Palace longer than is unavoidable, but that, naturally, we +were anxious to know where accommodation would be found for us--nothing +grand, of course, _any_ fairly large _château_ would suit us." + +"I'm sorry," said Daphne, after stooping to kiss Ruby, "but that is +quite impossible." + +"Impossible?" cried Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson. "I can't believe that your +Majesty would turn us out of our own Palace, without a home to go to!" + +"You have 'Inglegarth,'" said Daphne, "and as soon as the Baron returns +with the car he shall take you there." + +"I am much obliged to your Majesty," returned Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, +her complexion deepening to a rich purple, "very much obliged for such +truly generous treatment! Some people might think that, considering that +you wouldn't be Queen at all but for our kindness in taking you with us, +when we were brought here--by no seeking of _ours_--to reign over this +ridiculous country--I say, _some_ people might call this rather shabby +and ungrateful. Especially when we gave way the moment we were told +there had been a mistake--sooner than make any fuss or trouble--as few +Sovereigns in our position would have done! And now it seems we're to be +rewarded by being bundled back to a suburban residence which, whatever +else may be said for it, is absurdly inadequate for any retired +Royalties! But you will find we are not to be got rid of quite so +easily. I absolutely decline to go back to Gablehurst to be an ordinary +nobody after what I have been. Nothing in the world shall induce me to!" + +"My love," said her husband, "we can't stay here if we're not wanted." + +"No, Mater," said Clarence, "we've got to clear." + +"I shall be thankful to get away myself," added Edna. "What is +Märchenland, after all?--just a petty little Kingdom that nobody even +knows is in existence!" + +"_You_ may go if you please," Mrs. Stimpson declared. "_I_ shall +stay--if I have to sit and starve to death at the Palace Gates! And a +pretty scandal _that_ will be!" + +"If you were allowed to starve," said the Fairy Vogelflug--"which you +wouldn't be, you'd get food enough--but no sympathy. So I should advise +you myself to return to your own Country, where you are probably held in +more esteem than you are here. And now," she added to Daphne, "I must +ask your Majesty's leave to withdraw to my own apartments. I shall be +obliged if you would send the Baron to me as soon as he arrives from +Clairdelune." And with this, and a stiff but stately curtesy to the +young Queen, she hobbled out of the Throne Room. + +"I shall maintain to my dying breath," declared Mrs. Stimpson +vehemently, "that, after governing this Country as we have done, we have +earned the right to stay in it. I consider we are not only entitled to +that, but to a suitable establishment and pension. Your Majesty can +surely spare us something out of all we have given up!" + +Daphne intimated that she wished to reply to Mrs. Stimpson in private, +whereupon the others withdrew out of hearing and left them together. + +"I hate having to say it," she began in a low voice, "but you really +can't stay here on any terms, Mrs. Stimpson--I think I needn't tell you +why." + +"Your Majesty surely doesn't suspect me of any----?" + +"I don't suspect," said Daphne, "I _know_ how you tried to part me from +Prince Mirliflor for ever--and how nearly you succeeded. _He_ knows, +too.... Oh, you are in no danger from us--_we_ shall say nothing. But +there is someone else who _might_." + +"Not--not the Baron?" cried Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, so thrown off her +guard that she failed to see how completely the question gave her away. + +"Yes," said Daphne gravely, "the Baron. You heard what the Court +Godmother said about seeing him as soon as he returns? We have forbidden +him to speak--but it's quite possible that she will get the truth out of +him--and that might be rather disagreeable for you, mightn't it?" + +"Very," agreed the trembling Mrs. Stimpson. "She'd have no mercy on +me--on any of us!" + +"I'm afraid not," said Daphne, "and she might not listen even to me. +So--don't you think it would be wiser to change your mind about staying +and go back to Gablehurst before she _does_ see him?" + +"Much," said Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson in a half-choked voice--"much! +if--if it can be arranged." + +"I think it can. The journey to Clairdelune and back won't tire the +storks--they will be quite able to take you over to England as soon as +you are ready to start." + +"We'll go and get ready at once," said Mrs. Stimpson, "so as not to keep +the car waiting." + +"You have plenty of time. It can't be here for some hours yet." + +"Oh, I hope the Baron will make haste--and--and if your Majesty _could_ +only prevent him from seeing the Court Godmother till after we are +gone!" + +"She will probably be asleep," said Daphne, "but in any case he shall +have instructions to take you home the very moment he arrives at the +Palace. I think," she added, "that is all we had to say to one another." + +"Except," said Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, "that your Majesty really must +allow me to express my deep sense of the very handsome----" + +"No, _please_!" said Daphne, turning away, for she felt that she had had +as much of Mrs. Stimpson as she could stand just then. + +That good lady, having partially recovered her equanimity, retreated to +her husband and family. + +"I've been talking it over with her Majesty, Sidney," she announced, +"and she has _quite_ brought me to see that, under the circumstances, we +shall really be more comfortable in dear old England. So she has kindly +arranged for us to be taken home in the car directly it gets back from +Clairdelune." + +"Glad to hear it, my love," said the ex-Monarch. "Personally, I much +prefer 'Inglegarth' to this sort of thing." + +"But I say," Clarence put in, glancing down at his fantastic attire, "I +don't quite see myself going back to Gablehurst in _this_ get up. Wish +I knew what had become of the kit we came in!" + +It was now the hour when the Court was accustomed to go up and change +their costumes before dinner, and Daphne felt a difficulty as to the +proper course to pursue with the Wibberley-Stimpsons. Could she without +indelicacy invite them to sit as guests at what had lately been their +own table? And yet it seemed hardly human to leave them out. She decided +that the former course was on the whole less open to objection. + +"I hope," she said to Mrs. Stimpson, with a touch of shyness, "that you +will all give me the pleasure of dining with us this evening? You see, +you must have something to eat before such a long journey." + +"Your Majesty is most kind," said Mrs. Stimpson in a great flurry, "but, +if you will excuse us from accepting what--no one knows better than +I--is really a command, I--I really _don't_ think we should have time to +sit through a long dinner. We--we might miss the car--and besides, +there's the question of dressing. If we could have a few sandwiches and +a little wine in one of the vestibules while we are waiting for the car, +that will be all we shall require!" + +"You shall do exactly as you please about it," replied Daphne. She was +greatly relieved, as one reason for her hesitation in asking them had +been the dread that Mr. Stimpson might think himself called upon to make +an after-dinner speech. + +Her ladies-in-waiting were already in her Tiring-Chamber, highly +delighted by the prospect of arraying a Queen whom, even when she had +been nominally one of themselves, they had always not merely admired but +adored. + +It had suddenly occurred to Daphne that the Stimpson family might find +themselves on their return to Gablehurst in certain difficulties against +which she felt bound to do what she could to protect them. + +She thought over the best means of doing this, which took so much time +to carry out that the business of arraying her for her first banquet as +a Royal Hostess had to be got through more hurriedly than her ladies of +the Bedchamber thought at all decorous. + +But she knew that Mirliflor would be well content with her, however she +looked--and as a matter of fact he not only was, but had every reason to +be so. + +The Wibberley-Stimpsons had already ascertained that the clothes they +had worn on their arrival in Märchenland had been carefully laid up in +one of the Royal wardrobes, from which they were brought at their +earnest request. They put them on in frantic haste, and, in deadly fear +of being surprised by the Royal Household, they stole down the great +Staircase to an antechamber by the Entrance Hall. There they found a +table set with every description of tempting food, to which all did +justice but Mrs. Stimpson, the state of whose nerves had entirely taken +away her appetite. She was continually starting up and saying, "Listen! +I'm _sure_ I hear these storks!" + +"You'd better eat something, Mater," Clarence said. "It's the last +dinner we shall ever have in Märchenland." + +"I can't," she replied, "I don't know how any of _you_ can.... There go +the silver trumpets! She's going into the Banqueting Hall now. On Prince +Mirliflor's arm, most likely! How she can have the _heart_ when she +_must_ know we are still here!" + +"She _did_ ask us to dinner, my love," Mr. Stimpson mildly reminded her. + +"She had the execrable taste to do that, Sidney," replied his wife, "and +I think the manner in which I declined must have been a lesson to +her.... Dear me, is that car _never_ coming?" + +She said that many times during the evening, as they sat on in the ebony +and ivory chamber, while the strains of music reached them faintly from +the distant Ballroom. + +Clarence thought gloomily of the dance on the night of the Coronation, +and how his mother had forbidden him to choose Daphne as his partner. +Perhaps, if he had insisted on having his own way--if he had not limited +himself to a merely morganatic alliance, she might have--but it was too +late to grouse about that now! He endeavoured to cheer himself by the +thought that he would very soon be in a civilised land of cigarettes. + +It was getting late, and the music had now ceased, from which they +gathered that the Queen and Court had already retired. "She _might_ have +had the common civility to say good-bye to us!" complained Mrs. +Stimpson, "but of course she is too grand now to condescend so far! Not +that _I_ have any desire to see her again. On the contrary!" + +The doors of the Vestibule were thrown open here and one of the ushers +announced: "Her Majesty the Queen and His Royal Highness Prince +Mirliflor." + +"Coming here to triumph over us!" was Mrs. Stimpson's comment as she +rose. + +"We came to wish you a pleasant journey to Gablehurst," explained +Daphne, as she entered, followed by Mirliflor. "I hope you won't have to +wait for the car _much_ longer, but I've told the attendants in the +Hall to let you know the minute it is here." + +She was looking radiantly lovely and girlish--and queenly as well, in +spite of the fact that she was still uncrowned. But if she had had the +right to wear her crown, she was incapable of doing so just then. + +Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson made a curtsey that might have been lower if she +had had any practice--but all the curtseying previously had been done to +herself. "We thank your Majesty," she said. "I too hope there will be no +more of this delay. I am getting worn out with all this waiting. Oh, +while I think of it," she went on (the desire to be offensive overcoming +any fear of the consequences), "of course we are not in a position _now_ +to give really _valuable_ wedding presents--and I'm afraid mine must be +a _very_ humble offering, particularly as it needs repairing. However, +such as it is, perhaps your Majesty will honour me by accepting it with +our congratulations and _very_ best wishes?" And she offered the jewel +which she had formerly acquired from Daphne. Daphne's eyebrows +contracted for an instant, but the next moment she laughed. + +"I really couldn't, Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson!" she said. "You see, you +have already given it to Clarence, and I mustn't deprive him of it." + +"Won't you accept it from _me_, then?" he said awkwardly. "I--I shan't +have any use for it now." + +She shook her head. "You will please me so much better by keeping it," +she said gently--"in memory of Märchenland." + +It was true that it had once belonged to her father--the father she had +never known--but then it had also belonged to Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, +and Daphne was conscious now of an invincible unwillingness to accept +any gift from that lady. + +"I--I'd do anything to please you," said Clarence, taking the pendant +from his mother and slipping it into the pocket of his dinner-jacket. + +Ruby, in the white silk frock she had last worn at "Inglegarth," was +clinging to Daphne. "I don't want to go back!" she wailed, "I want to +stay here with you. Won't you send for me some day? Say you will; do say +you will!" + +Daphne stooped to caress and comfort her, and also to hide her own +emotion. "I wish I could, darling," she said tenderly, "but I'm afraid, +I'm _afraid_ I mustn't make any promises that I'm not sure of being able +to keep." + +"Then say you will--_perhaps_!" entreated Ruby, but her mother promptly +interposed. + +"Ruby, my dear," she said, "you're forgetting how far her Majesty is now +our superior. A Palace is no longer a fit place for any of us to visit, +and I consider it best we should remain in future strictly in our +respective spheres." + +"Then I will go to mine at once," said Daphne, smiling. "Good-bye, Mrs. +Wibberley-Stimpson. Good-bye, Edna." She held out her hand to both of +them, but they curtsied formally without offering to take it. "Good-bye, +dearest little Ruby--I hope your next governess will love you nearly as +much as I do--she can't _quite_! Good-bye, Mr. Stimpson--I think you +will be rather glad to be back in the City again, won't you?" + +"I shall, indeed, your Majesty," he said. "To tell you the honest truth, +I don't think I was ever cut out for a monarch." + +It was Clarence's turn next, and when he saw her offering him her hand +with the old frank friendliness, he had a renewed sense of his own +unworthiness. + +"No," he said in a low voice, "you can't want to shake hands with--with +such a hopeless rotter as I've been!" + +"I shouldn't," she replied, "if I weren't sure that you could be +something very much better if you chose. And I know you _will_ choose." + +"I will," he said, "I swear I will--if I ever get the chance!" + +"Your chance will come. Quite soon, perhaps. And when it does, remember +that I believe in you--and, good-bye, Clarence." + +"Good-bye--Daphne," he said brokenly. As he took her hand he thought +with a keen pang that he had never held it before, and never would +again. And the time had been--or so at least he imagined--when he might +have made that hand his own for ever! + +"Good night, Mirliflor," said Daphne, as he held aside the hangings for +her. "We shall meet to-morrow." + +She passed into the great Hall with a dignity the more charming for +being so natural and unconscious--and that was the last Clarence was +ever destined to see of her. + +He turned to Mirliflor, whose eyes still betrayed the pride he felt in +his beloved. "I don't mind telling you, old chap--er--Prince Mirliflor, +that I took to you from the start, and--as I can't be the lucky man +myself, I'm jolly glad it's to be _you_!" + +"Thank you," said Mirliflor, who was less given to florid phrases than +the average Fairy Prince. "So am I." + +"I dare say," Clarence went on, as he realised the contrast between his +own clothes and the magnificent costume that the old Fairy had provided +for her royal godson, "I dare say you're thinking we're not looking very +smart?" + +Mirliflor was honestly able to disclaim having any impressions on the +subject. + +"Well, these togs must seem a bit rummy to _you_--but I can assure you +that, for informal occasions like the present, they're quite the right +thing in England." (He had a momentary impulse to except his father's +white tie, but, after all, why should he say anything about that when +Mirliflor knew no better? So he decided to pass it), "Worn by the very +best Society." + +Mirliflor politely accepted this information, and then made his +farewells. Edna's good wishes were couched in a spirit of frigid +magnanimity. She had too much self-respect to let him perceive that she +resented his fickleness. + +They were now alone in the antechamber. From time to time Mrs. +Wibberley-Stimpson would rise impatiently and peer out into the vast +hall, now only lit by one or two flickering cressets, to see if the +stork-car had arrived--but the attendants in waiting always assured her +that it had not, and, after some fussing and fretting, she lay down on a +divan and fell into an uneasy slumber. + +Her husband was snoring placidly; Ruby had cried herself to sleep long +before; Edna had brought down her lecture-notes, and was conscientiously +employing the time in polishing up her knowledge of English Literature. + +Her notes on Nietzsche's philosophy had been torn out after the rupture +with the Count. Somehow the Nietzschean theories did not seem to work +quite well when carried into practice. But, after deciphering a very few +Literature notes, Edna found herself too drowsy to continue. + +Clarence remained awake longest. He had wandered restlessly out into the +hall just to look at the great Staircase half lost in the gloom. Daphne +had ascended it a little while since. To-morrow she would come down, +fresh and radiant, to meet Mirliflor. Before long they would be married +and crowned, and live happy ever after in the good old Märchenland way. +Well, he wouldn't have to look on and see them doing it, which was some +consolation. He went back to the antechamber and regarded the sleeping +forms of his family with disillusioned eyes. "We look like Royalties--I +_don't_ think!" he said to himself. "No wonder they've booted us out. +Why, a bally rabbit-warren would!" + +But this depressing reflection soon ceased to trouble him, unless it +still continued to shadow his dreams. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +SQUARING ACCOUNTS + + +Almost simultaneously Mr. Wibberley-Stimpson and his son and daughters +opened their eyes, then rubbed them, and sat up and looked about them +with a bewilderment that gradually gave way to intense relief. For, +although the light had faded, their surroundings were reassuringly +familiar. They were in their own drawing-room at "Inglegarth." It +occurred at once to most of them that they had never actually left +it--an impression that was pleasantly confirmed by Mrs. +Wibberley-Stimpson's first remark as she awoke later. + +"Why, hasn't the dinner-gong gone yet?" she inquired crossly. "Cook gets +more and more unpunctual!" + +"I don't think it can be eight o'clock yet, my dear," said her husband, +"it's quite light still." + +"Nonsense, Sidney, it must be long past dinner-time! I've been so lost +in my own thoughts that somehow I----" + +"Now, Mother, you know you've been asleep and only just woke up!" said +Edna, from one of the chintz couches. + +"Have I? Perhaps I _did_ drop off just for a few seconds. In fact I must +have done--for I begin to recollect having quite a curious dream. I +dreamed that you and I, Sidney, were King and Queen of some absurd +fairy Kingdom or other, and that--well, it was not at _all_ a pleasant +dream." + +"It's a most singular coincidence, Selina," he said, "but I've been +dreaming much the same sort of thing myself!" + +The others looked at one another, but none of them ventured to express +just yet what was in all their minds. + +"Have you?" said his wife languidly. "I suppose it was telepathy or +something of that kind. Ring for Mitchell, Clarence--I hope dinner has +not been allowed to get cold. And--and Miss Heritage seems to have left +the drawing-room. Run up, Ruby, and tell her to come down." + +"I don't believe she's upstairs at all, mummy," said Ruby. "No, of +course she _can't_ be. We left her in the Palace--don't you remember? +_She's_ Queen now, you know?" + +"Queen! Miss Heritage! Why, you don't mean to tell me you've been +dreaming that too?" + +"So have I, as far as that goes, mater," said Clarence. "If it _was_ a +dream, and not--not----" + +"How could it be anything else? Besides, here we all _are_, exactly as +we were!" + +"We've got our cloaks and things on, though," said Ruby. "_I_ know how +it was! We've been brought here in the stork-car while we were fast +asleep. We sat up ever so long waiting for it." + +"It can't be! I won't believe anything so absurd. Draw the curtains, +somebody, and pull up the blinds.... It's odd, but it certainly looks +more like early morning than any other time. Clarence, go out and strike +the gong. Perhaps the maids haven't finished dressing yet." + +Clarence went out accordingly. The gong bellowed and boomed from the +hall, but there was no sound of stirring above. "I say," he reported, +"I've just looked into the dining-room, and all the chairs are upside +down on the table. That looks rather as if we'd been away for a +bit--what?" + +"Clarence! You're not beginning to think that--that all that about our +having been a Royal Family may be _true_?" + +"Well, Mater," he said, "if we haven't been in Märchenland, where _have_ +we been? Oh yes, we've been Royalties right enough--and a pretty rotten +job we made of it!" + +At this time there was a deprecatory knock at the drawing-room door. +"Mitchell!" cried her mistress, "don't you know better than to--?" +However, it was not Mitchell that entered--but a person unknown--a +respectable-looking elderly female, who seemed to have made a hasty +toilette. + +"Askin' your pardons," she said, "but if you were wishing to see the +family, they're away just now." + +"We _are_ the family," replied Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson. "We have +been--er--abroad, but have returned. And we should be glad of breakfast +at once." + +"I can git you a cup of tea as soon as the kittle's on the boil," she +said, "but I'm only put in as caretaker like, and I've nothink in the +'ouse except bread and butter. The shops'll be opening now, so if you +don't object to waiting a little, I could go out and get you a naddick +and eggs and such like." + +"Yes, buck up, old lady!" said Clarence, "and I say, see if you can get +a _Daily Mail_ or a paper of some sort." + +"What are you so anxious to see the paper for?" inquired Edna after the +caretaker had departed. + +"Only wanted to know what month we're in," he said. "It would have +looked so silly to ask her what day it is. We must have been--over +there--a good long time." + +"At least a year!" said Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, no longer able to +sustain the dream theory. "More. When we left it was quite early +Spring--and now all the trees are out! Sidney, what _will_ your firm say +to your having been away so long without letting them know where you +were?" + +"I can't say, my love. I'm afraid they might make it a ground for a +dissolution of partnership--unless I can give them a satisfactory +explanation of my absence." + +"The difficulty will be to find one!" said his wife. "As for you, +Clarence, they will be too glad to see you back again at the Insurance +Office to ask any questions." + +"I dare say they would, Mater, only--it didn't seem worth mentioning +before--but, as a matter of fact, I--er--resigned the day we left." + +"Then it seems," said Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson bitterly, "we have been +sent back here to find ourselves in comparative poverty! I hope and +trust"--she felt furtively in her bead handbag before continuing more +cheerfully--"that we shall be able to struggle through somehow." + +She knew now that they would not be without resources. She could feel +them through the handkerchief in which they had been wrapped--two pieces +which she had had the presence of mind to pick up from the Halma board +as she passed through Edna's and Ruby's chamber the evening before. One +was carved from a ruby, the other from a diamond, and each of them was +worth a small fortune. Her one regret now was that she had not pocketed +several more while she was about it. But, although she would have been +perfectly within her rights in doing so--for were they not her own +property?--she had thought at the time that it would be risky to take +any number that could be noticed. There was always the chance that Miss +Heritage might count them! + +However, she said nothing about this to her family just then; it would +be a pleasant surprise for them later on. + +"But," she continued, "I _do_ think it might have occurred to Miss +Heritage--I can't and won't call her by any other name--that, as she was +known to be in my employment when we left 'Inglegarth,' our returning +without her may expose us to very unpleasant remarks. People may think +I've discharged her--left her stranded in foreign parts--or I don't know +what!" + +"That is what she _calculated_ on, no doubt!" said Edna. + +"Oh, stop it, Edna!" said her brother, "you ought to know her better +than that!" + +"Oh, of course she's an angel--in _your_ estimation! But she could have +saved mother from being misunderstood if she'd wanted to--and since she +hasn't--well, I'll leave you to draw the obvious inference!" + +Ruby, who had been roving about the room during this conversation, now +broke in: + +"Mummy," she cried, "there's a letter here for you, and it looks like +darling Queen Daphne's writing!" And she brought it to her mother. It +was enclosed in a folded square of parchment--envelopes, like other +modern conveniences, being unknown in Märchenland--and fastened with the +royal signet, which Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson broke with a melancholy +reminiscence of the satisfaction it had given her to use the seal +herself. + + "_Dear Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson_," she read aloud--"_As I am about + to be married here very shortly, my return with you to England will + naturally be impossible. It is a great grief to me to have to part + from my dear little pupil Ruby, to whom I have become so deeply and + sincerely attached. Will you please tell her from me that I shall + never forget her, and miss her very much indeed.--Believe me, very + truly yours,_ + + DAPHNE HERITAGE." + +"Well," commented Mrs. Stimpson, while poor Ruby's tears began to flow +afresh, "that is certainly a letter which I could show to _anybody_. +Though I notice she doesn't say anything about being grieved to part +with anyone but Ruby. A deliberate slight to the rest of us! And then +the meanness of turning us out without the slightest return for all +we've done for her! It _does_ show such petty ingratitude!" + +"Easy on, Mater!" said Clarence. "She don't seem to have let us go away +quite empty-handed after all. I mean to say there's a box or something +over there that I fancy I've seen before in the Palace." + +He went up to examine it as he spoke. It was an oblong case, rather +deeper and squarer than a backgammon box, covered with faded orange +velvet and fitted with clasps and corners of finely wrought silver set +with precious stones. + +Inside were the emerald and opal "halma" board and ruby and diamond +pieces, and with them a slip of parchment with Daphne's handwriting. "_I +thought perhaps_," she had written, "_you might care to have this. +Princess Rapunzelhauser tells me she is afraid two of the men are +missing, but I hope she is mistaken and they are really all there.--D._" + +"_I_ shall never play with them!" declared Ruby breaking down once more. +"I--I couldn't bear to, without Her!" + +"Of _course_ you will never play with them, my dear," said her mother, +"they are far too valuable for that." + +A very inadequate impression of Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson's strength of +character must have been given if anyone expects that this gift would +cause her the slightest degree of shame or contrition; on the contrary, +it only served to justify her in her own eyes--not that she needed any +justification--for having appropriated those two pieces. She had merely +anticipated--and nothing would be easier than to put them back in the +box without being observed. + +"A magnificent present!" pronounced Mr. Stimpson. "Really what I should +call very handsome indeed of her. If we ever had to sell this set they'd +fetch a colossal sum--_here_--simply colossal!" + +"And a minute ago, Mater," said Clarence, "you accused her of being +mean!" + +"Well," she replied, "and what are these things, when all is said, to +the riches we've surrendered to her? A mere trifle--which she'll never +even miss!" + +"You're forgetting they were hers--not ours--all the time. And we've +left her precious little gold to go on with. It makes me sick to hear +you running her down, when, when ... well, anyhow, Mater, I'll be glad +if you won't--in _my_ hearing!" + +"There's no occasion to use that tone to _me_, Clarence. I have my own +opinion of Miss Heritage, and I am not likely to alter it now. But if +you choose to keep your illusions about her, _I_ shall say nothing to +disturb them." + +"You may be very clever, Clarence," said Edna, "I know you _think_ you +are, but there's _one_ subject at all events you're hopelessly ignorant +about--and that's _Women_!" + +"I don't mind owning it," he retorted. "I'd have taken my oath once that +a highly superior cultivated English girl like you could never have +cottoned to any Johnny in the Ogre line of business. But you've shown me +my mistake!" + +Edna, who was scarlet with wrath, would no doubt have made an obvious +rejoinder had not a diversion been caused by the caretaker, who appeared +with that morning's _Daily Mail_. + +"Ah, so you managed to get a paper?" cried Clarence. "Good!" and he took +it from her hands and opened it. "I say," he announced as soon as they +were alone, "we haven't been away so long as we thought. We're still in +1914. Saturday, twenty-fifth of July." + +"Is that all?" said his mother. "But I remember now that tiresome old +Court Godmother saying that Time went quicker in Märchenland than it +does here. I don't understand how--but there's evidently _some_ +difference. The twenty-fifth of July? Dear me, the Pageant must be over +and done with long ago! Not of course that I should have cared to take +part in it _now_!" + +"Well, my boy," said Mr. Stimpson as Clarence ran through the columns of +the paper, "and what's the latest news?" + +"First defeat of Middlesex," replied Clarence; "Surrey's at the head of +the table now for the Championship! Fine batting by Gloucester at +Nottingham yesterday--319 to Notts 299 first innings, and 75 for three +wickets!" + +"Capital!" said his father without enthusiasm, "and what about Politics? +Got Home Rule yet?" + +"I'll tell you in a minute.... Looks as if they hadn't. Breakdown of +Home Rule Conference at Buckingham Palace. Wonder what the Government +will do _now_." + +"They've only to be firm," said Mr. Stimpson, in his character as +ex-autocrat. "If Ulster chooses to resent the will of the People as +expressed in the last General Election, well, she must be put down, or +what's our Army _for_, I should like to know. Any other news?" + +"Nothing much, except that Austria's just sent an ultimatum to Servia. +Seems the Austrian Grand Duke's been assassinated, and Austria believes +the Servians were in it. Anyhow, they've got to knuckle down by six +o'clock to-night or they'll be jolly well walloped. But of course +they'll give in when they're up against Austria.... I see these writing +chaps are doing their best to work up a scare, though. Here's one of 'em +actually saying it may 'plunge all Europe into War.' Good old Armageddon +coming off at last, I suppose. How they can write such tommy-rot!" + +"It's only to send up their circulation," said Mr. Wibberley-Stimpson. +"Depend upon it, there'll be no War. None of the Powers want it--too +expensive in these days. They'll see that it's settled without fighting. +And even if they can't, _we_ shan't be dragged in--we shall just let 'em +fight it out among themselves, and when it's over we shall come in for a +share of the pickings!" + +"Well," said Clarence, as he crumpled the paper into a ball and tossed +it away, "we needn't worry ourselves about Armageddon--got something +more serious to think about." + +"What do you mean, Clarence?" inquired his mother uneasily. + +"Why," he said, "it seems we've been away about four months. We can +explain now why Miss Heritage hasn't come back with us. She's made that +all right by her letter--and a trump she was to think of it! But what +are we going to say when people want to know--and you can bet they +_will_--where we've been all this time and what we've been doing?" + +"We can simply tell them we have been temporarily occupying exalted +positions in a foreign country which we are not at liberty to mention," +suggested Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson hopefully. + +"We _could_," he said; "and the reply we should get would probably be +'Rats.' They might put it more politely--but that's what it would amount +to. Believe me, you'll never make people here swallow you and the +governor as the late King and Queen of Fairyland--it's a jolly sight too +thick! Besides, there's nothing particular in what we've done there to +brag about--what?" + +"_I_ at least have nothing to reproach myself with," said his mother +virtuously. "Still I agree with you, Clarence, that perhaps it _would_ +be better if we could give some account of ourselves which would sound a +little less improbable." + +"We shall have to invent one. And as soon as we've done breakfast I vote +we put our heads together and fake something up. But, whatever it is, we +must all remember to stick to it!" + +And after long and strenuous cogitation, the Stimpson family managed to +construct a fairly plausible story of an unexpected summons to a remote +part of the world, in which they were obliged by circumstances to remain +without any facilities for informing their friends of their situation. + +There was one danger which Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson foresaw. At any time +she might encounter the Duchess of Gleneagles or Lady Muscombe in +Society. However, she decided that the risk was almost negligible. After +all, their respective circles could not be said to intersect and, if she +ever _should_ come across either of these distinguished ladies, it would +be easy to deny all recollection of ever having met them before. + +And thus reassured, she was able to support the official version of the +family adventures so whole-heartedly that she ended by accepting it as +the only authentic one. + +Ruby, it is true, confided a widely different account in secret to one +or two of her most intimate friends. + +But Ruby's story met with the fate that is only too certain to befall +this veracious and absolutely unexaggerated narrative--nobody was ever +found to believe a single word of it! + + + + +EPILOGUE + + +The re-appearance of the Wibberley-Stimpsons, coupled with the +circumstantial explanations they gave of their mysterious absence +abroad, provided their friends and neighbours with very nearly the +proverbial nine days' wonder. It might have done so even longer, but for +that fateful beginning of August, when, with appalling suddenness, the +blow was dealt which shattered the peace of Europe and convulsed the +whole world. + +Then the Fools' Paradise in which England had so long luxuriated +crumbled beneath her feet, and left her face to face with stern +realities. Nothing was the same, or ever would be the same, again. +Issues, causes, topics, which scarcely a week before had seemed of such +vital and engrossing importance, shrivelled into insignificance or +extinction under the scorching blast of war. + +And so it followed that Gablehurst entirely forgot its previous +curiosity concerning the private affairs of the Wibberley-Stimpson +family, thereby relieving them from a strain on their inventive powers +which they had begun to find extremely wearing. + +The crisis afforded Mr. Stimpson a long-desired occasion for taking a +spirited part in politics. At the suggestion of his wife, who reasoned +that in so Conservative a neighbourhood it would be popular to condemn +any steps a Radical Government had taken, he summoned a public meeting +to protest against the British Ultimatum to Germany, on the ground that +England's safety and interests alike depended on her preserving the +strictest neutrality under any circumstances whatever. As his sole +supporter on the platform was a recently naturalised British subject +with a pronounced German accent, the result of this patriotic endeavour +was, as he admitted afterwards, "a little unfortunate." Mrs. +Wibberley-Stimpson herself was compelled to recognise, as she led him +home with two black eyes and only one coat-tail, that she had been less +correct than usual in estimating the local sentiment, though, of course, +she ascribed his treatment entirely to the lack of tact and ability with +which he had handled his subject. However, they have long since +succeeded in living all that down. Mr. Stimpson very soon recognised +that his views of the situation had been mistaken, and made haste to +publish his conviction of the righteousness of our cause. No one now +enlarges with more fervour on the ruin and disgrace that would have +overtaken us if we had been induced to stand aside by persons he refers +to as "those infernal cranks and pacifists." + +Moreover, he acquired further merit by his generous contribution of two +thousand pounds to the Prince of Wales' Fund--a contribution which +caused a sensation among many who could give a fairly shrewd guess at +the income he drew as a partner in the firm of Cramphorn, Stimpson, & +Thistleton. + +But then they did not know that, shortly before, he had disposed of two +exquisitely carved pieces--one diamond, and the other ruby--by private +contract to an American millionaire, for a sum which would have covered +an even more princely donation. He has several more of these +curiosities, but is reserving them for times when they are more likely +to fetch their proper value. + +As for his wife and elder daughter, they have already achieved the +distinction of sitting on more War Committees, and talking more at every +one of them, than any other ladies in Gablehurst. + +It is unnecessary to say that they have also knitted a prodigious +quantity of garments, or at least did until they were requested to +abandon their colour-schemes for the regulation khaki wool--which +perceptibly cooled their enthusiasm. + +But, after all, the greatest exhibition of self-denial was given by +Ruby, who parted with her latest and best-beloved acquisitions--two +tree-frogs and an axolotl--and sent the proceeds of their sale to the +Red Cross Society. + +Clarence had made several applications for such vacant berths as he +could hear of in the City which seemed to combine the advantages of +light work and a heavy salary, but somehow the principals he interviewed +could not be brought to share his own conviction that he was exactly the +person to suit them. He had referred them to his previous employers, but +even that had led to no favourable result. + +The war had not gone on long, however, when it was forcibly borne in +upon him that, if there was no particular demand in business circles for +his services, they were needed rather urgently just then by his King and +Country. + +And so, one evening before dinner, he strolled casually into the +drawing-room at "Inglegarth" and electrified his family by mentioning +that he had offered himself that afternoon to a certain Cavalry +regiment, and been pronounced physically fit after examination. + +His mother was naturally the most deeply affected by the news, though, +after the first shock was over, she was sustained by recollecting that +she had caught herself secretly envying a neighbour, whom she had never +looked upon as a social equal, but whose boy had just obtained a +commission in the Territorials. + +"You might have prepared us for this, Clarence!" she said, as soon as +she could speak. "It's a heavy blow to me--to us all. Still, if you feel +it your duty to go, I hope your Father and I are not the parents to hold +you back. If I'm not on one of the same committees as Lady Harriet," she +added more brightly, "I really think I must call and let her know. She +would be so interested to hear that you are now a Cavalry officer." + +"You might make it a Field-Marshal, Mater, while you're about it!" he +returned. "But, if you want to be accurate, you'd better describe me as +a bally trooper, because that's all I am, or likely to be." + +"A trooper!" exclaimed his horrified mother. "Clarence, you _can't_ mean +to tell us you've enlisted as an ordinary common soldier! I couldn't +possibly permit you to throw yourself away like that, nor, I am sure, +will your Father! Sidney, of course you will insist on Clarence's +explaining at once to the Colonel, or whoever accepted him, that he +finds we object so strongly to his joining that he is obliged to +withdraw his offer." + +"Certainly," said Mr. Stimpson. "Certainly. It's not too late yet, my +boy. You've only to say that we can't allow it--you're more badly wanted +at home--and they're sure to let you off." + +"Can't quite see myself telling 'em that, Guv'nor. Even if I _wanted_ to +be let off--which I don't." + +"After the way you've been brought up and everything!" cried Mrs. +Wibberley-Stimpson. "To sink to _this_! Has it occurred to you that you +would have to associate entirely with persons of the very lowest class?" + +"You wouldn't say that if you'd seen some of the Johnnies who passed the +Vet with me," he replied. "And, as to classes, all that tosh is done +away with now. There's only one class a fellow can't afford to associate +with--the slackers who ought to be in khaki and aren't. I couldn't have +stuck being in that crowd any longer, and I'm jolly lucky to have got +well out of it!" + +"All the same, Clarence," lamented his Mother, "you _must_ see what a +terrible come-down it is for _you_, who not so very long ago were a +Crown Prince!" + +"I thought we'd agreed to forget all that, Mater," he said, wincing +slightly. "Anyway, if I don't turn out a better Tommy than I did a +Prince, they won't have me in the regiment long. But I'm not going to +get the push this time, if I can help it. Come, Mater," he concluded, +"don't worry any more over what's done and can't be undone--just try and +make the best of it!" + +But this was beyond Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson's philosophy just then. If +he had been leaving his comfortable home with a commission as +sub-lieutenant, she might have been able to find some slight consolation +in announcing the fact to her friends. Now she would have to make the +humiliating admission that he was nothing more than a common +trooper--after which she felt she would never be able to hold up her +head again! + +As things turned out, these apprehensions proved unfounded. For it +seemed that other young Gablehurst men belonging to families in as good +a position as her own had enlisted as privates, and, so far from being +considered to have brought discredit on their parentage, were regarded +with general approval. + +And the pride with which their mothers spoke of them encouraged Mrs. +Wibberley-Stimpson to be even prouder of Clarence, as the only one who +had joined a Cavalry regiment. + +When he was undergoing the necessary training with the reserve regiment +and first had to enter the Riding-School, he was prepared, remembering +how suddenly and completely his control of Märchenland horses had left +him, for some highly unpleasant experiences. + +Daphne's pendant had been left in safe custody at Inglegarth, and, even +if he had had any idea that it had assisted his horsemanship (which he +was far from suspecting), he would not have brought it with him, lest he +should lose a thing which Daphne had said he would please her by +keeping. + +Probably, had he brought and been allowed to wear the token, it would +not have made any impression whatever on the mind of a British +charger--but fortunately no talisman was needed. + +All the riding in Märchenland, while his horses continued docile, had +not been without some good result after all. At least he found that he +had quite as good a seat as any of his fellow-recruits, and a very much +better one than most of them. + +And the months of training passed, not unhappily. He made friends, not +all of them in his own class; he set himself to learn his job as quickly +and thoroughly as he could, and his sergeant-major spoke of him, though +not in his presence, as a smart young chap who showed more sense than +some he had to do with. + +He had not been many weeks in the regiment before he got his first +stripe, and when he came home on furlough he was able to inform his +family that he had just been promoted to be a full-blown Corporal. It +was a farewell visit, as he was being sent out in a day or two with a +draft to his regiment at the Front. He had grown broader across the +chest, and looked extremely brown and fit, while his family noticed that +he no longer ended his remarks with "what?" Once or twice he expressed +his satisfaction at getting the chance at last of having a go at the +Bosches--but he said very little about the future, and seemed more +interested in hearing about Ruby's new school and Edna's ambulance +class. + +Then he left them, and for months after that they had to endure the long +strain of constant anxiety and suspense which few British households +have escaped in these dark times. Clarence had always been a poor +correspondent--and his letters, though fairly regular, were short and +wanting in details. But he said the regiment was doing dismounted work +in the trenches; that he was acquiring the habit of sleeping quite +soundly under shell-fire; that he had been much cut up by losing some of +his best pals, but so far had not been hit himself, though he had had +several narrow shaves; he kept pretty fit, but was a bit fed up with +trench work, though he didn't see an earthly of riding in a cavalry +charge at present. + +The last letter was dated February. After that came a silence, which was +explained by an official letter stating that he was in a field hospital, +severely wounded. Inglegarth remained for days in helpless misery, +dreading the worst, till they were relieved by the news that he was now +in a base hospital and going on well. + +But it was some weeks before he could be moved to London, and longer +still before he was convalescent enough to be taken to his own home, +where the joy of seeing him recover so rapidly was checked by the +knowledge that he would only leave them the sooner. + +He was much the same slangy and casual Clarence they had known, though +rather subdued, but he had moods of sombre silence at times which none +of them dared to interrupt, when his eyes seemed to be looking upon +sights they had seen and would fain forget. As to his own doings he said +but little, though he told them something of his experiences during his +last week at the front--how the regiment had been rushed up in +motor-buses from Bleu to Ypres; how they had marched to the Reformatory +which they had defended for five days under heavy fire; how they had +then dug caverns and occupied trenches to the south of the Menin road, +and how the trenches had been mined by the enemy, and five officers +killed and sixty-four casualties, of which latter he was one. + +Before he was pronounced fit for active service again he heard that he +had been recommended for a commission, and given one in another cavalry +regiment which had very nearly the same _prestige_ and traditions as his +own, though he would have been the last to admit it till then. + +Thus was Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson's dearest desire at last attained; she +could now inform her friends and acquaintances that her boy was actually +a subaltern, while, even in conversation with strangers, it was always +possible to lead up to the fact by enlarging on the heavy cost of a +cavalry officer's kit. + +And yet, in fairness to her, it may be said that, with all her striving +after social distinction, if she had been required to choose between her +son returning to the front with a commission and keeping him at home +with no higher rank than that of a corporal, she would have chosen the +latter without a moment's hesitation. + +But since the choice was not given her, Clarence's promotion did much to +console her for his approaching departure--at least until the day +arrived, when she turned blindly away from the platform with an aching +dread that the train was bearing him out of her life for ever. + + * * * * * + +That was several months ago, and Second-Lieutenant Stimpson (he dropped +the "Wibberley" when he first enlisted) has been at the front ever +since. + +There is a certain endless road, bordered by splintered stumps which +once were poplars, and pitted in places with deep shell-holes, that he +knows only too well; having taken his troop along it many a night to +relieve the party in the trenches. + +Even now, when he comes to the group of ruined cottages at which he has +to leave the road and strike across country into the danger-zone, he is +unpleasantly conscious of a sinking at his heart at the prospect of +another week or so of that infernal existence of shattering noise, +flying death-splinters, and sickening sights and smells. There he will +have to be constantly on the watch, meals and sleep can only be snatched +at precarious intervals, and seldom without disturbance; if there is +anything more nerve-racking than the scream of shells and the hail of +shrapnel it is the lull that follows, when he waits for the enemy's rush +to begin. And yet, the moment he finds himself back in the trench again, +he becomes acclimatised; his men speak of him as a cool and resourceful +young officer under any difficulties, while on more than one occasion he +has done some daring and very useful reconnoitring work that may even +earn him mention in despatches. + +But at present he is enjoying one of his hard-earned rests, being +billeted in a farmhouse well away from the firing-line. + +Here, having no duties or responsibilities to fix all his thoughts on +the present, he can allow them to dwell on the future for a while. + +This desperate and relentless war will come to an end in time--how soon +he knows no more than anyone, but that it will end in victory for +England and her Allies he has no doubt whatever. He is equally sure, +though he could not account for his certainty, that, unlike many a +better fellow than himself, he will live to see his country at peace +once more. But what is he to do then? Even if an opening in the City +presented itself, he could never stick an office again after this. On +the other hand, even if he gets another step or two, he will find it +difficult to live on his pay in a crack cavalry regiment. However, the +Governor will no doubt give him an allowance that will enable him to +stay in the Service--the Mater can be safely trusted to see to that! + +So, this question being satisfactorily disposed of, his thoughts, as +usual on these occasions, drift back to Märchenland, and particularly to +Daphne's parting words on the night he left the Palace. + +Would she think, he wonders, that he has done something to justify her +belief in him? + +At least she might be pleased if she knew that he could not fairly be +described any longer as a useless rotter. + +"Only," he tells himself disconsolately, "she never _will_ know. +England's no country of hers now, and she wouldn't feel enough interest +in it even to send the Baron across in the stork-car for a daily paper. +If she did, she'd be none the wiser, because he'd be sure to bring _The +Poultry-Fancier's Journal_ or _The Financial News_, or something of that +sort. And, after all, if she had any idea of the ghastly business that +has been going on in this old world for the last year, she's too much +heart to be happy--even in Märchenland. But now she'll go on being happy +for the rest of her life, bless her! and if she gives me a thought now +and then--well, it will be a jolly sight more than I deserve!" + + +THE END + + * * * * * + +_Works by F. Anstey_ + + +Salted Almonds. Second Impression. Crown 8vo. 6s. + +_ATHENÆUM._--'All the pieces have that rare savour which is the Author's +secret.' + +The Brass Bottle. With a Frontispiece. 5th Impression. (_Waterloo +Library._) Crown 8vo. 3s. 6d. + +_SPECTATOR._--'In his logical conduct of an absurd proposition, in his +fantastic handling of the supernatural, in his brisk dialogue and +effective characterisation, Mr. Anstey has once more shown himself to be +an artist and a humourist of uncommon and enviable merit.' + +The Talking Horse and other Tales. + +_ATHENÆUM._--'The grimmest of mortals, in his most surly mood, could +hardly resist the fun of "The Talking Horse."' + +The Giant's Robe. + +_PALL MALL GAZETTE._--'We read and cannot cease reading till the puzzle +is solved in a series of exciting situations.' + +The Pariah. + +_SATURDAY REVIEW._--'Extremely entertaining reading. There is not a dull +page--we might say, not a dull sentence--in it....' + +A Fallen Idol. + +_TIMES._--'Will delight the multitudinous public that laughed over "Vice +Versa."... The boy who brings the accursed image to Champion's house, +Mr. Bales, the artist's factotum, and above all Mr. Yarker, the +ex-butler who has turned policeman, are figures whom it is as pleasant +to meet as it is impossible to forget.' + +Lyre and Lancet. With 24 Full-page Illustrations. + +_SPEAKER._--'Mr. Anstey has surpassed himself in "Lyre and Lancet."... +One of the brightest and most entertaining bits of comedy we have had +for many a day.' + +Vice Versa; or, a Lesson to Fathers. + +_SATURDAY REVIEW._--'If ever there was a book made up from beginning to +end of laughter, and yet not a comic book, or a "merry" book, or a book +of jokes, or a book of pictures, or a jest book, or a tomfool book, but +a perfectly sober and serious book in the reading of which a sober man +may laugh without shame from beginning to end, it is a book called "Vice +Versa; or a Lesson to Fathers."... We close the book, recommending it +very earnestly to all fathers in the first instance, and their sons, +nephews, uncles, and male cousins next.' + + + + +Also available from publisher + + +CONAN DOYLE'S NEW 'SHERLOCK HOLMES' STORY. + +The Valley of Fear. With a Frontispiece. + +By the Author of 'The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes,' 'The Memoirs of +Sherlock Holmes,' 'The Lost World,' &c. + +_Punch_.--'As rousing a sensation as the greediest of us could want. I +can only praise the skill with which a most complete surprise is +prepared.' + +_Pall Mall Gazette._--'My Dear Watson! All good "Sherlockians" will +welcome Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's new story with enthusiasm ... it is all +very thrilling and very fine reading.' + + +Journeys with Jerry the Jarvey. + +By the Hon. ALEXIS ROCHE. + +_Scotsman._--'The stories are so good and the epigrams so quaint that +one is loath to lay it down. A book that can call forth a hearty laugh +on nearly every page.' + +_Field._--'The stories are really irresistible, and there is not a dull +page in the whole book.' + + +Oliver. By B. PAUL NEUMAN. + +Author of 'The Greatness of Josiah Porlick,' 'Chignett Street,' &c. + +_Westminster Gazette._--'The first hundred pages contain as fine a piece +of restrained realistic writing as our recent literature has put forth. +We laid down this very individual book with a wholesome respect for Mr. +Neuman's literary art.' + +_Punch._--'The thing is remarkably well done, a close and unsparing +treatment of a subject by no means easy ... an original and successful +story.' + + +Two Who Declined. By HERBERT TREMAINE. + +_Evening Standard._--'A striking, even absorbing novel. Its author will +certainly "count" before long.' + +_Pall Mall Gazette._--'A very clever story, and a work of great +promise.' + + +Some Elderly People and their Young Friends. + +By S. MACNAUGHTAN. + +Author of 'The Fortune of Christina McNab,' 'A Lame Dog's Diary,' &c. + +_Globe._--'Miss Macnaughtan at her best. All her characters are +charming. Her books are a sovereign remedy for depression and +misanthropy. + +_Daily Telegraph._--'One of the most engaging stories that we have read +for a goodly while--a story full of lively wit and mellow wisdom. +Delightful is indeed the word which best sums up the whole book.' + + +The Pastor's Wife. + +By the Author of 'ELIZABETH AND HER GERMAN GARDEN.' + +_Globe._--'A wonderful portrait of a woman by a woman. The power of this +story is undeniable, and the analysis of feminine feeling almost +uncanny. A very remarkable novel indeed.' + + +Spragge's Canyon. + +By HORACE ANNESLEY VACHELL. Author of 'The Hill,' 'The Paladin,' 'Blinds +Down,' etc. + +_Pall Mall Gazette._--'It is a fine story, told with all the art of +which Mr. Vachell is a master.' + + +Molly, My Heart's Delight. + +By KATHARINE TYNAN. Author of 'A Midsummer Rose,' 'John Bulteel's +Daughters,' etc. + +_Globe._--'A charming and altogether captivating heroine. A story to +make one glad o' the reading.' + + +The Ways of Miss Barbara. + +By AGNES and EGERTON CASTLE. Authors of 'Rose of the World,' 'French +Nan,' etc. + +_Liverpool Daily Post._--'This delightful story of old world gallantry +and gaiety bubbles over with comedy and kindness. This should be one of +the most popular novels of the season.' + + +A Green Englishman, and other Stories of Canada + +By S. MACNAUGHTAN. Author of 'The Fortunes of Christina M'Nab,' 'The +Expensive Miss du Cane,' etc. + +_Observer._--'Miss Macnaughtan has the crispness and sense of rounding +off of the ideal short story writer.' + + +A Freelance in Kashmir. + +By LADY CHARNWOOD. + +_Times._--'There are a happy few to-day who understand the tradition of +Trollope, and Lady Charnwood must be reckoned among them. There is +insight, reflection, a gift for the invention of natural incident and +the flow of natural dialogue, and humour.' + + +A Tale of the Great Anarchy. + +By Lieut.-Colonel G. F. MacMUNN, D.S.O., Author of 'The Armies of +India.' + +_Birmingham Daily Post._--'Colonel MacMunn knows his India and his +history; and for this stirring story he has turned to the inviting +period of the "Great Anarchy."' + +_Scotsman._--'The author may be congratulated on having written so +entertaining and instructive a novel.' + + +They Who Question. + +A Novel by a well-known writer published anonymously. + +_Daily Telegraph._--'A story which is packed with thought in itself, and +well calculated also to arouse and stimulate thought in others. The book +is one to be recommended.' + + +La Belle Alliance. + +By ROWLAND GREY, Author of 'Green Cliffs,' etc. + +_Daily Telegraph._--'This is a fresh, human, very sympathetic story, +founded upon close observation of life. It will delight girl-readers, +although it is secretly directed at their parents.' + + +The House of the Foxes. + +By KATHARINE TYNAN. Author of 'Honey, My Honey,' 'Molly, My Heart's +Delight,' etc. + +_Morning Post._--'Mrs. Katharine Tynan brings her superior art to adorn +a legendary tale of the Irish family of the Rosses of Turloughmore.' + +_Pall Mall Gazette._--'There is much genial description of homely Irish +humble life woven through the story. Meg is a charming heroine.' + + +Two Sinners. + +By Mrs. DAVID G. RITCHIE. Author of 'Man and the Cassock,' 'The Truthful +Liar,' 'The Human Cry,' etc. + +_Spectator._--'An extremely clever and interesting novel. The book is +rich in surprises and, as Sir James Paget once said, surprise in the +great essential in recreation.' + + +The Irish Nuns at Ypres: An Episode of the War. + +By D. M. C., O.S.B. (Member of the Community). + +Edited by R. BARRY O'BRIEN, Author of 'The Life of Charles Stewart +Parnell,' &c. With an Introduction by JOHN REDMOND, M.P. + +_Yorkshire Post._--'No more vivid and impressive narrative of what +German frightfulness means to the civilian population has yet been seen. +The story once read will not soon be forgotten.' + +_Court Journal._--'Those who are on the look out for a war book off the +beaten track should get this work. It is one of the most powerful yet +simple narratives that we have seen. It will rank when the war is over +as one of the most damaging pieces of evidence against the Germans and +their methods.' + + +Paris Waits: 1914. + +By Mrs. M. E. CLARKE. + +_Punch._--'I have seldom met a volume of more pronounced "heart +Interest" than "Paris Waits." Not only are her pen-pictures remarkably +vivid and realistic, but the camera has also helped.' + +_Times._--'It is a very familiar tale that is told in these pages, yet +it gains a new pathos, a deeper significance from the simple yet +eloquent way it is told.' + +_Daily Mail._--'A noteworthy book. It relates in detail the story of +those tragic days.' + + +War and Lombard Street. + +By HARTLEY WITHERS. Author of 'The Meaning of Money,' 'Poverty and +Waste,' &c. + +_Times._--'Carried out with the same happy touch of literary simplicity +and wit, combined with an expert knowledge of his subject, which has +given distinction and popular value to his preceding books. Nothing +could be clearer or more enlightening for the general reader.' + +_Morning Post._--'In brief but most attractive language it deals with +the historic financial events of the past six months. A most fascinating +résumé of the financial events of the crisis up to date.' + +_Daily News._--'Mr. Withers knows all the machinery of the money market, +and he has a lucid style which makes matters plain normally very +mysterious and technical to the layman.' + + +The Tollhouse. + +By EVELYN ST. LEGER, Author of 'The Shape of the World,' 'The Blackberry +Pickers.' + +_Times._--'An appealing and humorous picture of the life of an +old-fashioned English village in war time.' + +_Scotsman._--'This charming short novel.' + + +The Spirit of England. + +A Series of Papers written in 1914 and 1915. + +By the Right Hon. GEORGE W. E. RUSSELL, Author of 'Collections and +Recollections,' &c. + +_Scotsman._--'An eminently readable book in which many good things come +up by the way. It is always thoughtful and stimulating.' + +_Globe._--'This very Interesting and suggestive book.' + + +Life of John Viriamu Jones. + +By Mrs. VIRIAMU JONES. + +_Pall Mall Gazette._--'This Life of the first Vice-Chancellor of the +University of Wales is very well done, and gives us an admirable +portrait of a singularly earnest, strenuous, and lovable nature.' + +_Times._--'This fascinating volume.' + +_South Wales Daily News._--'Will be largely read, not only in the +Principality, but far beyond its confines ... deeply interesting.' + + +The Minor Horrors of War. + +By Dr. A. E. SHIPLEY, F.R.S., Master of Christ's College, Cambridge. + +This book deals with various insect and other pests which cause disgust, +discomfort, and often disease amongst our troops now fighting in all +quarters of the globe. + +_Country Life._--'A book which gives a good deal of very necessary +information in an entertaining manner.' + +_Medical Officer._--'It may be studied with advantage in barracks or +billets, in the tropics or the trenches.' + + +The System of National Finance. + +By E. HILTON YOUNG, M.P. + +_Morning Post._--'The book should become a permanent addition to the +literature of the subject, the more so as there is no other which deals +with the Nation's finance in the same practical manner.' + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of In Brief Authority, by F. 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Anstey. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> + +<!-- + p { margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; + } + hr { width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; + } + + table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} + + body{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + + .pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; + } /* page numbers */ + + .linenum {position: absolute; top: auto; left: 4%;} /* poetry number */ + .blockquot{margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 10%;} + .sidenote {width: 20%; padding-bottom: .5em; padding-top: .5em; + padding-left: .5em; padding-right: .5em; margin-left: 1em; + float: right; clear: right; margin-top: 1em; + font-size: smaller; color: black; background: #eeeeee; border: dashed 1px;} + + .bb {border-bottom: solid 2px;} + .bl {border-left: solid 2px;} + .bt {border-top: solid 2px;} + .br {border-right: solid 2px;} + .bbox {border: solid 2px;} + + .center {text-align: center;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + .u {text-decoration: underline;} + + .caption {font-weight: bold;} + + .figcenter {margin: auto; text-align: center;} + + .figleft {float: left; clear: left; margin-left: 0; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: + 1em; margin-right: 1em; padding: 0; text-align: center;} + + .figright {float: right; clear: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; + margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0; padding: 0; text-align: center;} + + .footnotes {border: dashed 1px;} + .footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + .footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + .fnanchor {vertical-align: super; font-size: .8em; text-decoration: none;} + + .poem {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; text-align: left;} + .poem br {display: none;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + .poem span.i0 {display: block; margin-left: 0em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i2 {display: block; margin-left: 2em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i4 {display: block; margin-left: 4em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} +--> + + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of In Brief Authority, by F. Anstey + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: In Brief Authority + +Author: F. Anstey + +Release Date: March 31, 2009 [EBook #28459] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IN BRIEF AUTHORITY *** + + + + +Produced by David Clarke, Mary Meehan and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) + + + + + + +</pre> + + + + + +<h1>IN BRIEF AUTHORITY</h1> + +<h2>BY F. ANSTEY</h2> + +<h3>AUTHOR OF "VICE VERSÂ," "A FALLEN IDOL," "THE PARIAH," "THE GIANT'S +ROBE," "LYRE AND LANCET," "THE BRASS BOTTLE," "THE TALKING HORSE <span class="smcap">and +Other Tales</span>," "SALTED ALMONDS," ETC.</h3> + + +<h3>LONDON<br /> +SMITH, ELDER & CO., 15 WATERLOO PLACE<br /> +1915</h3> + +<h3>[All rights reserved]</h3> + +<h3>Printed by <span class="smcap">Ballantyne, Hanson & Co.</span><br /> +at the Ballantyne Press, Edinburgh</h3> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h3>To<br /> +Peggy</h3> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>AUTHOR'S NOTE</h2> + + +<p>It may be as well to mention here that the whole of this book was +planned, and at least three-fourths of it actually written, in those +happy days, which now seem so pathetically distant, when we were still +at peace—days when, to all but a very few, so hideous a calamity as a +World-War seemed a danger that had passed for the present, and might +never recur; when even those few could hardly have foreseen that England +would be so soon compelled to fight for her very existence against the +most efficient and deadly foe it has ever been her lot to encounter.</p> + +<p>But, as the central idea of this story happens to be inseparably +connected with certain characters and incidents of German origin, I have +left them unaltered—partly because it would have been difficult, if not +impossible, to substitute any others, but mainly because I cannot bring +myself to believe that the nursery friends of our youth could ever be +regarded as enemies.</p> + +<p>F. ANSTEY.</p> + +<p><i>September 1915.</i></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + +<!-- Autogenerated TOC. Modify or delete as required. --> +<p> +<a href="#CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I. "<span class="smcap">The Skirts of Happy Chance</span>"</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II. <span class="smcap">Rushing to Conclusions</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III. <span class="smcap">Fine Feathers</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV. <span class="smcap">Crowned Heads</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V. <span class="smcap">Dignity under Difficulties</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI. <span class="smcap">Cares of State</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII. <span class="smcap">A Game they did not understand</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII. "<span class="smcap">A Steed that knows his Rider</span>"</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX. <span class="smcap">The Pleasures of the Table</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X. <span class="smcap">The Blonde Beast</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI. <span class="smcap">A Way Out</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII. <span class="smcap">Unwelcome Announcements</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII. <span class="smcap">What the Pigeon Said</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV. <span class="smcap">Bag and Baggage</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV. "<span class="smcap">Riven With Vain Endeavour</span>"</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI. "<span class="smcap">A Cloud that's Dragonish</span>"</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">CHAPTER XVII. <span class="smcap">The Reward of Valour</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">CHAPTER XVIII. <span class="smcap">A Previous Engagement</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">CHAPTER XIX. <span class="smcap">Servants of the Queen</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XX">CHAPTER XX. <span class="smcap">At the End of her Tether</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXI">CHAPTER XXI. <span class="smcap">"Whose Lights are fled, whose Garlands dead"</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXII">CHAPTER XXII. <span class="smcap">Squaring Accounts</span></a><br /> +<a href="#EPILOGUE">EPILOGUE</a><br /><br /> +<a href="#Works_by_F_Anstey">Works by F. Anstey</a><br /> +<a href="#Also_available_from_publisher">Also available from publisher</a><br /> +</p> +<!-- End Autogenerated TOC. --> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>IN BRIEF AUTHORITY</h2> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I</h2> + +<h3>"THE SKIRTS OF HAPPY CHANCE"</h3> + + +<p>On a certain afternoon in March Mrs. Sidney Stimpson (or rather Mrs. +Sidney Wibberley-Stimpson, as a recent legacy from a distant relative +had provided her with an excuse for styling herself) was sitting alone +in her drawing-room at "Inglegarth," Gablehurst.</p> + +<p>"Inglegarth" was the name she had chosen for the house on coming to live +there some years before. What it exactly meant she could not have +explained, but it sounded distinguished and out of the common, without +being reprehensibly eccentric. Hence the choice.</p> + +<p>Some one, she was aware, had just entered the carriage-drive, and after +having rung, was now standing under the white "Queen Anne" porch; +Mitchell, the rosy-cheeked and still half-trained parlour-maid, was +audible in the act of "answering the door."</p> + +<p>It being neither a First nor a Third Friday, Mrs. Stimpson was not, +strictly speaking, "at home" except to very intimate friends, though she +made a point of being always presentable enough to see any afternoon +caller. On this occasion she was engaged in no more absorbing occupation +than the study of one of the less expensive Society journals, and, +having already read all that was of real interest in its columns, she +was inclined to welcome a distraction.</p> + +<p>"If you please, m'm," said Mitchell, entering, "there's a lady wishes to +know if she could see you for a minute or two."</p> + +<p>"Did you ask her to state her business, Mitchell?... No? Then you should +have. Called for a subscription to something, I expect. Tell her I am +particularly engaged. I suppose she didn't give any name?"</p> + +<p>"Oh yes, m'm. She give her name—Lady 'Arriet Elmslie, it was."</p> + +<p>"Then why on earth didn't you say so before," cried the justly +exasperated Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, "instead of leaving her ladyship on +the door-mat all this time? Really, Mitchell, you are <i>too</i> trying! Go +and show her in at once—and be careful to say 'my lady.' And bring up +tea for two as soon as you can—the <i>silver</i> tea-pot, mind!"</p> + +<p>It might have been inferred from her manner that she and Lady Harriet +were on terms of closest friendship, but this was not exactly the case. +Mrs. Stimpson had indeed known her for a considerable time, but only by +sight, and she had long ceased to consider a visit from Lady Harriet as +even a possible event. Now it had actually happened, and, +providentially, on an afternoon when Mitchell's cap and apron could defy +inspection. But if it was the first time that an Earl's daughter had +crossed Mrs. Stimpson's threshold, she was not at all the woman to allow +the fact to deprive her of her self-possession.</p> + +<p>A title had no terror for <i>her</i>. Before her marriage, when she was Miss +Selina Prinsley, she had acted as hostess for her father, the great +financier and company promoter, who had entertained lavishly up to the +date of his third and final failure. Her circle then had included many +who could boast of knighthoods, and even baronetcies!</p> + +<p>And, though Lady Harriet was something of a personage at Gablehurst, and +confined her acquaintance to her own particular set, there was nothing +formidable or even imposing in her appearance. She was the widow of a +Colonel Elmslie, and apparently left with only moderate means, judging +from the almost poky house on the farther side of the Common, which she +shared with an unmarried female cousin of about her own age.</p> + +<p>So, when she was shown in, looking quite ordinary, and even a little +shy, Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson rose to receive her with perfect ease, +being supported by the consciousness that she was by far the more +handsomely dressed of the two. In fact her greeting was so gracious as +to be rather overpowering.</p> + +<p>"Interrupting me? Not in the very <i>least</i>, dear Lady Harriet! Only too +delighted, I'm sure!... Now <i>do</i> take off your boa, and come nearer the +fire. You'll find this <i>quite</i> a comfy chair, I think. Tea will be +brought in presently.... Oh, you really <i>must</i>, after trapesing all that +way across the Common. I can't <i>tell</i> you how pleased I am to see you. +I've so often wished to make your acquaintance, but I couldn't take the +first step, could I? <i>So</i> nice of you to break the ice!"</p> + +<p>Lady Harriet submitted to these rather effusive attentions resignedly +enough. She could hardly interrupt her hostess's flow of conversation +without rudeness, while she had already begun to suspect that Mrs. +Stimpson might form an entertaining study.</p> + +<p>But her chief reason, after all, was that the prospect of tea had its +attractions. Accordingly she attempted no further explanations of her +visit just then, and was content to observe Mrs. Stimpson, while she +rippled on complacently.</p> + +<p>She saw a matron who might be about fifty, with abundant pale auburn +hair, piled up, and framing her face in a sort of half aureole. The eyes +were small and hazel green; the nose narrow and pointed, the wide, +full-lipped mouth, which wore just then a lusciously ingratiating smile, +showed white but prominent teeth. The complexion was of a uniform +oatmealy tint, and, though Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson was neither tall nor +slim, she seemed to have taken some pains to preserve a waist.</p> + +<p>"Most fortunate I happened to be at home," she was saying. "And if you +had called on one of my <i>regular</i> days, I shouldn't have had the chance +of a <i>real</i> talk with you. As it is, we shall be quite <i>tête-à-tête</i>.... +Ah, here <i>is</i> tea—you must tell me if you like it weak, dear Lady +Harriet, and I shall remember the <i>next</i> time you come. Yes, you find me +all alone this afternoon. My eldest daughter, Edna, has gone to a +lecture at her Mutual Improvement Society, on a German Philosopher +called Nitchy, or some such name. She's so bookish and well-read, takes +such an interest in all the latest movements—runs up to town for +<i>matinées</i> of intellectual dramas—<i>quite</i> the modern type of girl. But +not a blue-stocking—she's joined a Tango Class lately, and dances most +beautifully, I'm told—just the figure for it. We got up a little +Costume Ball here this winter—perhaps you may have heard of it?—Ah, +well, my Edna was generally admitted to be the <i>belle</i> of the evening. A +perfect Juliet, everybody said. I went as her mother—Lady Capulet, you +know. I <i>did</i> think of going as Queen Elizabeth at one time. I've so +often been told that if I ever went to a Fancy Dress Ball, I ought to go +as her—or at all events as <i>one</i> of our English Queens. But, however, I +didn't. Mr. Stimpson went as a Venetian Doge, but I do <i>not</i> consider +myself that it was at all suitable to him."</p> + +<p>She did not say all this without a motive. She knew that a local +Historical Pageant was being arranged for the coming Summer, and that +Lady Harriet was on the Committee. Also she had heard that, after +rehearsals had begun, some of the principal performers had resigned +their parts, and the Committee had some difficulty in finding +substitutes.</p> + +<p>It had struck her as not at all unlikely that her visitor had called +with a view to ascertaining whether the services of any of the Stimpson +household would be available. If she had, it was, of course very +gratifying. If she had merely come in a neighbourly way, there was no +harm in directing her attention to the family qualifications for a +Pageant performance.</p> + +<p>Her hearer, without betraying any sign of the mirth she inwardly felt, +meekly agreed that Mrs. Stimpson was undoubtedly well fitted to +impersonate a Queen, and that the costume of a Venetian Doge was rather +a trying one, after which her hostess proceeded: "Perhaps you are right, +dear Lady Harriet, but the worst of it was that my boy Clarence, who +would have made such a handsome Romeo, insisted on going as a <i>Pierrot</i>! +Very likely you have seen Clarence?... Oh, you would certainly have +noticed him if you had—always so well turned out. He's got quite a good +post as Secretary to an Insurance Co., in the City: they think so +highly of him there—take his advice on everything—in fact, he +practically <i>is</i> the Company! And only twenty-two! It's <i>such</i> a relief, +because there <i>was</i> a time when it really seemed as if he'd never settle +down to any regular work. Nothing would induce him to enter my husband's +business—for I must tell you, Lady Harriet, we <i>are</i> in business. +Sauces, pickles, condiments of every sort and description—<i>wholesale</i>, +you know, <i>not</i> retail, so I hope you aren't <i>too</i> dreadfully shocked!"</p> + +<p>Lady Harriet remarked that she saw nothing to be shocked at—several of +her relations and friends were in business of various kinds, which gave +Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson the opening she required. "Society has changed +its views so <i>much</i> lately, has it not?" she said. "Why, the youngest +partner in Mr. Wibberley-Stimpson's firm is a younger son of the Earl of +Fallowfields—Mr. Chervil Thistleton, and an Honourable, of <i>course</i>! I +daresay you are acquainted with him?... Not? Quite a charming young +man—married a Miss Succory, a connection of the Restharrows, and such a +sweet girl! You may have met her?... Oh, I thought—but I really hardly +know her <i>myself</i> yet," (which was Mrs. Stimpson's method of disguising +the fact that she had never met either of them in her life). "When he +came into the warehouse he was perfectly amazed at the immense variety +in pickles and sauces—it was quite a revelation to him. Only he can't +<i>touch</i> pickles of any kind, which is a pity, because it prevents him +from taking the interest he might in the business.... Just <i>one</i> of +these hot cakes, dear Lady Harriet—you're making such a wretched +tea!... I should like you to see my youngest child, Ruby. She's gone out +to tea with some little friends of hers, but she may be back before you +go. So much admired—such lovely colouring! But just a <i>little</i> +difficult to manage. Governess after governess have I had, and none of +them could do anything with her. My present one, however, she seems to +have taken to. Miss Heritage, her name is—at least she was adopted as a +baby by a rich widow of that name, and brought up in every luxury. But +Mrs. Heritage died without making a will, and it seems she'd muddled +away most of her money, and there were claims on what she left, so the +poor girl had to turn out, and earn her own living. Such a sad little +story, is it not? I felt it was really a charity to engage her. I'm not +sure that I can keep her much longer, though. She's far too good-looking +for a governess, and there's always a danger with a marriageable young +man in the house, but fortunately Clarence has too much sense and +principle to marry out of his own rank. I do think that's <i>such</i> a +mistake, don't you, dear Lady Harriet? Look at the Duke of Mountravail's +heir, the young Marquis of Muscombe—married only last month at a +registry office to a girl who was in the chorus at the Vivacity! I hear +she comes of quite a respectable family, and all that," admitted Mrs. +Stimpson, who derived her information from her Society journals. "But +still, can you <i>wonder</i> at the poor Duke and Duchess being upset by it? +I've no doubt you are constantly coming across similar instances in +Smart Society."</p> + +<p>Lady Harriet disclaimed all acquaintanceship with Smart Society, which +Mrs. Stimpson protested she could not believe. "I am sure you have the +<i>entrée</i> into <i>any</i> set, Lady Harriet, even the smartest! Which reminds +me. <i>Have</i> you heard anything more about that mysterious disappearance +of the Dowager Duchess of Gleneagle's diamonds during her journey from +the North last week? A tiara, <i>and</i> a dog-collar, I was told. +Professional thieves, I suppose, but don't you think the Duchess's +maid?—Oh, <i>really</i>? I made <i>sure</i> you would be a friend of the +Duchess's—but, of course, Society is so much larger than it used to +be!"</p> + +<p>"You are a far better authority than I can pretend to be about it," Lady +Harriet owned smilingly; "and really you've given me so much interesting +information that I had nearly forgotten what I came to see you about. +It's—well, I wanted to ask——"</p> + +<p>"I think I can <i>guess</i>, Lady Harriet," put in Mrs. Stimpson, as her +visitor paused for a second. "I've heard of your difficulties about +getting players for the Pageant, and I'm sure I, and indeed <i>all</i> the +family, would feel only too honoured."</p> + +<p>"It's most kind of you," Lady Harriet interrupted, rising, "but—but +that isn't why I've troubled you. It's only that I'm thinking of +engaging Jane Saunders as house-parlourmaid, and she tells me she was in +your service, so I called to ask about her character, don't you know."</p> + +<p>For a moment Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson wished she had been less +precipitate, but she soon recognised that no real harm had been done. +"Saunders?" she said, "yes, she left me last month. Do sit down again, +dear Lady Harriet, and I'll give you all the information I possibly can. +Well, when that girl first came, she had everything to learn. It was +quite evident she'd never been in service before with gentlefolks. +Actually brought in letters in her <i>fingers</i>, Lady Harriet, and knocked +at sitting-room doors! And <i>no</i> notion of cleaning silver, and I like to +see mine come up to table without a speck! However, after being with me +for a while, she improved, and I can conscientiously say that she became +quite competent in time. That is, for a household like <i>ours</i>, you know, +where things are done in quite an unpretentious style."</p> + +<p>"I don't think we are at all pretentious people either," said Lady +Harriet, rising once more. "And now, Mrs. Stimpson, you have told me all +I wanted to know, so I must tear myself away."</p> + +<p>"Must you <i>really</i> be going? Well, Lady Harriet, I've <i>so</i> much enjoyed +our little chat. There are so few persons in a semi-suburban +neighbourhood like this, with whom one can have anything in common. So I +shall hope to see more of you in future. And if," she added, after +ringing for Mitchell, "I <i>should</i> find I've forgotten anything I ought +to have told you about Saunders, I can easily pop in some morning." Lady +Harriet hastened to assure her that she must not think of giving herself +this trouble—after which she took her leave.</p> + +<p>"Rather an amusing experience in its way," she was thinking. "Something +to tell Joan when I get back. But oh! <i>what</i> an appalling woman! She's +settled <i>one</i> thing, though. It will be quite impossible to take Jane +Saunders <i>now</i>. A pity—because I rather liked the girl's looks!"</p> + +<p>Meanwhile the happily unconscious Mrs. Stimpson had settled down in her +chair again with the conviction that she had made a distinctly +favourable impression. She allowed her eyes to wander complacently round +the room, which, with its big bay window looking on the semi-circular +gravel sweep, and its glazed door by the fireplace leading through a +small conservatory, gay with begonias, asters, and petunias to the +garden beyond, was not merely large, by Gablehurst standards, but +undeniably pleasant. She regarded its various features—the white +chimney-piece and over-mantel with Adam decorations in <i>Cartonpierre</i>, +the silk fire-screen printed with Japanese photographs, the +cottage-grand, on which stood a tall trumpet vase filled with branches +of imitation peach blossom, the <i>étagères</i> ("Louis Quinze style") +containing china which could not be told from genuine Dresden at a +distance, the gaily patterned chintz on the couches and chairs, the +water-colour sketches of Venice, and coloured terra-cotta plaques +embossed on high relief with views of the Forum and St. Peter's at Rome +on the walls, and numerous "nick-nacks"—an alabaster model of the +Leaning Tower of Pisa, a wood carving of the Lion of Lucerne, and groups +of bears from Berne—all of which were not only souvenirs of her +wedding-journey, but witnesses to Continental travel and general +culture.</p> + +<p>She could see nothing that was not in the most correct taste, as Lady +Harriet must have observed for herself, together with the hammered +copper gong, the oak chest, and the china bowl for cards in the hall. +Strange that Saunders should have been the humble means of bringing +about so unexpected a meeting, but Providence chose its own instruments, +and now the seed was sown, Mrs. Stimpson felt she could rely on herself +for the harvest.</p> + +<p>And so she took up the latest number of <i>The Upper Circle</i>, and read, to +the accompaniment of alternate duologues and soliloquies by thrushes and +blackbirds in the garden, until gradually she drifted into a blissful +dream of being at a garden-party at Lady Harriet's and entreated, not +merely by her hostess, but Royalty itself, to accept the <i>rôle</i> of +Queen at the County Pageant!</p> + +<p>She was in the act of doing this gracefully, when the vision was +abruptly ended by the entrance of her elder daughter. Edna was by no +means bad-looking, in spite of her light eyelashes and eyebrows, and the +fact that the <i>pince-nez</i> she wore compressed her small nose in an +unbecoming ridge. Her eyes were larger than her mother's, though of the +same colour, and her hair was of a deeper shade of auburn. Her costume +was of a kind that may be described as the floppily artistic.</p> + +<p>"I never heard you come in, my dear," said her mother. "Did you enjoy +your lecture?"</p> + +<p>"Quite; I took pages and pages of notes. Nietzsche's <i>Gospel of the +Superman</i> is certainly most striking."</p> + +<p>"And <i>what</i> is his Gospel exactly?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, well, he teaches that the ideal man ought to rise superior to +conventional prejudices, and have the courage to do as he thinks right +without deferring to ordinary ideas. To be strong in willing what he +wants—all that sort of thing, you know."</p> + +<p>"Dear me!" said Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson dubiously. "But, if everybody +acted like that, would it be quite—er—nice?"</p> + +<p>"There's no fear of any of the men in Gablehurst being Supermen, at all +events!" said Edna. "They're all perfect slaves to convention! But the +lecturer explained the Nietzschean theories in such a way that he made +us feel there was a great deal to be said for them.... No tea, thanks. I +had mine at the Fletchers. It looks," she added, with a glance at the +tea-cups, "as if you had been entertaining some one, Mother—who was +it?"</p> + +<p>"Only Lady Harriet," replied Mrs. Stimpson, with elaborate carelessness.</p> + +<p>"<i>What</i> Lady Harriet?" was the intentionally provoking query.</p> + +<p>"Really, Edna, one would think there were dozens of them! <i>The</i> Lady +Harriet: Lady Harriet Elmslie, of course."</p> + +<p>"Oh," said Edna. "And what did <i>she</i> want?"</p> + +<p>"Well, she <i>came</i> to ask after Saunders' character, but she stayed to +tea, and we really struck up quite an intimate friendship, discussing +one thing and another. She's so quiet and unassuming, Edna—absolutely +no <i>hauteur</i>. I'm sure you will like her. I told her about you all, and +she seemed <i>so</i> interested. Quite between ourselves, I shouldn't be at +all surprised if she got us invited to take part in the Pageant—she's +on the Committee, you know."</p> + +<p>"If I <i>was</i> invited, Mother, I'm not at all sure I shouldn't refuse."</p> + +<p>"You must please yourself about that, my dear," said Mrs. Stimpson, who, +perhaps, felt but little anxiety as to the result. "<i>I</i> shall certainly +accept if the part is at all suitable."</p> + +<p>She might have said more, if Ruby had not suddenly burst into the room. +Ruby was certainly the flower of the family—an extremely engaging young +person of about ten, whose mischievous golden-brown eyes had long and +curling lashes, and whose vivacious face was set off by a thick mane of +deepest Titian red.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Mummy," she announced breathlessly, "I've got invitations for +nearly all my animals while we're away at Eastbourne! Mucius Scævola's +the most popular—everybody asked him, but I think he'll feel <i>most</i> at +home with Daisy Williams. Vivian and Ada Porter will simply love to +have Numa Pompilius, but nobody seems to want Tarquinius Superbus, so I +shall turn him out in the garden, and he must catch worms for himself."</p> + +<p>"Dearest child," said her mother, "what are these new animals of yours +with the extraordinary names?"</p> + +<p>"They're the same old animals, Mums. I've rechristened them since I +began Roman History with Miss Heritage. Mucius Scævola's the Salamander, +because they're indifferent to fire, like he was—though Miss Heritage +says it wouldn't be kind to try with Mucius. Numa Pompilius is the +Blind-worm—he used to be Kaa—and the Toad has changed from Nobbles to +Tarquinius Superbus."</p> + +<p>"I can't understand how you can keep such unpleasant pets as reptiles," +said Edna.</p> + +<p>"Because I like them," said Ruby simply. "And Bobby Williams has +promised, as soon as it gets warmer, to come out on the Common with me +and catch lizards. <i>Won't</i> it be lovely?"</p> + +<p>"I hope you won't put one of them down anybody's neck, then, as you did +to Tommy Fletcher."</p> + +<p>"That was Mucius," Ruby admitted cheerfully. "But I didn't mean him to +go so far down. And he was very good—he didn't bite Tommy anywhere."</p> + +<p>"Little ladies don't play such tricks," said her Mother. "I hope Miss +Heritage doesn't encourage your liking for these horrid creatures?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, she doesn't mind, so long as I don't take them out of the aquarium, +but she hates touching them herself."</p> + +<p>"Did she come in with you?" her mother inquired, and was told that Miss +Heritage had done so, and had gone upstairs, whereupon Ruby was ordered +to go and take off her things, and stay quietly in the schoolroom till +it was time to come down.</p> + +<p>"I don't know if you noticed it, Mother," Edna began, as soon as Ruby +had consented to leave them, "but Miss Heritage had a letter by the +afternoon post which seemed to upset her. I went rather out of my way to +ask her if she had had bad news of any kind, but she did not think +proper to take me into her confidence. Perhaps she might be more open +with <i>you</i>."</p> + +<p>"My dear," said Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, with much dignity, "I take no +interest whatever in Miss Heritage's private correspondence."</p> + +<p>"Nor I," declared Edna. "I only thought that if she is in any +trouble—She's so secretive, you know, Mums. I've tried more than once +to get her to tell me what cosmetic she uses for her hands—and she +never will own to using any at all!"</p> + +<p>"I'm sure, Edna, you've no reason to be ashamed of your hands."</p> + +<p>"Oh, they look all right just now," said Edna, examining them +dispassionately. "But they <i>will</i> turn lobster colour at the most +inconvenient times. Hers never do—and it <i>does</i> seem so unfair, +considering—" She broke off here, as Daphne Heritage entered.</p> + +<p>"Well, Miss Heritage?" said Mrs. Stimpson, as the girl hesitated on +seeing Edna. "Did you wish to speak to me?"</p> + +<p>"I did rather want your advice about something," said Daphne, who had a +paper, and a small leather case in her hands; "I thought I might find +you alone. It doesn't matter—it will do quite well another time."</p> + +<p>"Don't let <i>me</i> prevent you, Miss Heritage," said Edna. "If you don't +wish to speak to Mother before me, I've no desire to remain. I was just +going up to change in any case."</p> + +<p>She went out with a slightly huffy air, which was not entirely due to +baffled curiosity, for she admired Daphne enough to resent being quietly +kept at a distance.</p> + +<p>"It's about this," explained Daphne, after Edna had made her exit—"a +bill that has just been sent on to me." She gave the paper to Mrs. +Stimpson as she spoke. "I don't know quite what to do about it."</p> + +<p>She looked very young and inexperienced as she stood there, a slim +girlish figure with masses of burnished hair the colour of ripe corn, +braided and coiled as closely as possible round her small head, but +there was no trace of timidity or subservience in her manner. In the +slight form, with the milk-white skin, delicate profile and exquisite +hands, there was a distinction that struck her employer as quite +absurdly out of keeping with her position.</p> + +<p>"The only thing to do about a bill, my dear," said Mrs. Stimpson, "is to +pay it. But nearly thirty pounds is a large sum for you to owe your +milliner."</p> + +<p>"It's for things Mother—my adopted mother, you know—ordered for me. +Stéphanie was always told to send in the account to her. But this seems +to have been overlooked, and the executors have sent it on to me. Only I +can't pay it myself—unless you wouldn't mind advancing me the money out +of my salary."</p> + +<p>"I couldn't possibly. You forget that it would represent over a year's +salary, and it's by no means certain that you will be with me so long."</p> + +<p>"I was afraid you wouldn't," said Daphne, with a little droop at the +corners of her extremely pretty mouth. "So I brought this to show you." +She held out the leather case. "It's the only jewellery I've got. It +belonged to my father, I believe; he and my real mother both died when I +was a baby, you know—and I never meant to part with it. But now I'm +afraid I must—that is, if you think any jeweller would give as much as +thirty pounds for it."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson opened the case, which was much more modern than +the kind of badge or pendant it contained. This was a fairly large oval +stone of a milky green, deeply engraved with strangely formed letters +interlaced in a cypher, and surrounded by a border of dark blue gems +which Mrs. Stimpson decided instantly must be Cabochon star sapphires of +quite exceptional quality. The gold chain attached to it was antique and +of fine and curious workmanship.</p> + +<p>She was convinced that the pendant must be worth considerably more than +thirty pounds, though she was no doubt right in telling Daphne that no +jeweller would offer so much for an ornament that was quite out of +fashion. "Besides," she said, "I don't like the idea of any governess of +mine going about offering jewellery for sale. Have Edna or Ruby seen you +wearing this thing?" she asked with apparent irrelevance.</p> + +<p>It appeared they had not; Daphne had never worn it herself, and she had +only remembered its existence that afternoon, and found it hidden away +at the back of her wardrobe.</p> + +<p>"Well," said Mrs. Stimpson, "it is most unpleasant to me to see a young +girl like you owing all this money to her milliner."</p> + +<p>"It isn't very pleasant for <i>me</i>," said Daphne ruefully; "but if you +won't advance the money, and I can't or mustn't sell the pendant, I +don't very well see how I can help it."</p> + +<p>"I'll tell you what I'll do," said Mrs. Stimpson. "I really <i>oughtn't</i> +to—and under ordinary circumstances I couldn't afford it, but, as it +happens, a great-uncle of mine left me a small legacy not long ago, and +I haven't spent quite all of it yet. So I don't mind buying this for +thirty pounds myself."</p> + +<p>"Will you really?" cried Daphne. "How angelic of you!"</p> + +<p>"I think it is," said Mrs. Stimpson; "but I feel myself responsible for +you, to some extent. So I'll write you a cheque for the thirty pounds, +and you can send it off to this milliner person at once." She went to +the writing-table and filled up the cheque. "There," she said, handing +it to Daphne, "put it in an envelope and direct it at once—you'll find +a stamp in that box, and it can go by the next post."</p> + +<p>"By the way, my dear," she added, as she was leaving the room, "I +needn't tell you that <i>I</i> shall not breathe a word to a soul of our +little transaction, and I should advise you, in your own interests, to +keep it entirely to yourself."</p> + +<p>"I was quite wrong about Mrs. Stimpson," Daphne told herself +reproachfully, after she had slipped the letter containing bill and +cheque into the letter-box in the hall. "She <i>can</i> be kind sometimes, +and I've been a little beast to see only the comic side of her! I +daresay she won't even <i>wear</i> that pendant."</p> + +<p>But Mrs. Stimpson had every intention of wearing it that same evening. +It is not often that one has the opportunity of doing a kindness and +securing a real bargain at a single stroke; and she knew enough about +jewels to be fully aware that, if the ornament was a trifle +old-fashioned, she had not done at all badly over her purchase.</p> + +<p>"It really suits me very well," she thought, as, after putting the last +touches to her evening demi-toilette, she fastened the pendant round her +neck. "Even better than I expected. It was lucky Miss Heritage came to +<i>me</i>. A jeweller would have been sure to cheat her, poor child!"</p> + +<p>And she went down to the drawing-room feeling serenely satisfied with +herself.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II</h2> + +<h3>RUSHING TO CONCLUSIONS</h3> + + +<p>Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, as she sat in the drawing-room, where the +curtains had been drawn and the lamps lighted, was occupied with a +project which she was anxious to impart to her husband as soon as he +returned. Some time before a dull rumble from the valley had informed +her that his usual train was approaching Gablehurst station, and now she +heard the click of the front gate, the crunch of his well-known step on +the gravel, and the opening of the hall door.</p> + +<p>"I want to speak to you for a moment, Sidney," she said, opening the +drawing-room door. "Come in here before you go up to dress." (Mrs. +Stimpson insisted on his dressing for dinner. It was customary in all +really good society, and also it would prevent him from feeling awkward +in evening clothes—which it never did.)</p> + +<p>"Very well, my dear," he said, entering. "Any news with you?" which was +his invariable question.</p> + +<p>Mr. Stimpson was short and inclined to be stout. What remained of his +hair was auburn and separated in the middle by a wide parting; he had +close-cut whiskers of a lighter red, which met in his moustache, and if +his eyes had been narrow, instead of round and filmy like a seal's, and +his mouth had been firm, and not loose and slightly open, he would not +have been at all a bad caricature of his Majesty King Henry the Eighth.</p> + +<p>"Nothing—except, but I'll tell you about that afterwards. Sit down, do, +and don't fidget.... Well, I've been thinking, Sidney, that we really +ought to ask the Chevril Thistletons to a quiet little dinner. Not to +meet any of our <i>usual</i> set, of course! We could have the dear Rector, +who, if he <i>is</i> Low Church, is very well connected—and Lady Harriet +Elmslie."</p> + +<p>Mr. Stimpson showed no enthusiasm at the suggestion. "Lady Elmslie, +Selina!" he cried. "But we don't <i>know</i> her ladyship!"</p> + +<p>"I do wish you would learn to use titles correctly, Sidney! Lady +<i>Harriet</i> Elmslie—not Lady <i>Elmslie</i>! And you shouldn't speak of her, +except to servants, as 'her ladyship'; that's only done by inferiors."</p> + +<p>"Well, my love, whatever may be the correct way of speaking of her, the +fact remains that we haven't the honour of her acquaintance."</p> + +<p>"That's just where you're mistaken! We <i>have</i>, or at least <i>I</i> have;" +and she described how she had come to enjoy that privilege.</p> + +<p>"Well," he admitted at the conclusion, "she certainly seems to have made +herself exceedingly affable, but it doesn't follow that she'd come and +dine, even if we asked her."</p> + +<p>"She would if it was to meet the Thistletons."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps so, my love, but—er—we don't know that <i>they</i> would come."</p> + +<p>"Of course they would, if they knew we were expecting Lady Harriet. For +goodness' sake, Sidney, don't swing your foot like that—you know I +can't bear it. All <i>you</i> have to do is to find out from Mr. Thistleton +what evenings the week after next would be most convenient, and <i>I'll</i> +undertake the rest!"</p> + +<p>"I—I really couldn't do that, Selina. I'm a proud man, in my way, and I +don't care about exposing myself unnecessarily to a rebuff."</p> + +<p>"Why should you be rebuffed? After all, he's only a junior partner!"</p> + +<p>"True, my love, but that doesn't make him less stand-offish. He may be +<i>in</i> the business, but he's not <i>of</i> it. I doubt myself whether even old +Cramphorn would venture to invite him to dinner, and if he did, I'd bet +a tidy sum that the Honourable Mr. Chevril Thistleton——"</p> + +<p>"Mr.—<i>not</i> the Honourable <i>Mr.</i> Thistleton, Sidney," corrected his +wife, who had studied all such <i>minutiæ</i> in a handbook written by a lady +of unimpeachable authority. "The term is <i>never</i> employed in ordinary +conversation, or on visiting cards. But, if you won't show a proper +spirit, I shall write myself to Mrs. Thistleton and propose one or two +dates."</p> + +<p>"It would be no good, my love," said Mr. Stimpson, brought to bay, +"because, if you <i>must</i> know, I—er—<i>did</i> approach the subject with +Thistleton—and—well, his manner was not sufficiently encouraging to +induce me to try it again. Not so fond of being made to feel as if I was +no better than one of our own clerks. I get quite enough of <i>that</i> from +old Cramphorn!"</p> + +<p>"You should <i>assert</i> yourself more, Sidney, if you want people to +respect you."</p> + +<p>"I'm always asserting myself—but old Cramphorn never listens! Just goes +on his own way. Won't hear of any changes—what was good enough when the +firm started a hundred years ago is good enough for <i>him</i>—now I'm all +for <i>new</i> ideas myself—Progress and so forth!"</p> + +<p>"That's what has kept us back," said Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson; "we should +have been in a far better set here than we're ever likely to be now if +you hadn't given yourself out as a violent Radical, when it's well known +that all best Gablehurst people are Conservatives, and several who are +not really entitled to be anything of the kind. As it is, I suppose I +must be content to pass my life in this suburban hole and mix with none +but second-rate people. But I certainly cannot expect Lady Harriet to +come here and meet them, so there's an end of it. If she imagines I've +no desire to pursue her acquaintance, it can't be helped, that's all! +And now you had better go up and dress."</p> + +<p>The whole family were assembled by the time Mr. Stimpson +re-appeared—his wife was in her armchair by the standard lamp. Edna was +at the writing-table revising her notes of the afternoon's lecture, and +Clarence was seated close by, while Ruby was whispering earnestly to +Daphne on one of the chintz couches.</p> + +<p>"All of you down before me, eh?" said the head of the family after the +usual salutations had been exchanged. "But I went up long after +everybody else. And not late after all—I've taught myself to dress in +well under ten minutes, you see!"</p> + +<p>"Wish he'd taught himself not to wear a white tie with a dinner jacket!" +grumbled Clarence to Edna in an undertone.</p> + +<p>"Couldn't you <i>tell</i> him about it?" she replied.</p> + +<p>"I could—but what'd be the good? He'd only turn up next time in a +tail-coat and a black bow!" said Clarence gloomily. "The poor old +governor's one of the people who never learn——!"</p> + +<p>Clarence's own type was that for which the latest term is "knut." He was +accepted both by his family, his intimates, and himself as an infallible +guide on things in general. When consulted as to matters on which he +happened to be entirely ignorant, and these were not a few—he had +formed the habit of preserving a pregnant silence, as of one who could +say a good deal on the subject if he were at liberty to speak. And this +in itself denoted a certain degree of intelligence.</p> + +<p>In appearance he was well built, though only of average height. He had +small green eyes like his mother's; his light sandy hair had a natural +ripple, and his pale face expressed nothing beyond an assured +consciousness of his own superiority. And yet he was not without a +certain sense of humour in matters which did not immediately concern +himself, though, owing to particular circumstances, it was just then +distinctly in abeyance.</p> + +<p>"What time do you get back from the City to-morrow afternoon, my boy?" +his father asked.</p> + +<p>"Not going up at all, Pater," said Clarence. "Told them I shouldn't." He +was thinking that after dinner would be quite time enough to break the +news that, on receiving a severe wigging for general slackness, he had +lost his temper, and offered to resign his post—an offer that had been +accepted with disconcerting alacrity.</p> + +<p>"Ah, Sidney," said Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, "<i>Clarence</i> knows how to +assert himself, you see!"</p> + +<p>"I merely asked," Mr. Stimpson explained, "because I'm taking a Saturday +off myself, and I thought we could have a round or two of golf +together, eh, my boy?"</p> + +<p>"I don't mind going round with you before lunch," said Clarence. +"Engaged for the afternoon; but, if you'll take <i>my</i> advice, Governor, +you'd better practise a bit longer with the Pro before you attempt to +<i>play</i>. No good trying to run till you can walk, don't you know, what?" +(He had learnt to terminate his sentences with "what" as a kind of smart +shibboleth.) "Hullo, Mater!" he broke off suddenly, as he noticed the +pendant on her ample bosom, "where did you get that thing? Out of a +cracker?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly not, Clarence; I am not in the habit of wearing cheap +jewellery. And this cost a considerable sum, though I daresay it is +worth what I paid for it."</p> + +<p>"Did you go much of a mucker for it, Mater?"</p> + +<p>"If I did, Clarence, I was well able to do so, thanks to dear old Uncle +Wibberley's legacy."</p> + +<p>"I must say, Mother," said Edna, "it's far the most artistic thing I've +ever known you buy."</p> + +<p>"It isn't <i>everybody's</i> taste," remarked Mr. Stimpson, "but I should say +myself that it wasn't a bad investment. Where did you come across it, my +love?"</p> + +<p>"My dear Sidney," replied Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson with much majesty, "as +I purchased it with my own money, where I came across it, and what I +paid for it are surely matters that only concern myself."</p> + +<p>Daphne, who could hardly avoid hearing this conversation, was impressed +by the tact and delicacy it displayed. It never occurred to her that +Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson's reticence might be inspired by other motives +than a generous desire to spare her feelings. "She really is quite a +decent sort!" she told herself.</p> + +<p>Clarence had not been unobservant of her—indeed it would not be too +much to say that he had been acutely conscious all the time of Miss +Heritage's presence.</p> + +<p>Ever since she had become a member of the household he had alternated +between the desire to impress her and the dread of becoming entangled in +the toils of an artful little enchantress. It was true that since her +arrival in the family she had made no effort whatever to enchant him; +indeed, she had treated him with easy indifference—but this, his +experience of her sex and the world told him, was probably assumed. She +could hardly help knowing that he was something of a "catch" from her +point of view, and scheming to ensnare him.</p> + +<p>Perhaps Clarence, with his now dubious prospects, felt himself rather +less of a catch than usual; perhaps it occurred to him that being +moderately ensnared would be pleasantly exciting, since he would always +know when to stop. At all events, he lounged gracefully toward the sofa, +on which she and Ruby were sitting: "I say, Miss Heritage," he began, +"you mustn't let my Kiddie sister bore you like this. She's been +whispering away in your ear for the last ten minutes."</p> + +<p>Daphne denied that she was being bored.</p> + +<p>"Of <i>course</i> she isn't!" said Ruby; "I was finishing the story I began +telling her when we were walking home. We'd got to where Daphne first +meets the Fairy Prince."</p> + +<p>"Then it's all about Miss Heritage, is it?"</p> + +<p>"I call the heroine 'Daphne' in my story, after her—but, of course, she +isn't Miss Heritage <i>really</i>."</p> + +<p>"You don't seem to think it very likely that Miss Heritage will ever +come across a Fairy Prince, eh!" commented Clarence, and wondered the +next moment whether he mightn't have said something to commit himself.</p> + +<p>"I hope not," said Ruby, slipping her hand affectionately through +Daphne's arm, "because then she'd leave me, and I should never see her +again!"</p> + +<p>"I shouldn't worry about it just yet, darling," said Daphne, smiling. +"Fairy Princes are only to be found in their own country—and it's a +long way from here to Fairyland."</p> + +<p>Clarence was noticing, not for the first time, that her full face was +shaped like a shield, also that two fascinating little creases came in +it when she smiled, and her pretty grey eyes had a soft sparkle in them. +"I must be jolly careful," he told himself.</p> + +<p>"I should prefer, Miss Heritage," said Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, who had +overheard the last sentence, "that Ruby was not encouraged to fill her +head with Fairy tales. I don't think them good for her."</p> + +<p>"Oh, come, Mater!" protested Clarence, unable to resist the <i>rôle</i> of +Champion. "Where on earth is the harm of them."</p> + +<p>"Surely, Clarence," Edna put in instructively, "there is <i>this</i> +harm—they give such an utterly false impression of what life really +<i>is</i>! That's why I've never been able to take any interest in them."</p> + +<p>"More likely," said Clarence, "because you've got no imagination."</p> + +<p>"If I hadn't," retorted Edna, "I should hardly have got through the +Poetry I have. Most of Browning and Alfred Austin, and all Ella Wheeler +Wilcox! It's only the lowest degree of imagination that invents things +that couldn't possibly have happened!"</p> + +<p>"They may have left off, Edna, but they happened <i>once</i>," declared Ruby. +"I know there <i>used</i> to be Fairyland somewhere, with Kings and Queens +and Fairy Godmothers and enchanted castles and magicians and Ogres and +Dragons and things in it. And Miss Heritage believes it, too—<i>don't</i> +you, Miss Heritage, dear?"</p> + +<p>"I'm much mistaken in Miss Heritage, my dear," said Mr. Stimpson +gallantly, "if her head isn't too well screwed on (if she'll allow me to +say so) to believe in any such stuff. All very well for the Nursery, you +know, but not to be taken seriously, or ... why, what's that? Most +extraordinary noise! Seems to come from outside, overhead."</p> + +<p>They could all hear a strange kind of flapping whirr in the air, it grew +nearer and louder and then suddenly ceased.</p> + +<p>"Aeroplane," pronounced Clarence, drawing the window curtains and +looking out. "Miles away by now, though. Terrific pace they travel at. +Too dark to see anything."</p> + +<p>He returned to the hearthrug, and the moment afterwards, the silence +outside was broken by a shrill, clear call which seemed to come from +silver trumpets.</p> + +<p>"Very odd," said Mr. Stimpson, "some one seems to be playing trumpets on +the gravel-sweep!"</p> + +<p>"If it's one of those travelling German bands," said his wife, "you'd +better send them away at once, Sidney."</p> + +<p>But, whoever they were, they had already entered the hall, for almost +immediately the drawing-room door was thrown open and two persons +wearing tabards and gaily plumed hats entered and sounded another +blast.</p> + +<p>"'Pon my word, you know," gasped Mr. Stimpson, "this is really——"</p> + +<p>The heralds stepped back as a third person entered. He was wearing a +rich suit of some long-departed period, and, with his furrowed face and +deep-set eyes, he rather resembled an elderly mastiff, though he did not +convey the same impression of profound wisdom. He gazed round the room +as though he himself were as bewildered as its other occupants, who were +speechless with amazement. Then his eye fell on Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, +and he hesitated no longer, but, advancing towards her chair, sank with +some difficulty on one knee, seized her hand, and kissed it with every +sign of deep respect.</p> + +<p>"Heaven be praised!" he cried in a voice that faltered with emotion, "I +have at last found the Queen we have so long sought in vain!" He spoke +with some sort of foreign accent, but they all understood him perfectly. +As he knelt they heard a loud crack which seemed to come from between +his shoulders.</p> + +<p>"Braces given way," whispered Clarence to Edna; "silly old ass to go +kneeling in 'em!"</p> + +<p>"Really, sir," said Mr. Stimpson, "this is most extraordinary +behaviour."</p> + +<p>"You don't understand, Sidney," said Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, who had +recovered from her first alarm and was now in a gratified flutter; +"remember what I told you about Lady Harriet and the Pageant! Pray, get +up, sir," she added to the stranger, "I haven't the advantage of knowing +your name."</p> + +<p>"I am the Court Chamberlain," he said, "and my name is Treuherz von +Eisenbänden."</p> + +<p>It was unknown to Mrs. Stimpson, but she concluded that he was some +Anglo-German commercial magnate, who would naturally be invited to join +the Committee for any such patriotic purpose as a Pageant.</p> + +<p>As to the excessive ceremony of his manner, that was either the proper +form for the occasion, or, what was more likely, Mr. Troitz, or whatever +his name was, having come fresh from a dress rehearsal, could not divest +himself as yet of his assumed character. The important point was that +her interview with Lady Harriet had borne fruit already, and in the +shape of a pressing invitation to play the distinguished part of +"Queen!" The advantages thus offered for obtaining a social footing +amongst county people made it easy to overlook any trifling +eccentricities where the intention was so obviously serious. "Well, Mr. +Troitz," she said graciously, "since the Committee have been kind enough +to ask me, I shall be very pleased to be your Queen."</p> + +<p>"And if I may say so, Sir," said her husband, "there are few ladies in +the vicinity who would prove more competent. In fact——"</p> + +<p>"That will do, Sidney," said his wife; "if Lady Harriet and the +Committee did not consider me competent to be the Queen they would not +have asked me." And Mr. Stimpson said no more.</p> + +<p>"Pardon," Mr. Treuherz said, looking at him with solemn surprise, +"but—who is <i>this</i>?"</p> + +<p>"This is my husband, Mr. Troitz—let me introduce him."</p> + +<p>"Your husband. Then, he will be the King!"</p> + +<p>"The King?" cried Mr. Stimpson, "why, really, I'm not sure that would be +altogether in my line."</p> + +<p>"Nonsense, Sidney. Of <i>course</i> you will be the King if they want you! +And this is my son, Clarence, Mr. Troitz. My daughters, Edna and Ruby."</p> + +<p>"A Crown Prince!" cried Treuherz, and bent low to each in turn. "And +two—no, I mistake—<i>three</i> Princesses! Ah, it is too much for me +altogether!"</p> + +<p>It was almost too much for Ruby, who giggled helplessly, while even +Daphne had to bite her lip rather hard for a moment.</p> + +<p>"The other young lady," corrected Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, "is merely my +daughter Ruby's governess—Miss Heritage. But if you like to find a +place for her as one of my ladies of honour or something, I have no +objection to her accepting a part," she added, reflecting that Miss +Heritage's manners and appearance would add to the family importance, +while it would be a comfort to have an attendant who could not give +herself such airs as might a girl belonging to a county family.</p> + +<p>"Naturally," said Treuherz, inclining himself again. "Any member of your +Majesty's household you desire to bring."</p> + +<p>"Very well; I suppose, Miss Heritage, you have no objection? Then you +will accompany us, please. And now, Mr. Troitz, about when shall we be +wanted?"</p> + +<p>"When?" he replied. "But now! At once. Already I have the car waiting!"</p> + +<p>"Now?" exclaimed Clarence; "rum time to rehearse—what?"</p> + +<p>"Who said anything about rehearsing, Clarence?" said his mother +impatiently. "It's necessary for them to see us and talk over the +arrangements. It's not likely to take long."</p> + +<p>"But it'll do later, my love," put in Mr. Stimpson, who did not like the +idea of turning out without his dinner. "Fact is, Mr. Troitz, we were +just about to sit down to dinner. Why not keep the car waiting a bit and +join us? No ceremony, you know—just as you <i>are</i>!"</p> + +<p>"Sire, I regret that it is impossible," he said. "I have undertaken to +convey you with all possible speed. If we delay I cannot answer for what +may happen."</p> + +<p>"You hear what Mr. Troitz says, Sidney," said Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, +alarmed at the idea of another being chosen in her absence. "What <i>does</i> +it matter if we do dine a little late? Children, we must go and put on +our things at once—your warmest cloaks, mind—we're sure to find it +cold motoring. Sidney and Clarence, you had better get your coats on—we +shall be down directly."</p> + +<p>Mr. Treuherz and the heralds stood at attention in the hall. While +Clarence and his father struggled into their great-coats, neither of +them in a very good temper, Mr. Stimpson being annoyed at postponing his +dinner for what he called "tomfoolery," and Clarence secretly sulky +because his parent could not be induced to see the propriety of going up +to change his tie.</p> + +<p>"I haven't <i>yet</i> made out, Mother," said Edna, as they came downstairs, +"exactly where we're going to—or what we're expected to do when we get +there."</p> + +<p>"It will either be The Hermitage—Lady Harriet's, you know—or Mr. +Troitz's country house, wherever <i>that</i> is. And, of course, the +Committee require to know what times will suit us for rehearsing."</p> + +<p>"I wish you'd settle it all without <i>me</i>," complained Edna. "I'd much +rather stay at home, and run over my lecture notes.... Well, if I must +come, I shall bring my note-book with me in case I'm bored." And she ran +into the drawing-room, and came back with the note-book, rather as an +emblem of her own intellectual superiority than with any intention of +referring to it. However, as will be found later, the manuscript proved +to be of some service in the future.</p> + +<p>Daphne and Ruby were the last to join the party in the hall, Ruby wildly +excited at the unexpected jaunt and the prospects of not going to bed +till ever so late, and Daphne, though a little doubtful whether Mrs. +Stimpson was quite justified in bringing her, inclined to welcome almost +any change from the evening <i>routine</i> of "Inglegarth." And then, after +Mrs. Stimpson had given some hurried instructions to the hopelessly +mystified Mitchell, the whole family issued out of the Queen Anne porch, +and were conducted by Treuherz, who, to their intense confusion, +insisted on walking backwards to the car, while the heralds performed +another flourish on their silver trumpets. It was pitch-dark when they +had got to the asphalt pavement outside their gates, but they could just +make out the contours of the car in the light that streamed across the +hedge to the stained glass front-door.</p> + +<p>"Jolly queer-looking car," said Clarence. It was certainly unusually +large, and seemed to have somewhat fantastic lines and decorations.</p> + +<p>"Oh, never mind about the car!" cried Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, who was +inside it already, a vague, bundled-up shape in the gloom. "It's part of +the Pageant, of course! Get in, Clarence, get in! We're late as it is! +and if there's a thing I detest, it's keeping people waiting!"</p> + +<p>"All right, Mater!" said Clarence, clambering in. "I can't make out what +the dickens they've done with the bonnet—but we seem to be moving, +what?"</p> + +<p>Slowly the car had begun to glide along the road. Mr. Treuherz was +seated in front, probably at the steering-wheel, though none was +visible. The heralds sat in the rear, and the car was of such a size +that there was abundant room for the family in the centre. Some yards +ahead they heard a curious dry rustle and clatter, and could distinguish +a confused grey mass of forms that seemed to be clearing the way for +them, though whether they were human beings it was not possible to tell +till they passed a lighted street-lamp.</p> + +<p>"Why, goodness gracious!" exclaimed Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, "they look +like—like <i>ostriches</i>!"</p> + +<p>She was mistaken here, because they were merely storks, but, before she +could identify them more correctly, they all suddenly rose in the air +with a whirr like that of a hundred spinning looms—and the car rose +with them.</p> + +<p>"Stop!" screamed Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, "Sidney, tell Mr. Troitz to +stop! I <i>insist</i> on knowing where we are being taken to!"</p> + +<p>Treuherz glanced over his shoulder. "Where should I conduct your +Majesties," he said, "but to your own Kingdom of Märchenland?"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Stimpson and her husband would no doubt have protested, demanded +explanations, insisted upon being put down at once, had they been able; +but, whether it was that the car had some peculiarly soporific tendency, +or whether it was merely the sudden swift rush through the upper air, a +torpor had already fallen on the whole Stimpson family. It was even +questionable if they remained long enough awake to hear their +destination.</p> + +<p>Daphne, for some reason, did not fall asleep till later. She lay back in +her luxuriously cushioned seat, watching the birds as they flew, spread +out in a wide fan against the dusky blue evening sky. Gablehurst, with +its scattered lights, artistic villa-residences, and prosaic railway +station—its valley and common and wooded hills, were far below and soon +left behind at an ever increasing distance. But she did not feel in the +least afraid. It was odd, but, after the first surprise, she had lost +all sense of strangeness in a situation so foreign to all her previous +experience.</p> + +<p>"So we're being taken to Märchenland," she was thinking. "That's the +same as Fairyland, practically. At least it's where all the things they +call Fairy stories really happened, and—<i>why</i> I can't imagine—but Mr. +and Mrs. Stimpson have been chosen King and Queen! And the poor dear +things have no idea of it yet! Oh, I wonder" (and here, no doubt, the +little creases came into her cheeks again, for she laughed softly to +herself), "I <i>wonder</i> what they'll say or do when they find out!" And +while Daphne was still wondering, her eyelids closed gently, and she, +too, was sleeping soundly.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III</h2> + +<h3>FINE FEATHERS</h3> + + +<p>Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson was the first of her party to recover +consciousness. When she did, she was greatly surprised to find that it +was broad daylight, and that she was lying on a grassy slope, behind +which was a forest of huge pines. Close beside her were the recumbent +forms of her husband and family, which led her to the natural conclusion +that the car must have met with an accident.</p> + +<p>"Sidney!" she cried, shaking him by the shoulder. "Speak to me! +You're—you're not <i>seriously</i> hurt, are you?"</p> + +<p>"Eh, what?" he replied sleepily, and evidently imagining that he was +comfortably in bed at home; "all right, my dear, all right! I'll get up +and bring in the tea-tray presently. Lots of time.... Why, hullo!" he +exclaimed, after being shaken once more, as he sat up and rubbed his +eyes. "How do we all come to be <i>here</i>?"</p> + +<p>The others were awake by this time. "And now we're here," put in +Clarence, "where <i>are</i> we, eh, Mater?"</p> + +<p>"It is no use asking <i>me</i>, Clarence. I know no more than you do. The +last thing I remember was our all getting into the car to go and see the +Pageant Committee. I've a vague recollection of ostriches—but no, I +must have been dreaming <i>them</i>. However, the car seems to have upset +somehow, only I don't see it about anywhere."</p> + +<p>"No," said Mr. Stimpson, "or old Thingumagig, or those fellows with the +trumpets either."</p> + +<p>"Dumped us down here, and gone off with the car," said Clarence. "Looks +as if we'd been the victims of a practical joke, what?"</p> + +<p>"They would never dare to do that!" said his Mother. "I expect they have +missed their way in the dark. Very careless of them. I don't know what +Lady Harriet and the Committee will think of me. They'll probably ask +somebody else to take the part of Queen before we can get there—for I'm +sure we must be a good hundred miles away from Gablehurst!"</p> + +<p>"The Baron said that he was taking us to Märchenland, Mrs. Stimpson," +said Daphne; "and I'm <i>almost</i> sure that that is where we really are."</p> + +<p>"And where may Märchenland be?" inquired Mrs. Stimpson sharply. "I never +heard of it myself."</p> + +<p>"Well," said Daphne, "it's another name for—for Fairyland, you know."</p> + +<p>"Fairyland indeed!" replied Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson with some +irritation. "You will find it difficult to persuade me to believe that I +am in <i>Fairyland</i>, Miss Heritage! To begin with, there is no such place, +and if there was, perhaps you will kindly tell me how we could possibly +have got to it?"</p> + +<p>"Through the air," explained Daphne patiently. "That car was drawn by +<i>storks</i>, you see—not ostriches."</p> + +<p>"When you have <i>quite</i> woke up, Miss Heritage," said Mrs. Stimpson, "you +will realise what nonsense you are talking."</p> + +<p>"Whatever this place is," said Clarence, "it don't look English, +somehow, to <i>me</i>. I mean to say—that town over there—what?" He +pointed across the wide plain to a cluster of towers, spires, gables, +and pinnacles which glittered and gleamed faintly through the shimmering +morning haze.</p> + +<p>"It certainly has rather a Continental appearance," observed his father.</p> + +<p>"If it has," said Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, "it is only some buildings or +scenery or something they have run up for the Pageant. So we haven't +been taken in the wrong direction after all."</p> + +<p>"<i>I</i> believe, Mummy," chirped Ruby, "Miss Heritage is right, and this +<i>is</i> Fairyland."</p> + +<p>"Don't be so ridiculous, child! You'll believe next that we came here in +a car drawn by flying storks, I suppose!"</p> + +<p>"D'you know, Mater," said Clarence, "I'm not so sure we mayn't have. +What I mean is—there's some sort of flying machine coming along now. I +grant you it isn't drawn by storks, but they're <i>birds</i> anyhow, and +there seems to be some one in the car too."</p> + +<p>"Nothing of the kind!" declared Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson obstinately. "At +least one may fancy one sees anything with the sun in our eyes as it is. +Well, upon my word!" she added, still incredulously, as an iridescent +shell-shaped chariot attached to a team of snow-white doves <i>volplaned</i> +down from a dizzy height to a spot only a few yards away, "I really +could not have—who, and what can this old person be?"</p> + +<p>The occupant of the chariot had already got out of it, and was slowly +coming towards them, supporting herself on a black crutch-handled staff. +As she drew nearer they could see that she was a woman of great age. She +wore a large ruff, a laced stomacher, wide quilted petticoats, and a +pointed hat with a broad brim. Her expression was severe, but not +unkindly, while she evidently considered herself a personage of some +importance.</p> + +<p>"She looks exactly like the Fairy Godmother in the pictures," whispered +Ruby.</p> + +<p>"Whoever she may be," said her Mother, scrambling to her feet with more +haste than dignity, "I suppose I shall have to go and speak to her, as I +presume I am the person she has come to meet."</p> + +<p>However, it was Daphne who was addressed by the new-comer.</p> + +<p>"The Court Chamberlain, Baron Treuherz von Eisenbänden, has brought me +the glad tidings of your arrival, my child," she said in a high cracked +voice, "and, as the high official Court Godmother to the Royal Family, I +felt that I should be the first to bid you welcome."</p> + +<p>This was more than Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson could be expected to stand +without a protest.</p> + +<p>"Pardon me," she said, throwing back her cloak as though she were in +need of air, "pardon me, Madam, but I think you are mistaking my +daughter's governess for <i>me</i>. I am Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson!"</p> + +<p>The old lady turned sharply, and as her eyes fell on the matron's +indignant face and heaving bosom, she instantly became deferential and +almost apologetic. "You must forgive me, my dear," she said, "for not +recognising you before. But at my age—I may tell you I am nearing the +end of my second century—one is apt to forget the flight of Time. Or it +may be that Time in your world flies more quickly than in ours. I did +not stay to hear more from the Baron than that he had succeeded in +finding our Queen, and, to be quite plain with you, I was unprepared to +find you so mature."</p> + +<p>Then, thought Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson confusedly, she <i>had</i> been brought +here for the Pageant after all. But what very odd people seemed to be +getting it up!</p> + +<p>"Baron—whatever his name is, appeared to be quite satisfied that I was +suited to the part," she said coldly. "Of course, if you require someone +younger——"</p> + +<p>"There can be no manner of doubt, my dear, that you are the Queen we +have been seeking, so the mere fact that you are rather older than some +of us expected is of no importance whatever."</p> + +<p>"Thank you," said Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson. "I do not consider myself +more than middle-aged, and have generally been taken for younger than I +am, Mrs. ——, I haven't the pleasure of knowing your name."</p> + +<p>"Here they call me the Fairy Vogelflug; in the neighbouring Kingdom of +Clairdelune my name is Voldoiseau. I have officiated as Court Godmother +to the reigning Royal families in both countries for many generations."</p> + +<p>"I <i>thought</i> you were a Fairy Godmother!" cried Ruby; "and I'm sure +you're a <i>good</i> Fairy, and can do all sorts of wonderful things."</p> + +<p>"I used to, my child, in my younger days, but my powers are not what +they were, and I seldom exercise them now, because it exhausts me too +severely to do so. Once there were several of us Court Godmothers, but I +am the only one left, and my health is so poor that I can do little for +my God-children but give them moral teaching and wise counsel. However, +such good offices as I can still render shall be entirely at your +service."</p> + +<p>"You are very kind," said Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, resenting the other's +air of patronage, "but all my children are already provided with +God-parents. As you tell me you are a Fairy," she continued, "I suppose +I must accept your word for it—but it will take a great deal more than +that to make me believe that we are in Fairyland."</p> + +<p>"I thought," said the Fairy, "you already knew that the name of this +country is Märchenland."</p> + +<p>It should be said here once for all that the Wibberley-Stimpsons found +no difficulty in understanding, or making themselves perfectly +intelligible to any Märchenlanders, although they always had a curious +feeling that they were conversing in a foreign language.</p> + +<p>"Whatever the country is called," said Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson +aggressively, "I should like some explanation of that Baron Troitz's +conduct in entrapping us into coming here. I was distinctly given to +understand that I had been chosen to be the Queen at our local Pageant, +and that we were being taken to talk over the arrangements with the +Committee. Now he has gone off in the most ungentlemanly way, and left +us stranded and helpless here!"</p> + +<p>"You must have misunderstood the good Baron," said the Fairy Vogelflug; +"and he is far too loyal to desert you. He has merely hastened on to +Eswareinmal, the city whose walls and towers you see yonder, to prepare +for your reception. As you probably know, he has devoted himself with +the most untiring zeal to his mission of seeking you out and restoring +you to your inheritance."</p> + +<p>"He never said a word about that to me—not a word. If I am really +entitled to any property in this country, I should be glad to know +where it is situated, and what is its exact value."</p> + +<p>"Then," said the Fairy, "I may inform you that you are entitled, as the +daughter of your late Father—our long-lost and much-lamented Prince +Chrysopras—to no less a possession than the Crown of Märchenland."</p> + +<p>"You—you don't <i>say</i> so!" gasped Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson. "The Crown +of—Sidney, did you hear <i>that</i>."</p> + +<p>"It's some mistake, my dear," he said. "Must be! ... My wife's father, +Ma'am, though in some respects—a—a remarkable character, was never a +Prince—at least that <i>I've</i> heard of."</p> + +<p>"It doesn't at all follow, Sidney," said his wife in a nettled tone, +"that anything you don't happen to have heard of is not a fact. There +always <i>was</i> a mystery about poor dear Papa's origin. He was most +reticent about it—even with me. And I know it was rumoured that +Prinsley was not his real name. So it would not surprise me in the least +if Mrs. Fogleplug turned out to be right, though I cannot say till she +gives us further particulars."</p> + +<p>"I will do so most willingly," said the Fairy. "But as it will take me +some time to relate them, I should strongly advise you all to sit down."</p> + +<p>They seated themselves round her in a semicircle, and presently she +began:</p> + +<p>"You must know," she said, "that our mighty and gracious Sovereign, the +late King Smaragd, was twice wedded. By his first wife he had an only +son, Prince Chrysopras, a gallant and goodly prince, beloved not only by +his father, but by the whole nation. Well, after mourning his first wife +for a longer period than is customary, King Smaragd took to himself +another, who was much younger than himself, besides being marvellously +beautiful."</p> + +<p>"And of course she hated the poor Prince," said Ruby. "Stepmothers +always do in the stories."</p> + +<p>"I have not said she hated him," said the Court Godmother, who did not +like her points to be anticipated. "On the contrary, she treated him +with every mark of affection, and was constantly bestowing on him gifts +of the costliest description. One day she presented him with a wondrous +mechanical horse, fiercer and more mettlesome than even the steeds that +are born in Märchenland."</p> + +<p>"Motor-bike, what," suggested Clarence sapiently.</p> + +<p>"A mechanical horse is what I <i>said</i>," repeated the Fairy, "resembling +others in shape and beauty, but made of metal. Prince Chrysopras, being +a skilful and fearless horseman——"</p> + +<p>"Indeed he was!" put in Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson. "He used to ride +regularly in the Row, almost to the last. On 'Joggles,' such a dear +brown fat cob. He was one of what I believe was known as 'The Liver +Brigade' ... a fact which for some reason I can't pretend to fathom +seems to be causing you amusement, Miss Heritage."</p> + +<p>Daphne, whose sense of humour was occasionally an inconvenience to her, +had certainly found the notion of a Fairy Prince in the Liver Brigade a +little too much for her gravity. However, she attributed her lapse to +the name of the horse.</p> + +<p>"It was the name they gave it at the Livery Stables," said Mrs. +Wibberley-Stimpson. "And I really cannot see myself—but we are +interrupting this good lady here."</p> + +<p>"You are," said the Fairy. "I was about to say that Prince Chrysopras +was greatly delighted by his Royal Stepmother's gift, and at once leapt +on the back of the strange steed."</p> + +<p>"What I call asking for trouble," commented Clarence.</p> + +<p>"<i>I</i> know what happened!" Ruby struck in eagerly. "It flew right up into +the air with him, and poor Grandpapa fell off."</p> + +<p>"If he had, none of you would be here at the moment," said the Fairy. +"Don't be in such a hurry, my child. He was much too good a rider to +fall off. But the horse flew up and up with him till both could no +longer be seen. The remains of the steed were found long afterwards on a +mountain top. But nothing more was ever seen of the Prince, who was +supposed to have perished in one of our lakes."</p> + +<p>"Then he must have fallen off after all," insisted Ruby.</p> + +<p>"No, no, Ruby," said her mother, with a sense that, where the credit of +her family was concerned, nothing was too improbable for belief; "the +horse flew with him to England, or <i>somewhere</i> in Europe—or else he +couldn't have met your dear grandmother, whom none of you ever saw, for +she died long before you were born. And I expect that, after he got off, +the horse flew back again, and was just able to get to Märchenland +before the machinery broke down. And dear Papa very naturally would not +care for people to know that he had got there by such peculiar means, +which accounts for my never having heard of it before."</p> + +<p>"Exactly," said the Fairy Vogelflug; "but King Smaragd only knew that +his son was lost to him, and when he discovered that the horse was +enchanted, and that his Queen had bribed the Hereditary Grand Magician +to construct it, his anger knew no bounds."</p> + +<p>"Enough to annoy anybody," said Mr. Wibberley-Stimpson. "I should +certainly——"</p> + +<p>"He ordered," the Fairy went on, without appearing to feel any interest +in what Mr. Stimpson would have done in similar circumstances, "both the +Queen and the Grand Magician to be enclosed in a barrel, the inside of +which had been set with sharp nails, and rolled down into the lake from +the top of the mountain."</p> + +<p>"I should say myself," remarked Mr. Stimpson, "that that was going a +little too far. But he certainly had great provocation."</p> + +<p>"He also commanded that all wizards and enchanters should renounce their +practices for ever, and adopt some other calling, or be banished from +the Country."</p> + +<p>"There," said Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson approvingly, "I think he was <i>so</i> +right. I would never encourage any of those clairvoyant people myself. +And did he marry a third wife at all?"</p> + +<p>"Not if he was wise!" said Clarence.</p> + +<p>"No, although it grieved him sorely that he had no heir to succeed him. +But towards the end of his days, he dreamed repeatedly that his son was +yet living. He beheld him in these visions a wanderer in some far-off +land, earning his bread as a musician, for in Music he had rare skill."</p> + +<p>"I fancy he must have given it up when he took to Finance," said Mrs. +Wibberley-Stimpson, "though he kept his taste for it. I well remember +his buying a beautiful orchestrion which used to be in the Picture +Gallery."</p> + +<p>"Well," pursued the Fairy, "in further dreams it was revealed to the +King that his son was married to one, who, though not of his own race or +rank, was both gently born and very fair to see."</p> + +<p>"Pollentine was the maiden name of your Grandmother on <i>my</i> side, my +dears," explained Mrs. Stimpson to her family. "She must have been +good-looking as a girl, judging by a daguerrotype I had of her. Her +father was a highly distinguished Auctioneer and Estate Agent in East +Croydon, as I daresay was also revealed in the King's dream."</p> + +<p>"Of that I can say nothing," replied the Court Godmother; "but I know +that further visions showed him his son as a widower with an only +daughter, and later still that he was no longer living. And so much was +the King impressed that he caused a search to be made for this +grand-daughter of his in every country that is known to us. Even when he +lay on his death-bed he did not give up hope that she would be found, +and so he left his Kingdom in charge of his trusted favourite Marshal +Federhelm as Regent, with strict injunctions to continue seeking for the +missing Queen."</p> + +<p>"And how," inquired Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, "did the Marshal manage to +find me out?"</p> + +<p>"It was not he. He soon convinced himself that all further endeavours +were useless. No, it is to the devotion of our worthy Court Chamberlain, +the Baron Treuherz von Eisenbänden, that your discovery is owing. He had +grieved so deeply to see Märchenland without a Sovereign that, after the +example of 'Faithful John,' the founder of his family, he had placed +iron hoops round his chest to keep his heart from breaking."</p> + +<p>"We heard 'em go," said Clarence; "thought it was only his braces."</p> + +<p>"At length," continued the Fairy, "the Baron went in secret to Xuriel, +the Astrologer Royal, and induced him to consult the stars. Which Xuriel +did, and by much study and intricate calculation he succeeded in +ascertaining the exact spot in the other world where the Queen would be +discovered, and even the means by which she might be recognised."</p> + +<p>"Ah," said Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, "I shall begin to believe in +Astronomy after this. But even now I don't <i>quite</i> understand how Baron +Troitz got to 'Inglegarth.'"</p> + +<p>"That was by <i>my</i> assistance. I placed my travelling car at his service, +with the wise storks that fly straight to any place to which they are +directed, even though they may never have heard of it before. Happily +for Märchenland, Xuriel's calculations have proved correct, except that +he did not foresee that the Baron would bring back two Sovereigns +instead of one."</p> + +<p>"What—is the Gov'nor going to be King?" inquired Clarence. "My hat!"</p> + +<p>"That would be ridiculous, Clarence," said his mother, "when your Father +hasn't a drop of Royal blood in his veins! He can't even rank as Prince +Consort!"</p> + +<p>"Not so, my dear, not so," corrected the Fairy, "by the custom of +Märchenland, anyone who weds the Sovereign shares the throne, and your +husband will be as truly the King of this Country as you will be its +Queen."</p> + +<p>"Oh, is <i>that</i> the rule?" said Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, not best +pleased. "Well, Sidney, I trust you will show yourself equal to your +position, that is all."</p> + +<p>"I trust so, my love," he replied uneasily. "It—it's come on me at +rather short notice. However!"</p> + +<p>"If Daddy and Mums are King and Queen," asked Ruby, "will Edna and me be +Princesses?"</p> + +<p>"Undoubtedly you will," said the Court Godmother.</p> + +<p>"Then Clarence will be a Prince. So you see, Miss Heritage, dear, you +<i>have</i> met a Prince after all!"</p> + +<p>"Shut up, Kiddie!" said the new Crown Prince in some confusion.</p> + +<p>"And what will Miss Heritage be, Mummy?"</p> + +<p>"Miss Heritage will be what she was before, my dear—your governess."</p> + +<p>"But I shan't want one any more—we're in Fairyland now—and Fairy +Princesses haven't got to do lessons. Oh, Mums, couldn't you make Miss +Heritage a Princess too? Do!"</p> + +<p>"Why not?" said the Fairy, glancing at Daphne, whose colour had risen +slightly. "Anybody might very well take her to be one as it is."</p> + +<p>"Miss Heritage," said Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, "has, I am sure, too much +good sense to expect a title of any kind. She will continue to be my +daughter's instructress, and I may possibly find a place for her as +Mistress of the Robes or something; but it's much too early to say +anything definite at—Really, Edna," she broke off suddenly, "how you +can sit there calmly reading as if nothing had happened!"</p> + +<p>"I was merely running through my lecture-notes again, Mother," said +Edna. "If I <i>am</i> a Princess," she added, for the benefit of the Court +Godmother, "that is no reason why I shouldn't go on cultivating my +mind."</p> + +<p>"Now you're a Princess, my dear," replied her mother, "it doesn't +signify to anybody whether your mind is cultivated or not."</p> + +<p>"It signifies a great deal to <i>me</i>, mother," said Edna, and resumed the +study of her notes with an air of conscious merit.</p> + +<p>"I must say <i>one</i> thing, Mrs. Fogleplug," Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson +proceeded; "it would have been more considerate if I had been given +proper notice, and a reasonable time to prepare for such a complete +change as this. I do feel <i>that</i>."</p> + +<p>She did; it was a great deprivation to her to have lost the opportunity +of mentioning casually to her Gablehurst friends—and Lady Harriet +especially—that she would shortly be leaving them to occupy a throne.</p> + +<p>"Precisely my own feeling," said Mr. Stimpson, thinking regretfully how +the news would have made that confounded fellow Thistleton sit up, and +of the sensation it might have produced in the train to the City. "It +is, to say the least of it, unfortunate that I had no time to +communicate with the other members of my firm."</p> + +<p>"And there's Clarence, too!" said his fond mother. "His Company will be +quite helpless without him!"</p> + +<p>"They may be in a bit of a hole at first," he admitted, thankful now +that he had said nothing about his resignation, or the readiness with +which it had been accepted. "Still, no fellow is indispensable. What?"</p> + +<p>The Fairy explained that haste had been unavoidable, as it might have +been injurious to the storks if they had remained longer in a climate to +which they were unaccustomed.</p> + +<p>"But why send storks to fetch us at all?" demanded Mrs. +Wibberley-Stimpson. "Why not some more modern conveyance?... There they +are again with the car—coming back for us, I expect.... Yes, I can make +out Baron Troitz and the trumpeters—and there seems to be a gentleman +in armour with them."</p> + +<p>"The Regent, Marshal Federhelm," said the Fairy. "He is coming to offer +his congratulations."</p> + +<p>"Is he?" cried Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, scrambling to her feet again in +some dismay. "A Regent! I—I wish I knew the proper way of addressing +him!"</p> + +<p>The storks by this time had brought the car to ground, and were now +standing about on one leg with folded wings and an air of detachment. +The Marshal alighted and advanced slowly towards the Stimpsons while the +heralds sounded their trumpets.</p> + +<p>He made a formidable and warrior-like figure in his golden half-armour +of a kind unknown to antiquarians, and great jack-boots of gilded +leather. He was tall, and the towering mass of waving feathers that +crowned his helmet made him look taller still. His vizor was raised, +showing a swarthy, hook-nosed face, with quick, restless eyes like a +lizard's, a fierce moustache, and a bristling beard that spread out in a +stiff black fan.</p> + +<p>"<i>You</i> had better speak to him, Sidney," whispered his wife, overcome by +sudden panic; "I really can't."</p> + +<p>"Er—" began Mr. Stimpson nervously, "I believe I have the pleasure of +addressing the Regent. We—we're the new King and Queen, you know, and +these are the other members of the family."</p> + +<p>The Marshal seemed a little taken aback at first, but he promptly +recovered himself, and bending so low that his feathers brushed Mrs. +Wibberley-Stimpson's nose, he placed in her hand a small velvet-covered +baton studded with gold stars.</p> + +<p>"Oh, thank you very much, I'm sure," she said. "It's quite charming. Has +it got an address or anything inside it?"</p> + +<p>"The symbol of my authority, your Majesty," he said, with soldierly +curtness. "I have long desired to surrender it to hands more worthy to +govern than mine."</p> + +<p>"Very handsome of you to say so," replied Mr. Stimpson; "but I daresay +you aren't altogether sorry to get out of it, eh?"</p> + +<p>"It is too lofty a position, Sire, for a rough, simple warrior like +myself," he said. "Nothing but a sense of duty to my country would have +made me accept the Regency at all."</p> + +<p>"I am sure," said Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, "we shall find you have +carried on the Kingdom for us as satisfactorily as possible."</p> + +<p>"The people appeared to think so, your Majesty. But I am forgetting the +chief purpose I am here for. I have the honour to announce that the +procession will shortly be on its way to escort your Majesties to your +Coronation, which is to take place this morning in the great church of +Eswareinmal."</p> + +<p>"<i>Coronation!</i>" Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson almost screamed. "Before we have +so much as had our breakfast! And in these things we are wearing now! I +never heard of anything so preposterous!"</p> + +<p>"I don't care much myself," said Mr. Stimpson, "about being crowned on +an empty—without having had something to eat—if it's only an egg."</p> + +<p>"If they're going to crown the Guv'nor in a dinner-jacket and white +tie," Clarence muttered to Edna, "we shall never hear the last of it, +that's all!"</p> + +<p>"There is nothing to make a fuss about, my dear," said the Court +Godmother to Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, as though she were addressing a +froward child; "look behind you, and you will see that everything you +may require is already provided."</p> + +<p>They looked and saw two velvet Marquees, one striped in broad bands of +apple-green and mazarine blue, the other in pale rose and cream, which a +party of attendants had just finished putting up. "In those pavilions," +continued the Fairy, "you will find not only food prepared for you, but +robes such as are fitting for a Coronation. You will have plenty of time +both to eat and change your dress before the procession can possibly +arrive."</p> + +<p>"She's not likely to have got our measurements right," grumbled Mrs. +Wibberley-Stimpson to her eldest daughter, as they moved towards the +rose-and-cream Pavilion. "I should have much preferred to be fitted by a +Court dressmaker. Such a mistake to rush things like this! I rather like +that Marshal, Edna; there's something very gentlemanly and +straightforward about him, though I can't see why he shouldn't wear a +proper uniform instead of that absurd armour."</p> + +<p>"Shan't be sorry to get some breakfast, my boy," Mr. Stimpson remarked, +as he and Clarence were making for the other marquee; "I feel a bit +peckish after being so long in the night air."</p> + +<p>"I should like a tub first, Guv'nor."</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid," said Mr. Stimpson, "that's expecting too much in these +parts."</p> + +<p>However, on entering, they discovered, in addition to the delicacies and +gorgeous costumes laid out for them, two great crystal baths filled with +steaming water which exhaled a subtle but delicious perfume.</p> + +<p>"Doing us proud, eh, Guv'nor?" was Clarence's comment on the general +luxuriousness; and his father admitted that "everything seemed to have +been done regardless of expense."</p> + +<p>While the male and female members of the Royal Party were enjoying the +privacy of their respective tents, the Marshal outside was expressing +his sentiments to the Court Chamberlain with much vigour and freedom.</p> + +<p>"Well, Baron," he began, "this is a great service you have done +Märchenland, and I hope you are feeling proud of yourself!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, as for that, Marshal," modestly replied the ingenuous Baron, "I +have done no more than my duty."</p> + +<p>"The devil take you and your duty," growled the Marshal. "Why, in the +name of all the fiends, couldn't you have left things as they were?"</p> + +<p>"But, Marshal," the Baron protested, "when our learned Astrologer Royal +discovered the whereabouts of our lawful Queen, you were loudest in +approval of my expedition!"</p> + +<p>"How could I oppose, after you had been gabbling and cackling about it +to the whole Court, and it had even reached the ears of the people? +Besides, I was given to understand that this daughter of Chrysopras's +was a mere girl. If she <i>had</i> been—But what have you brought us?—a +middle-aged matron with a husband and family!"</p> + +<p>"I own it was not what I had expected," said the Baron; "but since it +was so, what could I do but bring them all?"</p> + +<p>"Do? Left them where they were, of course—come back and said that that +little fool of a Xuriel had made a miscalculation, as he generally +does!"</p> + +<p>"I should have been a traitor had I thus denied my Queen. For, as you +have seen, she bears on her breast the very jewel of her father the +Prince, even as the stars foretold."</p> + +<p>"Undoubtedly she is his daughter," the Marshal admitted reluctantly. It +never occurred to him for a moment—nor would it occur to any of his +countrymen—that the pendant was anything but absolutely conclusive +proof of Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson's right to the throne. Märchenland +notions of what constitutes legal evidence have always been and remain +elementary.</p> + +<p>"But it's pretty plain," he went on, "that the young fool must have made +a most unworthy marriage to have begotten one so utterly lacking in all +queenliness and dignity."</p> + +<p>"She will soon acquire both," the Court Chamberlain affirmed stoutly, +"as she becomes more accustomed to her position."</p> + +<p>"She may," declared the Marshal, "when a frog grows feathers. And this +consort of hers! <i>Is</i> he a fit Monarch for Märchenland? Even <i>you</i>, +Baron, can hardly say that for him! I may not have been beloved as +Regent, but at least I have made my authority respected. But what do +such a couple as this know about ruling a country? They'll make a +hopeless hash of it!"</p> + +<p>"Without guidance, perhaps," the Baron admitted; "but they will have the +inestimable advantage, Marshal, of our experience and advice."</p> + +<p>"Ha!" said the Marshal. "So they will—so they will! I was forgetting +that!"</p> + +<p>"No doubt they will submit to our guidance," went on the Baron, "and +thus we shall be able to save them from any dangerous indiscretions."</p> + +<p>"Just so," agreed the Marshal, with the flicker of a smile.</p> + +<p>The Court Chamberlain, at all events, spoke in all sincerity. His +hereditary instinct alone would have been enough to ensure his loyalty +to his new Sovereigns, whatever he might think of them in private. And +they were his own "finds," which gave them an added value in his +estimation, as will easily be understood by any collector of +curiosities.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV</h2> + +<h3>CROWNED HEADS</h3> + + +<p>"'Pon my word, my love," Mr. Stimpson exclaimed, as his wife came +out of her pavilion in her Coronation Robes and chain, attended +by the Court Godmother, "I should hardly have known you! You look +majestic!—abso-lute-ly majestic!"</p> + +<p>"I wish I could say the same of <i>you</i>, Sidney," she replied; "but, as I +have told you more than once, legs like yours never ought to be seen +except in trousers.... Considering my own and my daughter's robes are +ready-made, Mrs. Fogleplug, they might be worse. As for Miss +Heritage's—well, I should have thought myself that something simpler +would have been more appropriate."</p> + +<p>Daphne was naturally much less sumptuously dressed than the Members of +the Royal family, but still, in her quaint double-peaked head-dress, +fantastically slashed bodice, and long hanging sleeves, with her bright +hair, too, waving loosely over her temples, its rich masses confined at +the back by a network of pearls, she was dainty and bewitching enough to +attract more than her due share of attention—Clarence's she attracted +at once, while he was sustained by an agreeable conviction that his +be-jewelled doublet, silken hose, white plumed velvet hat, and azure +mantle set off his figure to unusual advantage.</p> + +<p>"Tophole, Miss Heritage!" he said, strolling up with graceful languor. +"I'm not joking—you really <i>are</i>, you know! Wish <i>my</i> kit suited me +half as well! Can't help feeling a most awful ass in it, what?"</p> + +<p>"Really?" she said carelessly. "How unpleasant for you! But perhaps if +you left off thinking about it——!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I don't say it's so bad as all <i>that</i>!"</p> + +<p>"I didn't suppose it <i>was</i>, quite."</p> + +<p>Now this was not by any means the sort of deferential tribute he had +counted upon, and he was a little ruffled by her failure to respond.</p> + +<p>"Didn't you," he replied distantly, if somewhat lamely. "You'll excuse +me mentioning it, Miss Heritage, as it's only in your own interests, but +I believe it's considered the proper thing when you're addressed by—by +Royalty, don't you know, to throw in a 'Your Royal Highness' +occasionally. Of course, Court Etiquette and that may be all tosh, but I +didn't make it, and all I mean to say is—it won't do to let it slide."</p> + +<p>"Your Royal Highness will not have to rebuke me a second time," said +Daphne, sinking to the ground in a curtsey which it is to be feared was +wilfully exaggerated. "I'm afraid, sir," she added, as the two little +creases in her cheeks made themselves visible, "that wasn't as low as it +ought to have been, but your Royal Highness must make allowances for my +want of experience."</p> + +<p>"Oh, you'll soon get into it," he said, "with practice."</p> + +<p>"And I shall have plenty of that, your Royal Highness."</p> + +<p>Was she trying to pull his leg? he thought, as he moved away, and +decided that she was most unlikely to venture on such presumption. No, +it had been necessary to remind her of the deference due to him, and she +would not forget the lesson in future. Perhaps he might unbend +occasionally in private, but, on second thoughts, that would be more +dangerous than ever now.</p> + +<p>Ruby had seized Daphne and was embracing her in a burst of violent +affection. "Oh, Miss Heritage, darling," she cried, "you do look such a +duck in that dress—doesn't she, Mummy?"</p> + +<p>"I see no resemblance, my dear," said her mother coldly, "between Miss +Heritage and any description of poultry. And, as the procession will be +here in another minute, you had better take your place quietly by me.... +Really, Ruby," she added in an undertone, as the child obeyed, "you must +remember you're a Princess now. It isn't at all proper for you to be +seen pawing your governess about in public."</p> + +<p>"I <i>wasn't</i> pawing her about, Mums!" protested Ruby; "only hugging her. +And if I mayn't do that, I don't want to be a Princess at all!"</p> + +<p>By this time the procession had arrived. It was headed by a band of +knights in resplendent but rather extravagant armour, carrying lances +with streaming pennons. After them rode the Courtiers on gaily +caparisoned steeds, followed by a bevy of Maids of Honour on +cream-coloured palfreys. A company of soldiers came next, some of whom +bore heavy matchlocks of an ancient period, and the rest pikes and +halberds. However, they marched with as proud and confident a step as +though their weapons were of the very latest pattern—which very likely +they thought they were. Following them was a State Coach, a huge, +cumbrous vehicle with unglazed windows; it seemed to be of pure gold, +and was drawn by sixteen milk-white horses in blue trappings.</p> + +<p>After the procession had halted, the Court Chamberlain formally +presented the members of the Royal Household, whose mere titles sounded +impressively on the ear of their new Mistress. There were Prince Tapfer +von Schneiderleinheimer and Prince Hansmeinigel; Baron Müllerbürschen, +Baron von Bohnenranken, and Count von Daumerlingstamm; Princess +Rapunzelhauser, Princess Goldernenfingerleinigen, and Princess +Flachspinnenlosburg; Baroness Belohnte von Haulemännerschen, Baroness +Kluge Bauerngrosstochterheimer, and Countess Gänsehirten am Brunnen, and +many others scarcely less distinguished. Never before had Mrs. +Wibberley-Stimpson been in such aristocratic company, and for the moment +she entirely forgot how immeasurably she was now their social superior. +She had held her own triumphantly with Lady Harriet, but that was +different. There was only one of <i>her</i>—and that one a quite ordinary +and insignificant personality compared with these imposingly splendid +lords and ladies-in-waiting.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Stimpson intended to be graciously cordial, but somehow her manner +was dangerously near being obsequious. "Most <i>honoured</i>, I'm sure, +Prince!" she found herself repeating, as she ducked instinctively. "So +very kind of you to come, Baron!... It's more than delightful to meet +you, dear Princess—I didn't quite catch your name!... <i>Such</i> a +privilege to make your acquaintance, Countess!"</p> + +<p>She hoped they would take this as condescension on her part, and they +were undeniably surprised by their Sovereign's excessive affability.</p> + +<p>"Well," said Mr. Stimpson, as these amenities became exhausted and he +perceived that no one was taking any notice of him, "what about making a +start, hey, Mr. Marshal?"</p> + +<p>"If your Majesties and the Princess will deign to enter the coach, we +can set forth at once," was the reply.</p> + +<p>"Get in, children, get in!" cried Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson. "You and +Ruby, Edna, must sit with your backs to the horses, and there will be +plenty of room for Clarence between you."</p> + +<p>"With all respect, Sir," said the Marshal, as Clarence was preparing to +get in. "It is the custom on such an occasion as this for the Crown +Prince to ride on the right of the Coach. I have arranged that a horse +shall be at your Royal Highness's service."</p> + +<p>"Thanks awfully," said Clarence, as he glanced at a spirited chestnut +mare which two squires were endeavouring with some difficulty to soothe, +"but—er—I think I'd rather drive." He was reflecting, as he took his +seat in the coach, that he would really have to take a few riding +lessons shortly, in private.</p> + +<p>"Isn't Miss Heritage coming with us, Mummy?" called Ruby from the +window.</p> + +<p>"In the State Coach, my dear! Of course not!"</p> + +<p>"But why not, Mater?" protested Clarence. "There's lots of room."</p> + +<p>"Because I could not think of allowing it, Clarence. Perhaps Mrs. +Fogleplug will be kind enough to give her a lift in—in her own +conveyance."</p> + +<p>"Unfortunately," replied the Court Godmother, "my car will not hold more +than one person."</p> + +<p>"Well, Miss Heritage must find her way to the Palace, then! There's no +necessity for her to be present at the Coronation."</p> + +<p>"Surely, my dear," said the Fairy, "you would not deprive her of such a +privilege! I will have another saddle placed on that mare so that this +fair maid of yours may ride with your other ladies in waiting."</p> + +<p>"Of course, Mrs. Fogleplug, if you're <i>bent</i> on Miss Heritage making a +public exhibition of herself," said Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, "I have +nothing to say. I don't suppose she has ever been on a horse in her +life!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, but I have, Ma'am!" Daphne pleaded eagerly. "I've ridden ever since +I was a child. And I'd love to ride that mare, if I may!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, very <i>well</i>, Miss Heritage, ve-ry well. But remember, if you break +your neck, <i>I</i> shall not accept any responsibility," which Daphne took +as a permission. As soon as Mr. and Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson had taken +their seats, the sixteen milk-white horses began to pull and strain till +eventually the great coach was on the way.</p> + +<p>"Mummy," cried Ruby a little later, "I can see Miss Heritage! She's +riding close behind. And oh, she <i>does</i> look so sweet on horseback!"</p> + +<p>"Put your head in,—do, child!" said her mother sharply. "Whatever will +the people think if they see a Princess hanging half out of the window +like that!"</p> + +<p>Ruby sat down rather sullenly. Clarence would have liked to put his own +head out if it had been consistent with his dignity as a Prince. As it +was, he could only hope that Daphne would come to no harm. "Really!" +continued Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, "what with one's governess riding +behind one's coach, and those two ridiculous bird-cars probably flapping +overhead, this is <i>quite</i> unlike any Coronation Procession <i>I</i> ever +heard of!"</p> + +<p>"More like a bally Circus," remarked Clarence. "Only wants a couple of +clowns with bladders on horseback and a performing elephant."</p> + +<p>"<i>I</i> consider," said his mother, "that a State procession should have +more solemnity about it.... How horribly this coach jolts! It <i>can't</i> +have any springs!... There you are again, Edna, buried in that +note-book! you might show a little interest in what is going on!"</p> + +<p>"I'm sorry, mother, but it all seems to mean so little to me."</p> + +<p>"Then all I can say is—good gracious, <i>what</i> a lurch! I quite thought +we were over!—all <i>I</i> can say is that it's unnatural to be so +abstracted as you are. We're getting close to Eswar—whatever they call +it. If you look round you will see the walls and towers."</p> + +<p>Edna adapted her <i>pince-nez</i> and turned perfunctorily for a moment. +"<i>Quite</i> quaint!" she said, and resumed her reading.</p> + +<p>"Picturesque, <i>I</i> should call it," corrected her mother. "Sidney, +doesn't it put you in mind of dear lovely Lucerne?"</p> + +<p>"Very much so, my love," he replied, "or—er—Venice" (neither of which +cities, as a matter of fact, did Eswareinmal resemble in the least). +"Hullo! what are we stopping for <i>now</i>, eh?"</p> + +<p>It seemed they had arrived at the principal gates of the Capital, where +the Burgomaster and other civic dignitaries were assembled to welcome +and to do them homage, which they did with every sign of respect and +loyalty. As Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson felt unequal to the efforts of +responding, that duty devolved on her husband, who presented himself at +the window of the coach, and made what the reporters, had any been +present, would no doubt have described as "a few gracious and +appropriate remarks."</p> + +<p>"You needn't have said that about 'doing our best to give satisfaction,' +Sidney!" complained his wife after the coach had thundered over the +drawbridge, and was lumbering under the massive archway into a narrow +and crowded street, "for all the world as if we had been a butler and +housekeeper applying for a situation!"</p> + +<p>"It <i>was</i> a little unfortunate, perhaps, my dear," he admitted; "but it +is so difficult to know what to say when one has to speak impromptu."</p> + +<p>"It ought to be easy enough to know what <i>not</i> to say," she retorted. +"Dear me, what hosts of people!" she went on, as her irritation merged +into complacency. "And <i>how</i> pleased they all seem to see us! But no +doubt, after a bachelor Regent, a whole Royal family—I love to see +their happy smiling faces!"</p> + +<p>"Grinning mugs would be nearer the mark, Mater," said Clarence; "never +saw such a chuckle-headed lot of bumpkins in my life!"</p> + +<p>"I will thank you to remember, Clarence," she replied, "that they are my +loyal subjects, and will be <i>yours</i> at some time to come."</p> + +<p>"I can <i>wait</i> for 'em," he said; "and if they're so jolly loyal, why +ain't they cheering more?"</p> + +<p>Slowly the golden coach progressed through winding streets of gabled or +step-roofed houses with toppling overhanging stories, then along one +side of a great square, packed with people in costume, the women +recalling to Mrs. Stimpson's mind, quite inappropriately, the waitresses +at the Rigi Kulm hotel on a Sunday. Then, through more narrow streets, +to a smaller square, where it stopped at some steps leading to the huge +West portal of a magnificent buttressed Church.</p> + +<p>"All change here—for the Coronation!" said Clarence. "I'd better nip +out first, eh, Mater?"</p> + +<p>"Your father and I get out first, naturally, Clarence," said Mrs. +Wibberley-Stimpson, and descended majestically, Mr. Stimpson following +with somewhat less effect owing to an attack of cramp in his left leg. +Four small pages stepped forward in pairs to carry Mr. and Mrs. +Stimpson's trains, which they found a distinct convenience, and, hand in +hand, they passed through the great, elaborately niched and statued +doorway into the nave. The interior was thronged by all the notables of +Märchenland, including the venerable President of the Council and his +Councillors. Above, the light struck in shafts through the painted +windows of the clerestory, tinging the haze of incense fumes with faint +colours. On the high altar twinkled innumerable tapers. "<i>Roman!</i> as I +suspected!" whispered Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson on seeing them, and +sniffing the scented atmosphere. (She had attended St. John's at +Gablehurst, because the vicar, although Evangelical, was well-known to +be of good family.) Under a crimson canopy in the choir were two golden +chairs which they understood they were expected to sit upon, and +occupied accordingly. A mitred and coped ecclesiastic, who appeared to +be some kind of Bishop, then shepherded them benevolently through a +series of mystic rites that, besides being hopelessly unintelligible, +seemed unreasonably protracted. However, they reached the climax at +last, and amidst the tumultuous acclamations of the spectators the +previously anointed heads of King Sidney and Queen Selina, as they must +henceforth be described, received their respective crowns.</p> + +<p>"Ha, well," remarked King Sidney, when he and the rest of the Royal +family were once more in the coach, and on their way towards the palace +that was to be their future home, "we got through it most successfully +on the whole. Perhaps the Bishop was a little too lavish with the +anointing part of the ceremony. Still, taken altogether, it was—ah—a +very solemnising affair."</p> + +<p>"It would have been more so, Sidney," said the Queen, "if you hadn't +kept on dropping your sceptre and tripping over your train. I don't +wonder the Bishop got flustered. But I do wish we could have had it +properly done by the dear Archbishop of Canterbury!"</p> + +<p>"Bit out of his diocese, Märchenland, what?" said the Crown Prince.</p> + +<p>"I'm aware of that, Clarence; and, of course, we're legally crowned, +whoever did it.... Sidney, it's only just struck me, but I'm sure we +ought to be bowing. Bow, children, all of you—take the time from me. +Sidney, why aren't <i>you</i> bowing?"</p> + +<p>"I can't, my love. It's difficult enough to keep my crown on as it is!"</p> + +<p>"You can hold it on with one hand, can't you? You simply <i>must</i> bow if +you don't want to be unpopular! So must <i>you</i>, children. Keep <i>on</i> with +it!"</p> + +<p>"Give us a rest, Mater," said Prince Clarence, after they had been +nodding like Chinese mandarins for some minutes. "My neck's beginning to +wilt already!"</p> + +<p>Queen Selina herself was not sorry to stop. "It's certainly very +fatiguing at first," she admitted; "we must practise it together in +private.... Was that old Mrs. Fogleplug's dove-chariot that passed us +just now? I'm afraid I shall have to put her in her place. She's rather +inclined to forget herself—not only addressed me as 'my dear,' but +actually attempted to kiss me after the Coronation!"</p> + +<p>"So she did <i>me</i>!" said the Princess Royal, "but I hope I showed that I +thought she was taking a liberty."</p> + +<p>"She's a very worthy, well-meaning old creature, no doubt," remarked the +Queen; "still, a Fairy Godmother in these days is really <i>rather</i>—I +shall have to get her to retire—on a pension."</p> + +<p>"She'll stick on," said Prince Clarence, "you see if she don't. Means to +boss the whole show."</p> + +<p>"I shall soon let her see that I intend to be mistress in my own +Kingdom," said the Queen. "I could wish, I must say, that it was just a +little more up to date! Everything so dreadfully behind the times! I +haven't seen a shop yet with a plate-glass front, and not a single +pillar-box!"</p> + +<p>"Poor sort of place for Suffragettes, what?" observed Clarence.</p> + +<p>"Frivolity apart, Clarence," remarked the Queen, "I can see already that +there is much to be done here before the country can be called really +civilised. We must set ourselves to raise the standard by introducing +modern ideas—enlighten people's minds, and all the rest of it. And you +must do <i>your</i> share, Sidney, as I shall do mine."</p> + +<p>"Certainly," said the King; "I'm agreeable. All for progress myself. +Always have been.... I fancy that must be our Palace up there. A truly +palatial residence—replete, I've no doubt, with every convenience we +can require."</p> + +<p>The State Coach, after making a leisurely circuit of the two sides of +the principal square, was now beginning the ascent of the steep zigzag +road to the Palace, which stood on the terraced height of the plateau +that commanded the city. The party in the coach caught glimpses of its +massive but ornate towers with fantastic spires and turrets, and its +great arched and columned wings of rose-tinted marble. As it was rather +larger than Windsor Castle, King Sidney's commendation was fairly +justified.</p> + +<p>But Queen Selina's mind was occupied in computing the probable number of +rooms, and the maids that would be required to "do" them, while she +wondered aloud whether they could possibly afford to keep such a place +up.</p> + +<p>"Depend upon it, my dear," said the King, "the—ah—State will provide +an ample allowance for all our expenses. I must go into that as soon as +an opportunity occurs, and find out exactly what our income will be."</p> + +<p>Little more was said after this, as the great coach creaked and groaned +slowly up the winding road, and then rolled through the golden gates +into the courtyard of the Palace.</p> + +<p>On the steps of the chief entrance were Marshal Federhelm, Baron von +Eisenbänden, and the Court Godmother, who, with the rest of the Royal +household, had hastened on ahead to receive them. The Marshal ushered +them into the Hall of Entrance, which was immense and cool. There they +found the ladies and gentlemen-in-waiting drawn up in curtseying and +bowing ranks. The colours of their gay costumes would have been +dazzling, had they not been somewhat toned down by the subdued light +from the windows, which were paned with transparent agate set in +tracery of a flamboyant type. At the back rose a colossal staircase of +jasper. On either side were lofty doors leading to vestibules, +corridors, and reception halls.</p> + +<p>Judged by Gablehurst standards, the general effect of the interior was +hardly 'home-y' or cosy enough to be perfectly satisfactory, as Queen +Selina seemed to feel, for the only comment she made was: "<i>No</i> china +punch-bowl for visiting-cards, I see!"</p> + +<p>"I say," the Crown Prince inquired of the Marshal, "who's the small +sportsman in the extinguisher hat?" he referred to an unassuming little +man with long, lint-coloured hair and pale, prominent eyes, whose +shiftiness was only partly concealed by large horn spectacles. He wore +black and crimson robes embroidered in gold with Zodiacal signs. "Looks +like the Editor of Old Moore's Almanack."</p> + +<p>"That, Sir," replied the Marshal, "is the learned Xuriel, our Astrologer +Royal. Will your Majesties permit me to present him?" And, the Royal +assent being given, he went across to fetch the sage.</p> + +<p>"Xuriel, my friend," he said in his ear, with a slightly ironical +intonation, "the august Sovereigns who owe their discovery to your +learning and research are naturally anxious to express their +acknowledgements. So come along and be presented, and perhaps you will +produce a better impression if you can manage to look a little less like +a hare with the ear-ache."</p> + +<p>It was not, however, the prospect of being presented to Royalty that was +disturbing the Astrologer Royal, but an unpleasant suspicion that the +ex-Regent was, for some reason or other, a little annoyed with him.</p> + +<p>"Your Majesties will be interested to hear," explained the Marshal, +after making the presentation, "that Master Xuriel was at one time +noted for his skill as a magician."</p> + +<p>"My studies in Magic were never carried very far, your Majesties," +protested the Astrologer, wriggling uncomfortably. "I—I did very little +at it. And, even before it was decreed that all enchanters and sorcerers +should either leave the Kingdom or take up some other profession, I had +discovered that astrology was my true vocation."</p> + +<p>"And you were right," said the Marshal heartily, "as results have shown. +And doubtless there is no truth in the rumour that you still retain some +proficiency in the Black Art."</p> + +<p>"Absolutely none, your Majesties!" the Astrologer Royal declared. "What +small skill I ever possessed, I have already forgotten; all my magic +spells have long since been discarded."</p> + +<p>"So I should hope," said Queen Selina severely. "Mr. Wibber—I mean, his +Majesty and I are, of course, no believers in Magic, but we are +determined not to allow any superstitions practices here in future—are +we not, Sidney?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly, my dear, certainly. Most undesirable. Of course, we don't +object to ordinary conjuring—anything harmless of that sort. But take +my advice, Sir, and stick to Astrology for the future—much more +gentlemanly pursuit!"</p> + +<p>The Astrologer Royal promised to observe this recommendation, and just +then the Court Chamberlain announced that a meal had been prepared for +the Royal Family in the King's Parlour, to which he offered to conduct +them at once. And, as the lengthy business of the Coronation had given +them all excellent appetites, they readily welcomed the proposal.</p> + +<p>Princess Ruby, catching sight of Daphne in one of the groups, had begged +that she might be included, which the Queen reluctantly granted as an +exceptional indulgence.</p> + +<p>Daphne would gladly have excused herself had that been possible; she was +becoming painfully conscious of finding Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson as a +Queen irresistibly ludicrous. Once already that morning she had only +just escaped detection, and she was horribly afraid now that something +might happen which would lead her to betray herself by unseemly +laughter. She could only pray inwardly that it would not, as she +followed with Ruby to the King's Parlour.</p> + +<p>This was a lofty hall with windows opening on to the terrace; the walls +were composed of great slabs of malachite, and twisted columns of the +same supported a ceiling of elaborately carved pink jade. At one end was +a dais, where a table was spread with what King Sidney referred to +somewhat disappointedly as "a cold snack," though he did it ample +justice nevertheless.</p> + +<p>The Marshal sat on his right hand; at his back stood the Court +Chamberlain, while chubby-faced little pages served cakes of bread on +bended knee, and filled the golden goblets with Märchenland's choicest +wines, which the King considered "a trifle on the sour side." The Royal +Household looked on from a distance—to the exquisite discomfort of the +Queen.</p> + +<p>"I really can't enjoy my food, Sidney," she complained in an undertone, +"with every mouthful I take watched by all those members of the +nobility!"</p> + +<p>Suddenly she coloured with annoyance as she found she was being +addressed in a gruff, strangled voice from a quarter it was difficult at +first to locate. "Mr. Troitz," she demanded, "<i>who</i> is that +ill-mannered person who seems to be trying to talk to Me with his mouth +full?"</p> + +<p>"The voice, your Majesty," he replied in the most matter-of-fact tone, +"appears to proceed from the boar's head."</p> + +<p>"How dare you try to impose on me by such a story? It's that wretched +little astrologer man. Ventriloquism and Conjuring always go together, +and I'll be bound he's underneath the table now!... Well," she said, +after she had satisfied herself by looking, "if he's not there, he's +somewhere in the room!"</p> + +<p>The Court Chamberlain assured her that the Astrologer Royal was not only +absent, but incapable of such a liberty; it really <i>was</i> the boar's head +that had spoken, as animals in Märchenland would on rare occasions—even +after suffering decapitation.</p> + +<p>"There was Falada, Mummy," cried Ruby eagerly. "Don't you remember? The +horse that talked poetry after its head had been cut off and nailed over +the arch! Miss Heritage can tell you all about it."</p> + +<p>But Miss Heritage could not—she was far too deeply engaged in wrestling +with an inward demon of unholy mirth that threatened at any moment to +gain the mastery.</p> + +<p>The head began again. But whatever felicitations, predictions, or +warning it was striving to utter were rendered practically inarticulate +by a large lemon that had been unfeelingly inserted between its jaws.</p> + +<p>"Have the boar's head removed at once, Mr. Troitz," ordered Queen +Selina. "I cannot and will not have it interrupting the conversation +like this. It couldn't happen at all in any <i>civilised</i> country. Why, +we shall have the cold tongue beginning next, I suppose!..."</p> + +<p>It was here that poor Daphne's demon got the upper hand.</p> + +<p>"You seem slightly hysterical, Miss Heritage," remarked the Queen. +"Horse-exercise evidently has a very bad effect on your nerves, and I +must forbid you to ride in future."</p> + +<p>Thus was Daphne punished for her breach of etiquette. But Queen Selina +had no suspicion, even then, of its real extent. She was incapable of +conceiving that she could possibly seem ridiculous to one so infinitely +her inferior.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V</h2> + +<h3>DIGNITY UNDER DIFFICULTIES</h3> + + +<p>The luncheon, after the removal of the too loquacious boar's head, +proceeded, to Daphne's intense relief, without any further incident, and +at its conclusion Queen Selina suggested a move to the terrace. One side +of it faced the City far below; another the slope of the road leading +immediately to the Courtyard, while from the third side steps descended +by lower terraces to the Palace Gardens, which were apparently +boundless. Beyond them, however, was a neglected region of groves and +thickets, a sort of Wilderness, which stretched from the Garden +boundaries to the edge of a plateau below which lay a wild valley, with +a chain of wilder peaks and crags forming the horizon. But none of the +Court had ever cared to explore the Wilderness, if they were even aware +of its existence, so no more need be said of it at present.</p> + +<p>The Royal Family leaned upon the parapet of the terrace, whence they had +a bird's-eye view of the big square immediately below, and the +picturesquely irregular buildings, above whose gabled red roofs grim +watch-towers and quaint spires or cupolas rose here and there. Down in +the square swarms of tiny figures were clustering round the public +fountains, which spouted jets that, as they flashed in the afternoon +sun, were seen to be of a purple hue.</p> + +<p>"Must be wine," remarked the Crown Prince. "If it's the same tap we had +at lunch, the poor devils have my sympathy!"</p> + +<p>"I think, Sidney," said the Queen, "that we ought all to go for a drive +presently—just round the principal streets. I'm sure the—a—populace +would appreciate it."</p> + +<p>"If you think it's expected of us, my love," he said. "Otherwise—well, +I should have rather liked to see a little more of the Palace; we don't +even know where our own bedrooms are to be yet."</p> + +<p>"The Guv'nor's right there, Mater!" said Prince Clarence. "We'd better +get settled down before we do anything else."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps we had," Queen Selina allowed. "I'll get that good old Mrs. +Fogleplug to take us round the house." And after sending for the Court +Godmother, she started, accompanied by the family and several of her +ladies-in-waiting, on a tour of inspection.</p> + +<p>Possibly the suites of halls, each more magnificent than the last, the +endless galleries and corridors, the walls decorated with sumptuous but +bizarre hangings, the floors inlaid with marble and precious stones +which were probably priceless and certainly slippery—possibly all these +contributed towards the upsetting of Queen Selina's equanimity, but her +manner was deplorably lacking in dignity and repose. She treated her +ladies, for instance, with a politeness that came nearer subservience +than ever. It was: "<i>Pray</i> go first, dear Princess Rapunzelhauser! After +<i>you</i>, Baroness!... Please, Countess, I really couldn't <i>think</i> of +preceding you!" at every doorway, till Daphne, as she noted the elevated +eyebrows and covert smiles of the others, felt too much shame for her +Sovereign for any thought of amusement.</p> + +<p>However, the Queen showed more self-assertion in her treatment of the +Court Godmother, which was characterised by some <i>hauteur</i>.</p> + +<p>"And now, I suppose, Mrs. Fogleplug, we have seen <i>all</i> the Reception +Rooms. We shall probably have to entertain on rather a large scale, but +they appear to be fairly suitable. What I have <i>not</i> yet seen is a room +where I could receive ordinary callers. I have always made a practice +since I was first married of being 'at Home' on the first and third +Fridays, and though circumstances have altered, I intend to continue +it."</p> + +<p>The Fairy, though she was rather at a loss to understand either the +reason or the necessity for this, said that there was a chamber called +"The Queen's Bower" which would probably meet Her Majesty's +requirements, and led the way to it accordingly.</p> + +<p>It was about sixty feet square, with a high vaulted roof of lapis-lazuli +set with large diamond stars; the walls were decorated with huge +frescoes representing legends, many of which Princess Ruby recognised as +familiar.</p> + +<p>"This will do, Mrs. Fogleplug," pronounced the Queen. "At least it +can be <i>made</i> to do, with a little re-arrangement. As it is, there +are none of the ordinary refinements, such as art-cushions, +cake-and-bread-and-butter stand, occasional tables, and little +silver knick-knacks, which a lady's boudoir of any pretensions to +elegance should have. Just the trifles that express the owner, +and—er—constitute Home. I must have all these provided before I can +use this as a sanctum. I should certainly have expected a Palace like +this to be furnished with more regard to comfort!"</p> + +<p>"I should have expected a billiard-room or two," said Prince Clarence; +"but these Courtier chaps tell me they don't even know what billiards +are! Pretty sort of Palace this!"</p> + +<p>"I think it's a perfectly lovely Palace!" Princess Ruby declared. "It +hasn't got a single piano in it anywhere! I know, because I've asked."</p> + +<p>"I'm sorry to hear it, my dear," said her Mother, "because I +particularly wished Miss Heritage to get you on with your music; and, if +that is impossible, I shall have to consider whether I can keep her at +all."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Mummy, you won't send her away? When you know I've never been good +with anybody before, and never <i>shall</i> be, either!"</p> + +<p>Queen Selina was quite alive to the advantages of retaining Daphne's +services.</p> + +<p>"Well, Ruby," she said, "I shall allow Miss Heritage to stay on, as your +companion" (she had already seen her way to proposing a reduction of +salary), "and she can make herself generally useful to me as well."</p> + +<p>Ruby went dancing back to Daphne. "You're not to be my governess any +more, Miss Heritage, dear," she announced, "because I shan't require one +now. But I've got Mummy to let you stay on as companion. Aren't you +glad?"</p> + +<p>Daphne answered that she was—and she would certainly have been sorry to +leave Märchenland quite so soon.</p> + +<p>"And now tell me, Mr. Chamberlain—Baron Troitz, I mean," the Queen was +saying. "What time do you dine here?"</p> + +<p>"Whenever your Majesties please," was the reply.</p> + +<p>"All the same to us," said the King affably. "No wish to put you <i>out</i> +at all."</p> + +<p>"Then with your permission, Sire, the Banquet will be served an hour +hence in the Banqueting Hall."</p> + +<p>"A banquet!" cried the Queen. "I would rather we dined quietly, without +any fuss, on our first night here."</p> + +<p>"It is the night of your Majesties' Coronation," the Court Chamberlain +reminded her. "The Court would be deeply disappointed if so auspicious +an event were not celebrated in a befitting manner."</p> + +<p>"Oh," said the Queen. "Then it will be full dress, I suppose—with +crowns?"</p> + +<p>"I hope—not <i>crowns</i>," put in King Sidney, who had taken the earliest +opportunity of leaving his own in a corner. "A crown is such an +uncomfortable thing to eat in. At least mine is."</p> + +<p>The Court Chamberlain gave it as his decision that crowns should +certainly be worn—at least through the earlier courses of the meal.</p> + +<p>"All you've got to do, Guv'nor," said Clarence, "is to keep yours from +splashing into the soup. A bit of elastic round your chin would do that +all right."</p> + +<p>"And I presume," said the Queen, "we shall wear these robes we have +on?... Oh, we shall find a change of costume upstairs? Then, as there is +not too much time for dressing, I should like to see my room at once, +Mrs. Fogleplug."</p> + +<p>"Sidney," she panted a little later as, escorted by the Marshal and +Baron, and followed by the Court Godmother and the ladies and +lords-in-waiting, they were making the ascent of the grand staircase, +"one of the <i>first</i> things we must do here is to put in a lift. I really +can't be expected to climb all these stairs several times a day!"</p> + +<p>"They do take it out of one, my dear," he admitted. "And a lift would +certainly be a great improvement."</p> + +<p>At the head of the staircase was a long tapestry-hung gallery in which +were the doors opening into the suites of rooms prepared for Royalty.</p> + +<p>Queen Selina, on reaching hers, could not bring herself to allow her +ladies of the Bedchamber to assist at her toilet. "So <i>very</i> kind of +you, Princess, and you, too, my dear Baroness," she protested, "but I +couldn't <i>think</i> of troubling you—I couldn't indeed! I should feel +quite ashamed to let you! I can manage perfectly well by myself—that +is, Miss Heritage will come in after she has attended to Princess Ruby, +and do all I require, and then she can go on and help <i>you</i>, Edna."</p> + +<p>"Thank you, Mother," said Edna, "but I should prefer having some one who +is more accustomed to dressing hair."</p> + +<p>After putting Ruby into a robe of golden tissue and silken stockings and +satin shoes, which, being quite as splendid as those she had just laid +aside, afforded the child intense satisfaction, Daphne went to Queen +Selina's Tiring Chamber—a spacious apartment with hangings of strange +colours embroidered with Royal emblems. It was separated by a curtained +arch, through which a glimpse could be caught of the Royal Bedchamber, +with the colossal and gorgeously canopied State bed.</p> + +<p>She found the Queen still in an early stage of her toilette and in a +highly fractious state of mind.</p> + +<p>"I expected you to be here before this, Miss Heritage," she said. "I've +been waiting all this time for you to fasten me up the back, which I +couldn't possibly ask any of my Court ladies to do.... I'm sure <i>I</i> +don't know what goes on next!... Oh, do you think the—er—stomacher +<i>before</i> the ruff?... Very well.... It's impossible to judge the effect +in such a wretched light" (the chamber, it should be said, was +illuminated by a number of perfumed flambeaux stuck in elaborately +wrought silver sconces). "Even at 'Inglegarth' I had a pair of electric +lights over my dressing-table! And how on earth any Queen can be +expected to dress at a shabby tarnished old cheval-glass like this is +more than <i>I</i> can conceive!"</p> + +<p>Upon which a thin but silvery voice immediately responded:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"As dimly can I understand<br /></span> +<span class="i0">How <i>you</i> are Queen of Märchenland!"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>"Upon my word, Miss Heritage!" exclaimed Queen Selina, with an angry +flush on her oatmeal-hued cheeks, "I am surprised at such +impertinence—from <i>you</i>!"</p> + +<p>"It—it wasn't me, Ma'am," said Daphne, with an heroic effort to keep +her countenance.</p> + +<p>"As it was certainly not myself, and you are the only other person in +the room, Miss Heritage, your denial is impudent as well as useless!"</p> + +<p>Daphne could only point speechlessly to the mirror.</p> + +<p>"Really, Miss Heritage! This goes beyond all—what <i>next</i>!"</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Reflected here there should have been<br /></span> +<span class="i0">A younger and far fairer Queen."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>continued the voice in a doggerel as devoid of polish as the mirror +itself.</p> + +<p>"It <i>does</i> appear to come from—but whoever heard of a looking-glass +talking?" said the mystified Queen.</p> + +<p>"Little Snow-white's Stepmother had a mirror that answered her, Ma'am," +said Daphne, "and she was a queen in Märchenland, I believe. Perhaps +this is the very one!"</p> + +<p>It would, no doubt, have proceeded to make some even more unflattering +comments if Daphne had not, with much presence of mind, turned its face +to the wall. How she knew that this would silence it she could not have +said herself. But it certainly did.</p> + +<p>"I have no reason for believing that any such person as Little +Snow-white ever existed," said Queen Selina; "but whoever that glass +belonged to, I will not have it here. I would have it smashed, if it +wasn't unlucky. But it must be removed to the attics before I come up +here to undress. Really, I never knew such a country as this is! Boar's +heads trying to speak at luncheon, and mirrors making personal remarks, +and everything so strange and unnatural! But you take it all as a matter +of course, Miss Heritage; nothing seems to surprise <i>you</i>."</p> + +<p>"I think, Ma'am," said Daphne, "because I've always known that, if I +ever <i>did</i> get to Märchenland, it would be very much like this."</p> + +<p>"Considering that you had no better means of knowing what it would be +like than I had myself," replied the Queen, "I can only ascribe that to +affectation.... Surely there must be more of the Crown jewellery than I +have been given as yet?... Yes, there <i>may</i> be something in that +chest.... Good gracious me! <i>What</i> diamonds! I don't think the dear +Duchess of Gleneagles herself can have anything to approach them!... +Yes, you can put me on a <i>rivière</i>, and two of the biggest ropes of +pearls.... It won't do to go down looking dowdy. Dear me," she added, as +she took up the pendant she had bought from Daphne twenty-four hours +before, "to think of my giving so much money for this paltry thing! If I +had known then what I do now, I should never have—but, of course, I +don't mean that I should think of going back on it."</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid, Ma'am," said Daphne, "I couldn't pay it back now; I sent +the cheque last night."</p> + +<p>"I am quite content to bear the loss, Miss Heritage. And, by the way, +you may not be aware of it, but it is hardly correct or usual, in +speaking to me, to call me 'Ma'am.'"</p> + +<p>"I've always understood, Ma'am," said Daphne, "that our own Queen—in +England, I mean——"</p> + +<p>"How the Queen of England may allow herself to be addressed is entirely +her own affair," said Queen Selina handsomely; "I have nothing whatever +to do with <i>that</i>. But I am Queen of Märchenland, Miss Heritage, and I +shall be obliged by your addressing me as 'Your Majesty' on <i>all</i> +occasions."</p> + +<p>"Certainly, your Majesty," said Daphne, executing a profound curtsey +with a little smile that she was quite unable to repress. "I assure your +Majesty that your Majesty may rely on my addressing your Majesty as +'Your Majesty' for the future, your Majesty."</p> + +<p>"That is better, Miss Heritage, much better—a little overdone, but +still—And now," she added, "you had better go and see if Princess Edna +wants any assistance. You need not trouble to change your own dress, as, +of course, you will not sit down to dinner with us."</p> + +<p>"She's too priceless!" thought Daphne, when she was outside on the +gallery, and could indulge her sense of humour in safety. "Still, I +don't think I <i>could</i> stand her very long if it weren't for Ruby!"</p> + +<p>"I say, Mater," the Crown Prince called out a few minutes afterwards +outside his Mother's door, "how much longer are you and the Guv'nor +going to be? All night?"</p> + +<p>"You can come in, Clarence," she said. "How soon your Father will be +ready, I can't say. I finished <i>my</i> dressing hours ago."</p> + +<p>King Sidney, following her example, had declined the good offices of his +gentlemen, and there were sounds from his dressing-room on the farther +side of the Bedchamber which indicated that he was in some difficulties +in consequence.</p> + +<p>"My aunt!" exclaimed Clarence as he saw his Mother fully arrayed. +"You've got 'em all on <i>this</i> time, Mater, and no mistake! So've you, +Guv'nor," he added, as King Sidney joined them with rather a sheepish +air. "Only—are you sure you've got yours on <i>right</i>? I mean to +say—that ruff looks a bit cock-eyed."</p> + +<p>"It's given me more trouble than any white tie, my boy—but it must do +as it is."</p> + +<p>"Ah, I got that bristly-haired chap—what's his name—Hansmeinigel—to +put on mine for me. Didn't any of yours give you a hand?"</p> + +<p>"They offered to—most kindly," said King Sidney, "but—well, I didn't +altogether relish letting them dress me."</p> + +<p>"They'd have made a jolly sight neater job of it than you have—keep +still a jiff till I've tucked this tape in. There—that's more like it. +And I say, you and the Mater had better hurry—you're keeping the whole +Court waiting for you!"</p> + +<p>"Why didn't you tell us before?" said the Queen in a violent flurry. +"Where—where <i>are</i> the Court?"</p> + +<p>"All drawn up in the Hall at the foot of the big staircase. They can't +make a move till you come down, and lead the way in to dinner, you +know!"</p> + +<p>"I—I'd rather not descend all those steps in public," objected the +King. "Confoundedly slippery. Er—couldn't we go by the backstairs, my +love?"</p> + +<p>"And find ourselves in our own kitchen!" said the Queen. "Certainly not, +Sidney! The grand staircase is the only dignified way down, and you had +better give me your arm at once."</p> + +<p>"Very well, my dear, very well. But I'm pretty sure I shall slip."</p> + +<p>"You must <i>not</i> slip, Sidney! Neither of us must slip. If we did, it +would produce a very bad impression. Still, it will be safer if we go +down one by one, and hold on to the banisters."</p> + +<p>"No, I say," cried the Crown Prince, "you can't do that—might as well +crawl down on all fours! Buck up, both of you. Try and throw a little +swank into it!"</p> + +<p>Their Majesties accomplished the descent amidst the congratulatory blare +of the silver trumpets without actual mishap. But there was nothing in +the bearing of either Sovereign that could justly be described by the +term "swank," and indeed, if any fault could be found, it would have +been in quite the opposite direction.</p> + +<p>Of the banquet itself little need be said here. The numerous courses +were appetising and admirably served, while, to the Queen's relief, none +of the dishes showed any desire to take part in the conversation.</p> + +<p>The members of the Court did more than look on this time, being +entertained, with other guests, amongst whom were the President and +Council, at cross tables below the principal one on the dais.</p> + +<p>Clarence, seated with his family, the Ex-Regent, and the Court Godmother +at the high table, wished more than once that he could have sat by +Daphne, whom he could see at no great distance. He noted her perfect +ease, and the pretty graciousness with which she received the attentions +which her neighbours seemed only too anxious to press upon her.</p> + +<p>"Anyone would think she'd lived with swells all her life," he thought. +"She may have, for anything I know!" But, of course, even if she had, +the fact did not make her his equal now.</p> + +<p>Towards the close of the feast King Sidney, who had long since disposed +of his crown underneath his chair, considered that the occasion demanded +a speech. His effort might have been a greater success if he had +abstained from jocularity, which was not by any means his <i>forte</i>. It is +possible that a far happier sample of British humour would have failed +to set Märchenland tables in a roar, but his hearers were either unaware +that he intended to be humorous, or sensible that his purpose had not +been achieved, for they listened in puzzled but depressed silence, while +the effect of his facetiousness on Daphne was to render her hot and cold +by turns.</p> + +<p>The banquet over, the Court Chamberlain deferentially informed the Royal +Party that they were expected to lead the procession to the Ball Room.</p> + +<p>Clarence, who had unfortunately come away from "Inglegarth" without his +cigarette-case, was longing to smoke, and hung behind for that purpose. +But on applying to the Marshal, he was told that only common soldiers +ever smoked in Märchenland. With some trouble a highly flavoured pipe, a +tinder-box, and a pouch containing a dried herb that appeared to be the +local substitute for tobacco were procured for him. However, a very +short experience convinced him that duty required him to put in an +appearance at the State Ball.</p> + +<p>The Ball Room was a long, lofty hall, lit by thousands of candles set in +great golden hoops; the light they gave being multiplied almost to +infinity by the fact that the walls and ceiling were lined with +elaborately engraved looking-glass, which, fortunately perhaps for the +Queen, was dumb. When he entered, the musicians were already fiddling, +piping, and fluting in a gallery high up at one end facing a raised +platform, where his father and mother, looking extremely hot and +uncomfortable, were seated on gorgeous chairs. A stately measure was +being performed, which might have been a <i>gavotte</i> or minuet or <i>pavane</i> +for anything he could say; all he knew was that the figures were quite +unfamiliar to him.</p> + +<p>But Daphne seemed to have learnt them—or had they come to her by +instinct?—for she was dancing in one of the sets. He watched her +lissome form as she moved through the intricate evolutions till he began +to envy the Count von Daumerlingstamm, her elegant but undersized +partner. However, he flattered himself that he would have no difficulty +in cutting out little Daumerlingstamm.</p> + +<p>It seemed to him that that dance would never be over, but the moment it +was, he made his way to Daphne with an air that showed he was fully +aware of the distinction he was conferring. "Enjoying yourself, Miss +Heritage?" he said. "Don't know what that last dance was—but not much +'vim' about it, if you ask <i>me</i>. Tell you what—I'll get those fiddler +fellows up there to play something a bit livelier, and you and I'll +show this crowd a two-step, what?"</p> + +<p>"This is a great honour, your Royal Highness," said Daphne, after +sinking demurely in the regulation curtsey. "But I must not accept it +until I have her Majesty's permission." ("Which I'm quite sure she won't +give!" she thought to herself with much satisfaction.)</p> + +<p>"Oh, I say—what rot! The Mater won't mind! And if she does——!"</p> + +<p>"It would be very disagreeable for me, your Royal Highness!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, well," he said, "I'll go and ask her."</p> + +<p>As Daphne had anticipated, Queen Selina's refusal was most emphatic. +"You ought to know, Clarence, that it's utterly out of the question!" +she said. "And I'm surprised at Miss Heritage having the presumption to +expect it."</p> + +<p>"She didn't, Mater. She said I'd better ask you first."</p> + +<p>"Then it seems she has a better sense of her position than you have of +yours, Clarence. I'm told you have been seen walking about with a +disgusting pipe in your mouth, and that several people were remarking on +it. Now you are actually proposing to make yourself conspicuous by +dancing at a State Ball with your sister's companion! I have always +credited you with being a man of the world—but if <i>this</i> is the way you +are going on——!"</p> + +<p>He felt the sting of so unwonted a rebuke. "I daresay you're right, +Mater," he acknowledged. "I'll be more careful after this."</p> + +<p>"I hope you will, I'm sure. As Crown Prince you mustn't <i>think</i> of any +partner under the rank of Baroness. Ask one of the Princesses first, or +you'll give <i>more</i> offence."</p> + +<p>"Right-oh!" was all he said, and, feeling that it would be awkward to +make any explanation or excuses to Daphne, he solved the difficulty by +avoiding her for the rest of the evening.</p> + +<p>Princess Goldernenfingerleinigen, a prepossessing but not very +forthcoming damsel, enjoyed the distinction of being commanded by the +Crown Prince as his first partner.</p> + +<p>He had had no experience in conversing with Princesses, and she did not +exert herself either to put him more at his ease or prevent him from +losing himself frequently in the mazes of the dance. Once or twice he +was oppressed by a painful suspicion that he had seen her making a +little grimace of self-pity at the Countess Gänsehirtin. But elaborately +engraved mirrors are not very trustworthy, and he might have been +mistaken. Still, he was thankful when the dance, in which he was +conscious of having done himself so little credit, came to an end.</p> + +<p>"Edna, old girl," he remarked subsequently to the Princess Royal, "I +call this a rotten ball. Can't stick dancing with any more of these +Princesses!"</p> + +<p>Princess Edna, it appeared, had been no more favourably impressed by the +Courtiers.</p> + +<p>"They've simply <i>no</i> conversation," she complained, "and no ideas about +any serious subjects!"</p> + +<p>"No, <i>I</i>'ve noticed that," he said; "and they think they're the only +people who can dance! I tell you what—you and I'll show 'em how we do +the Tango. That'll make 'em open their eyes!"</p> + +<p>It did. As has already been said, both he and Edna, as persons who could +not afford to be out of the movement, had taken lessons that winter in +the recent importation from dubious Argentine dancing-saloons. They +danced it now with conscientious care, Prince Clarence exhibiting as +much <i>abandon</i> as a man could who was dancing with his sister.</p> + +<p>But the Court were not sufficiently enlightened to appreciate the +performance. They evidently considered it not only uncouth and +undignified, but more than a little improper, and their general attitude +conveyed that the couple were committing one of those temporary +indiscretions which it was not only etiquette but charity to pass over +in silence.</p> + +<p>"Capital!" said King Sidney, clapping his hands at the conclusion. +"Uncommonly well they dance together, eh, my dear—never seen them do it +before."</p> + +<p>"And you will never see them do it again, Sidney," replied the Queen; +"for I'm much mistaken if they haven't broken up the Ball!"</p> + +<p>She was not very far wrong, for although, after some minutes of +awestruck silence, dancing was resumed, it was carried on with a +restraint and gloom that soon decided the Royal Family to retire from +the Ball Room.</p> + +<p>The Queen forbore from expressing her sentiments just then either to her +son or daughter, with the latter of whom, indeed, she seldom, if ever, +ventured to find fault. But she felt that her first evening in the +Palace had not been a brilliant success.</p> + +<p>This feeling impelled her to be more ingratiating than ever to her +ladies of the Bedchamber, whose services in disrobing her she was +compelled to accept, though under protest.</p> + +<p>"So <i>much</i> obliged!" she said, as they finally withdrew with glacial +ceremony. "Quite ashamed to have troubled you, really! Good-night, dear +Princess, <i>good</i>-night. We shall breakfast at 8.30. But <i>en famille</i>, +you know—quite <i>en famille</i>—so don't <i>dream</i> of coming down!"</p> + +<p>"I hope, Sidney," she began later, as he joined her in the Royal +Bedchamber, "I hope you have treated the gentlemen who undressed you +with proper consideration. It is <i>so</i> important.... Good gracious! +What's that you've got on? A night-cap?"</p> + +<p>"Those—er—noblemen seemed to consider it the correct thing, my love, +and they've put me on this night-gown, too."</p> + +<p>"I see they have. Embroidered all over with impossible animals. You look +a perfect <i>sight</i> in it!"</p> + +<p>"I'm told they're—er—hippogriffs, my dear, the—ah—Royal Crest or +emblem or something. I should have much preferred pyjamas myself. But it +seems they are not procurable here."</p> + +<p>"Everything in this country is in a disgracefully backward state!" +declared the Queen; "and I can see I shall have hard work to bring it up +to my ideas of what is proper. I shall <i>begin</i> by putting that old Mrs. +Fogleplug in her proper place."</p> + +<p>"I should be careful, my dear," advised King Sidney. "After all, you +know, she's by way of being a Fairy."</p> + +<p>"So she <i>says</i>! But, Fairy or no Fairy, she's much too familiar. And if +she cannot conform to my rules, she will have to go, that's all."</p> + +<p>"Well, my dear, I daresay when you put it to her like that," began the +King, who had by this time succeeded in clambering into the immense bed, +and whose head was already buried in an enormous pillow. "As I was +saying," he continued hazily, "put it to her in—in that way, +and—and—no doubt ... very probably ... no reason to suppose ... +any...." But here his voice sank into an unintelligible murmur, until it +rose presently into his first, but not by any means last, snore in the +character of monarch.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI</h2> + +<h3>CARES OF STATE</h3> + + +<p>Queen Selina was as good as her word. The first thing after breakfast +the next morning she retired to her Bower, and sent a summons to the +Court Godmother, desiring her immediate attendance. King Sidney was +engaged in interviewing the Lord Treasurer on the subject of the Royal +revenue. The Crown Prince and Princess Edna were strolling on the +terrace, and Daphne had discovered the board and pieces of a game +something between Chess and Halma, the rules of which she and Princess +Ruby were learning under the instruction of the Countess von +Haulemännerschen. So that the Queen, having taken care not to disturb +any of her ladies-in-waiting, could count upon being able to deal +faithfully with the obnoxious old Fairy without fear of interruption.</p> + +<p>"Well, my dear," began the latter, as soon as she appeared, "I hope you +passed a comfortable night?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know when I passed a <i>more</i> uncomfortable one, Mrs. Fogleplug. +That is <i>one</i> of the things I wished to speak to you about. After being +accustomed as I have to a spring mattress, all those great feather beds +made it simply impossible to get a wink of sleep!"</p> + +<p>"That," said the Fairy, "is one of the penalties of being of the blood +Royal. An ancestress of yours slept in that very bed, my dear, ages ago, +before even <i>I</i> can remember—or I should rather say she <i>tried</i> to +sleep, but could not, owing to a pea that had somehow got under the +lowest feather-bed of all. It was certainly very careless if the pea has +never been removed."</p> + +<p>"It would also show, Mrs. Fogleplug, that during all those ages the bed +can never have been properly aired. I should have thought it would have +been <i>your</i> business to see to that."</p> + +<p>"Then you would be entirely mistaken, my dear, for it is not. And, as I +notice that you find a difficulty in pronouncing my name correctly, I +may suggest that it would be simpler in future to call me by my proper +title, which is, 'High Court Godmother,' or 'Court Godmother,' if you +prefer it."</p> + +<p>"And while we are on the subject of titles," said Queen Selina, "<i>I</i> may +mention that it is customary to address a Queen as 'Your Majesty,' and +not as 'my dear.'"</p> + +<p>"It has always been my habit with Sovereigns, and I have never heard it +objected to till now."</p> + +<p>"Well, <i>I</i> object to it. But—and this is what I sent for you +about—there are other matters I object to even more. I intend to +regulate my household on a thoroughly modern and English system, and I +cannot have any member of it careering about in the air in outlandish +cars drawn by birds. If you <i>must</i> have a conveyance you must be content +with a brougham or a victoria, for I shall insist on your putting down +both those bird-cars."</p> + +<p>"You seem to forget that, but for one of them, you would never have come +into your Kingdom!"</p> + +<p>"That may or may not be. At any rate there is no further necessity for +them, and—well, it just comes to this, Madam, either they go or you +do."</p> + +<p>The old Fairy's eyes smouldered with anger, and her nut-cracker mouth +and chin champed for a few seconds before she replied.</p> + +<p>"I have occupied rooms in this Palace—when not at the Palace of +Clairdelune—for over a century and a half, and I have no intention of +giving them up. I shall also continue to use the vehicles which I find +most convenient."</p> + +<p>"Oh?" said the Queen, "will you? We shall <i>see</i> about that!"</p> + +<p>"We shall," the Court Godmother retorted. "I don't think you quite +realise yet whom you have to deal with. I may be getting on in years, +but both here and at Clairdelune I am accustomed to being treated with +more deference and respect than you seem disposed to pay me. You see, +they know that, although I have not used the full powers I possess as a +Fairy for many years past, I have not lost them altogether. I might see +fit to employ them once more—on any person who was rash enough to incur +my displeasure. And ingratitude and pride are the failings which I +always made it my particular business to correct. You would find it more +to your advantage to be on good terms with me." There was no mistaking +the veiled threat, and Queen Selina no longer doubted the Fairy's +abilities to carry it out. She was worsted, and her only course was to +give in gracefully.</p> + +<p>"My <i>dear</i> Court Godmother!" she cried, "you <i>quite</i> misunderstood me! +I'd no wish to interfere with any of your habits—not in the very +slightest degree. All I <i>meant</i> was that, perhaps, at your age, a more +ordinary carriage than your present ones might be—er—<i>safer</i>, you +know!"</p> + +<p>"I am quite capable of looking after my own safety, thank you. But, +though you are our beloved Prince's daughter, you have been brought up +in ignorance of the ways of this country, so I am the more willing to +overlook treatment to which I feel sure I shall not have to draw your +attention again. And now, as we quite understand one another, my dear, +we will say no more about it. By the way, I hear you haven't sent for +any of your ladies-in-waiting this morning. How is that?"</p> + +<p>"I—I didn't quite like to, Court Godmother. We're—well, hardly +intimate as yet. They are so reserved and distant—especially that +Princess Rapunzelhauser. But, of course, she comes of a very high +family."</p> + +<p>"She is descended from the famous Rapunzel, whose story is no doubt +familiar to you.... No? Well, her father was a poor cottager who was +caught by an old witch stealing radishes from her garden. She let him +off on condition that he gave up to her the child his wife was +expecting. Rapunzel was the child, and in due time was claimed by the +witch, who shut her up in a lofty tower. However, she had the most +wonderful hair, so long that when she let it down from the top window it +touched the ground, and so thick that the Prince whom she subsequently +married was able to climb up by it, and make love to her."</p> + +<p>"Now you mention it, I have some faint recollection—and so Princess +Rapunzelhauser is descended from <i>her</i>! Well, that would account +for—but Princess Goldenenfinger—something, now, she <i>does</i> look as if +she had <i>some</i> good blood in <i>her</i> veins."</p> + +<p>"The best in Märchenland. An ancestor of hers was King of one of the +smaller Kingdoms into which the country was divided in those days. One +day when out hunting he found a woodcutter's daughter living all alone +in a hollow tree, and fell violently in love with her."</p> + +<p>"A <i>woodcutter's</i> daughter? Dear me! Then, of course, marriage was out +of the question."</p> + +<p>"Not at all! they were married and had children. Unfortunately there was +an estrangement between the King and Queen later as she was accused of +having murdered them, and condemned to be burnt to death."</p> + +<p>"It only shows what a mistake it is to marry beneath one."</p> + +<p>"<i>This</i> marriage ended happily. It was discovered, just in time, that +the children were alive after all."</p> + +<p>"Still," said the Queen, "it is <i>not</i> a pleasant thing to have happened +in <i>any</i> family. I should like to hear something about the pedigrees of +my other ladies-in-waiting."</p> + +<p>The Court Godmother was quite ready to give her all the information she +could. Princess Flachspinnenlosburg, it appeared, traced her descent +from the incorrigibly lazy daughter of a poor and not over scrupulous +mother; Baroness Belohnte von Haulemännerschen from similarly humble +folk, whose daughter was servant of all work to seven dwarfs, and +afterwards married the King of one of the petty states before mentioned; +Baroness von Bauerngrosstochterheimer's ancestor was a peasant; Countess +Gänsehirten am Brunnen's ancestress a goose-girl—and so on through the +entire list. Queen Selina then became curious as to the origin of the +gentlemen of her Court, and found that many of their forbears were +sullied by the taint of Trade. The founders of both Prince Tapfer von +Schneiderleinberg's and Count Daumerlingenstamm's houses were tailors; +Baron von Bohnenranken derived his title from a speculator who, after a +remarkably unsuccessful venture in cattle, had made a colossal coup in +beans. As for Prince Hansmeinigel, his pretensions to high descent were +even more questionable—at least, if it was actually the fact, as the +Fairy stated, that the first of his progenitors was not only the son of +a poor father, but also suffered the additional social disadvantage of +being a hedgehog from the waist upwards; added to which he seemed to +have cherished an eccentric passion for playing the bagpipes while +riding on a cock. It is true that, after his marriage with a Princess, +he became a less impossible member of Society—still, as the Queen very +rightly felt, there are some things which can never be altogether lived +down.</p> + +<p>"I'm much obliged to you for telling me all this, Court Godmother," she +said, at the end; "<i>most</i> interesting, I'm sure. And so useful to know +who everybody really <i>is</i>!"</p> + +<p>It was something of a disillusion to find that her Court was so largely +composed of <i>parvenus</i>, but, on the other hand, it enabled her to face +her ladies-in-waiting in future without any distressing sense of +inferiority.</p> + +<p>She was on the point of summoning them when the King suddenly burst into +her bower. "Selina, my love," he began, with suppressed excitement, "if +you'll tell this good woman to go, I've something to say to you."</p> + +<p>"Oblige me, Sidney," replied the Queen, "by not alluding to the High +Court Godmother again as a good woman; we may consider ourselves very +fortunate that she is doing us the honour of residing under our roof, +and you will be good enough to show her proper respect."</p> + +<p>"Oh, sorry, I'm sure; I thought you said—but if <i>that's</i> how it is, I +apologise for interrupting you."</p> + +<p>"I have said all I have to say," said the Court Godmother, "so there is +no need for me to remain any longer." And with that she hobbled out of +the room.</p> + +<p>"I suppose you got your way about those—ah—bird-chariots, my dear?" he +asked, "as you don't seem to have sacked her!"</p> + +<p>"She seemed so upset at the idea of giving them up that I said she might +keep them. I shall certainly not 'sack' her, as you call it. Now I've +come to know her better, I find she is a good, faithful old soul who is +much too useful to part with, and you must be very careful to be civil +to her in future. What was it you wanted to say to me?"</p> + +<p>"The Lord Treasurer and I have been going into our private resources," +he said. "I thought perhaps you might like to come with me to my +Counting-house and—and have a look at 'em, my dear."</p> + +<p>She was only too eager to do so. "Tell me, Sidney," she gasped, as they +hurried through various corridors to the wing in which the King's +Counting-house was situated. "Shall we—shall we have enough to live on +decently?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know what <i>you</i> will think," he replied, with an irrepressible +chuckle, "but I should call it affluence myself—positive affluence, my +love!"</p> + +<p>They arrived at a heavily clamped door, where the Marshal, the +Treasurer, and Prince Clarence and Princess Edna were waiting for them. +"Two steps down," said King Sidney after unlocking the door.</p> + +<p>"And here we <i>are</i>!" he cried triumphantly, as they entered.</p> + +<p>The Counting-house was a huge barrel-roofed chamber lighted from windows +protected by elaborate scroll-work bars. Upon shelves all round the +walls, and piled in heaps on the floor, were sacks, "Every blessed one," +explained the King, "chock full of gold ducats! What do you think of +<i>that</i>, eh, my love?"</p> + +<p>"I think, Sidney," she replied, "that <i>I</i> am the person who should have +the key."</p> + +<p>"There's one for each of us," he said. "Here's yours. And on that table +there you'll find purses laid out, and a little gold shovel to fill them +with. I've filled mine. Whenever our funds are running low, you see, +we've only to come down here and help ourselves."</p> + +<p>"Good biz!" said the Crown Prince, beginning to fill one of the purses. +"I shall fill my pockets as well—save another journey, what?"</p> + +<p>"Some of us do not possess pockets, Clarence," said his mother. "And I +must make it a rule that no one is to take out more than a purseful at a +time, and only after satisfying me that the money is required for some +legitimate purpose."</p> + +<p>"I don't think such precautions are at all necessary, my dear," said +King Sidney. "Marshal Federhelm seems to have put by a good deal while +he was Regent. And besides, there's plenty more where <i>this</i> comes from, +you know!"</p> + +<p>"And where <i>does</i> it come from?" inquired the Queen.</p> + +<p>"Why, the Treasurer tells me, we've a mine of our own in +the Golden Mountains a few miles from here—a mine that is +practically—ah—inexhaustible. I rather thought of driving over +to see it some day."</p> + +<p>"Let's all go!" said the Crown Prince. "Why not this afternoon? It'll be +something to do!"</p> + +<p>Queen Selina was pleased to approve the suggestion. "We certainly ought +to show that we are interested in industrial concerns," she said. "All +the <i>best</i> Sovereigns do. I can't help wishing, though, that poor dear +Papa could have come with us. He knew so much about gold mines."</p> + +<p>"Just as well for us he can't," said Clarence, "because <i>he'd</i> be the +Boss, then! I say, I've got an idea. Why not take one of those sacks in +the coach with us and chuck money out of the window to the crowd, what?"</p> + +<p>"Look too much as if we were out for a beanfeast, my boy," objected his +father.</p> + +<p>"And what's the matter with a beanfeast? Believe me, it will make us +jolly popular and be a lot better fun than just bowing to the +blighters."</p> + +<p>"And far less fatiguing," said Edna.</p> + +<p>"There's something in what Clarence says," said the Queen. "It <i>would</i> +increase our popularity—and that is so important. Of course we +shouldn't make a <i>practice</i> of it, but we can quite afford it, just for +once—what do you think, Mr. Marshal?"</p> + +<p>The Marshal thought it was an excellent notion.</p> + +<p>The Golden Mountains were not much more than a couple of leagues from +Eswareinmal, and the roads being tolerably good, a lighter vehicle than +the State Coach and six sturdy horses accomplished the journey in very +good time. In the streets they passed through and at various villages +along the valley, crowds had collected, and the enthusiasm with which +they scrambled for the coins that were showered from the carriage +windows proved how fully they appreciated the benefits of an established +Monarchy.</p> + +<p>"Don't throw any more now, children," counselled Queen Selina as they +neared the mine. "We must keep some for the dear miners. Sidney, be sure +to ask some questions about the machinery, and whether they're all happy +and comfortable. And do it tactfully, because I've always heard miners +are such a very independent and intelligent class."</p> + +<p>Perhaps even so short a residence in Märchenland as theirs might have +prepared the Royal party for the unusual. But it was an undeniable shock +to them all to find, on arrival at the mine, not only that the method of +working was primitive to the last degree, but that it was entirely +conducted by diminutive beings who were unmistakable Yellow Gnomes. The +interior of the mine resounded with the blows of pickaxes, but the +inevitable trumpeters had no sooner announced that the Sovereigns had +left their coach than all work was suspended. The miners swarmed up from +their tunnellings, literally tumbling over one another in their haste to +behold the countenances of Royalty.</p> + +<p>"They seem—ah—a remarkable lively lot," observed King Sidney as some +of the Gnomes turned somersaults and Catherine wheels around their +visitors, while the more retiring stood unassumingly in the background +on their heads. "A bit undersized, and, judging from their complexions, +I should say the work had affected their livers. But it <i>may</i> only be +due to the gold-dust."</p> + +<p>"They don't seem to realise a bit who we <i>are</i>!" complained Queen +Selina. "Sidney, <i>did</i> you see that? One of the little wretches has +just taken a flying leap over my very head!"</p> + +<p>The Baron, who had followed in another coach, explained that these +demonstrations were merely intended to express loyal delight.</p> + +<p>"Oh, if you <i>say</i> so, Baron," she said. "But anyone might easily mistake +it for impertinence. If it was not hopeless to expect an intelligent +answer from people who seem unable to stay right side up for a single +moment, I should like to know what wages they receive and what they live +on."</p> + +<p>The Court Chamberlain informed her that the Gnomes got no wages and +required little in the way of food, their favourite diet, he believed, +being earth.</p> + +<p>"Revolting!" was her comment. "No wonder they look so unwell! Still, +their living cannot cost much, so I should think, Sidney, if we gave +the—er—foreman a gold piece to be divided amongst them, that would be +amply sufficient."</p> + +<p>King Sidney thereupon presented a ducat to the most important-looking +Gnome, who immediately let it drop indifferently.</p> + +<p>"Wonder why he did that?" said the King. "Doesn't he think it's enough?"</p> + +<p>"Knows too much about how it's made, I expect," said Clarence. "Like the +chap at the Marmalade factory."</p> + +<p>"Well, it's a pity to waste it," said his father, picking up the coin. +"I should like to see them at work before we go."</p> + +<p>His wish having been conveyed to the Head Gnome, the whole band rushed, +yelping and screeching, back into the galleries, seized their picks, and +began hacking at the gold which gleamed in veins of incredible richness +through the rocky walls and roof of the caves. But perhaps their efforts +would have been more effective if they had not been quite so apt to get +in one another's way.</p> + +<p>The visitors then inspected the furnace where the ore was melted, and +the Mint where it was stamped into big fat coins. These were put up in +sacks for transmission to the Royal Treasury, but, as a fresh batch had +been delivered only recently, the supply in hand at the Mint was not +very large just then.</p> + +<p>"I <i>did</i> like those Gnomes!" said Princess Ruby on the way home. "Didn't +<i>you</i>, Mummy?"</p> + +<p>"I should have liked them better, my dear, if they had been more like +fellow-Christians. Sidney, I shall <i>insist</i> on their wearing some +civilised costume."</p> + +<p>"By all means, my love, if we continue to employ them. But I rather +think it would be better to get rid of them altogether."</p> + +<p>"Get <i>rid</i> of them, Sidney? What in the world <i>for</i>?"</p> + +<p>"Well, you see, my dear, at the last General Election I took a somewhat +prominent part in denouncing the Conservatives for employing Chinese +labour in the South African mines. It would be very awkward if people at +Gablehurst found out that our entire income was derived +from—er—'Yellow Slavery.'"</p> + +<p>"Stuff and nonsense, Sidney! Who do you suppose is likely to <i>tell</i> +them?"</p> + +<p>"You never know how things get about," he said uneasily. "And, as a +consistent Radical, it—it goes against my conscience."</p> + +<p>"Conscience, indeed! My dear good Sidney, if you go and get rid of those +Gnomes, who seem perfectly happy and contented, there'll be no one to +dig the gold!"</p> + +<p>"We could hire full-grown white labourers, my dear. Of course at a +living wage, but, as they would work more systematically, they would +obtain a far larger output, so we should make a handsome profit by the +change."</p> + +<p>"Ah, when you put it like <i>that</i>, Sidney, it makes all the difference. I +could see for myself that those hideous little horrors weren't taking +their work seriously."</p> + +<p>"There's to be a State Council to-morrow morning," said the King. "It +would be a good opportunity to inform them that we do not intend to +countenance slavery any longer."</p> + +<p>"That ought to have an excellent effect," Queen Selina replied. "I +shouldn't wonder if it made us more popular than ever.... Why, we're +back in the city already!... How delighted the dear people seem to see +us!... Yes, Children, you can empty the sack. The love of one's subjects +is well worth the money—and it's not as if we were ever likely to miss +it!"</p> + +<p>The next morning after breakfast the King and Queen held their first +State Council, Prince Clarence, of whose business capacity both his +parents had a great opinion, being given a seat at the board. There +were, it appeared, various measures on the <i>agenda</i> which, as the +President explained, were of the highest political importance, being +concerned with the settlement of such matters as the precise number of +cherries that were to be strung on a stick and sold for a groschen at +old women's fruit-stalls; the dimensions of the piece of jam that a +huckster should be permitted to put in his porridge; whether the +watchmen's horns really needed new mouthpieces, and, if so, whether +these should be of ivory or bone. Questions which had to be given the +fullest consideration and debated at prodigious length before the +Sovereigns could be asked to affix their signatures and seals to the +decrees.</p> + +<p>Clarence fidgeted with undisguised impatience, and King Sidney was more +than once under the necessity of raising the golden hand at the end of +his sceptre to his lips in order to conceal an irrepressible yawn. But +at last the state business was disposed of, and the King was able to +introduce his own. It was clear from the vehement wagging of the +Councillors' white beards while he was announcing the Royal intention to +emancipate all Gnomes at present in the Gold mine, that they regarded +the new departure with no great favour. The President himself, although +he admitted that it concerned the Sovereigns more closely than any other +person, pointed out certain objections which he begged their Majesties +to ponder. And Councillor after Councillor rose and protested against +the scheme with the utmost solemnity and prolixity.</p> + +<p>Queen Selina, who was now far more eager than the King to have the mine +reorganised on a more paying principle, would have answered the critics +herself, if Clarence had not induced her to leave the reply in his +hands.</p> + +<p>"Well," he said, rising, "have you all done? No other gentleman wish to +hear himself talk?... All right then. Now I'll have <i>my</i> little say. Of +course, what the venerable old Father Christmas in the chair told you +was perfectly correct. If we choose to set these little beggars free, +it's no business of anybody but ourselves. The Guv'nor—that is to say, +his Majesty—was merely <i>telling</i> you about it—not asking what you +thought about it. Sorry if you don't approve, but we shall get over it +in time. And really, your objections, if you won't mind my saying so, +are absolutely footling. All they amount to is—because Gold Mines here +always <i>have</i> been worked by gangs of Yellow Gnomes, therefore they must +be for all time. Now that's just the kind of fine old crusted pig-headed +Conservativism that's kept this the stick-in-the-mud Country it is! Look +at the sort of business you've been wasting our time in jawing about +to-day—why, in the country We came from, a Rural District Council would +have settled it all in five minutes if they thought it worth bothering +about at all. Street lanterns and watchmen's horns and old women's +sweet-stalls indeed! If you could only walk through—I won't say one of +our Cities, that might be too much of a shock for you—but through an +ordinary suburb such as we lived in, and saw how things were done +<i>there</i>, it would open your eyes a bit, I can tell you! You've been +marking time all these centuries while other Kingdoms have been making +progress. I'll tell you about some of the things we've learnt to do and +use, just as an ordinary matter of course—and you haven't so much as +heard of."</p> + +<p>Here he gave them a vivid description of the chief inventions and +discoveries of the last eighty years, from the steam-engine to the +aeroplane, which latter, he declared, put their sixty-stork-power car +completely in the shade.</p> + +<p>"If it is the fact," said the President, "that the inhabitants of your +Royal Highness's Country can work such marvels, you must be even +mightier magicians than were they whom our late King so wisely +suppressed."</p> + +<p>"You're wrong there, old bird!" said Clarence cheerfully; "no Magic +about it whatever. All done by brains and enterprise, but—and this is +what I am trying to knock into your heads—if we'd been governed by a +set of stuffy old fossils like yourselves—if you'll allow me the +expression—we should never have got a blessed thing so much as +started!"</p> + +<p>Many, if not most of the Council were sceptical as to the possibility of +such inventions as Clarence had described, but the good old Baron +assured them that, even during the short time he was in England, and +although it was night, he had witnessed many of them with his own eyes, +thanks to the powerful illuminants which made darkness almost as light +as day. He exhorted his hearers to count themselves fortunate in having +gained Sovereigns who possessed such wondrous powers, since their +faithful subjects would assuredly now enjoy the benefits of them.</p> + +<p>"Aye," said the ex-Regent—though possibly not in such good faith as the +Baron. "We shall indeed have reason to congratulate ourselves if his +Royal Highness will graciously teach us how to construct one of these +fire-and-smoke-breathing engines that draw a line of waggons along roads +of iron, or even a mast that will send messages through a thousand +leagues of air."</p> + +<p>"You don't want <i>much</i>, do you, dear old boy?" said Clarence. "You don't +suppose I can show you how to build a railway train when you haven't got +any of the bally materials or appliances, do you?"</p> + +<p>"Your Royal Highness has but to name them, and they shall be procured."</p> + +<p>"They're not to be got here," replied Clarence. "If I tried to tell you +what they were, you wouldn't be any the wiser!" He spoke nothing but the +truth, for he had but the sketchiest acquaintance with the composition +of any kind of machinery.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps His Majesty," suggested the Marshal, who had long ago taken +King Sidney's measure, "is better able to instruct us in these mighty +secrets?"</p> + +<p>"H'm, well, to tell you the truth," confessed the King, "although I've +been in the habit of using railways, motors, electric light, telephones, +and so forth constantly, I can't pretend to more than a general notion +of how they work. Couldn't <i>make</i> any of 'em, you know. Not <i>my</i> line of +business!"</p> + +<p>"If that is indeed the case," said the President, "we find it the more +difficult to understand why his Royal Highness should have reproached us +for an ignorance which is no greater than either his own or your +Majesty's."</p> + +<p>"I wasn't reproaching you," said the Crown Prince, a little awkwardly, +"I was only telling you how differently things are managed where <i>we</i> +come from. But after all, that isn't the point, so we'll say no more +about it. Let's get back to the Gnomes. One of you—I think it was the +gentleman with the grey topknot—objected that there was no other useful +way of employing them, except in the mine. Well, of course, we've +thought all that out," he declared, though, as a matter of fact, the +idea had only just struck him. "We intend to set 'em to work at laying +out a golf links, and when they've done that, we shall keep 'em on as +caddies. They're such nippy little devils that they ought to be jolly +useful.... Ah, naturally, you <i>wouldn't</i> know what Golf is. Well, Golf +happens to be a thing I <i>do</i> know something about. I can teach you +<i>that</i> right enough. It's simply the greatest game going, and you'll be +grateful to me for introducing it. Don't worry," he added, as some of +the Council expressed dissent, "nobody's asking you to learn unless you +like. I shouldn't say myself that any of you—except perhaps the +Marshal—was very likely to shape into a 'plus' man. I fancy <i>he's</i> got +the makings of a golfer in him, though, and, once I've got the course +laid out and given him a lesson or two, I bet you'll see he'll be as +keen as mustard."</p> + +<p>Before the Council broke up, the ex-Regent undertook that, as soon as +Clarence had selected the ground, the Gnomes should be removed from +their present quarters, and placed under the Crown Prince's directions.</p> + +<p>"Never again, Sidney," declared the Queen afterwards, "will you and I +sit through one of those tiresome councils! We'll leave them to manage +their own silly business, and if there's anything that requires our +signatures, they can bring the papers to us, and we'll sign them in our +own rooms. If there should be any difficulty, we can always ask the +Marshal—he's so very sympathetic and helpful."</p> + +<p>"Very," said the King, "oh, very—that is, I half fancied now and +then—but I believe he means us well. Yes, on the whole, my dear, I +think he's a person we can trust."</p> + +<p>"You needn't <i>think</i> about it, Sidney," she replied; "you can feel +absolutely <i>certain</i> that there's <i>nothing</i> that man wouldn't do for +us!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII</h2> + +<h3>A GAME THEY DID NOT UNDERSTAND</h3> + + +<p>With regard to the Royal visit to the Gold Mine, it should be mentioned +that, on returning to the Palace, the Queen and Princess Ruby had met +Daphne in one of the galleries. Ruby ran to her impulsively: "Oh, Miss +Heritage!" she cried, "we've had a ripping afternoon. Such fun throwing +money to the people, and seeing them scramble for it! We saw the Gold +Mine. And all the darling little Gnomes! You <i>would</i> have loved them! I +do wish you had come with us!"</p> + +<p>"I fully intended to have arranged for you to do so, Miss Heritage," +said Queen Selina, with unwonted graciousness. "But with so much to +think of——! Do you happen to know where my other ladies-in-waiting +are?... In the Tapestry Chamber? Then I must get you to show me to it, +for I don't know my way yet about this immense house.... Through here? +Yes, you will accompany me—in fact, I particularly desire you to be +present."</p> + +<p>At her entrance the Maids of Honour all rose from their seats and made +obeisances which, but for the Court Godmother's revelations of their +ancestries, would have occasioned their Sovereign agonies of +embarrassment. But she felt she could face them now without <i>mauvaise +honte</i>, and indeed with all the assurance of superiority.</p> + +<p>"You may sit down, <i>girls</i>," she said, and although they found it hard +to believe at first that they could be the persons thus addressed, they +sat down.</p> + +<p>"And what are you all about?" she inquired. "Embroidery, is it? The +pattern seems rather large.... Oh, tapestry? I <i>see</i>. I prefer a bright, +cheerful paper on the walls to any tapestry myself. Only collects dust. +Now if you were to knit some warm woollen jerseys for those wretched +little Gnomes, who are really in <i>want</i> of them, you would be doing +something useful. But that wasn't what I—ah, to be sure, I remember +now. I looked in to tell you, girls, that I have appointed Miss Heritage +here as my First Lady-in-waiting. You will be careful to address her in +future as 'Lady Daphne,' and treat her in all respects as your equal in +rank.... I don't know why you should look so surprised." (If they did, +it was merely that any such recommendation should be thought necessary.) +"Miss Heritage's parentage may, it is true, be obscure—but not more so, +from all I have been told, than that of most of your own ancestresses. +Indeed, I am much mistaken if she has not a better claim to be +considered a lady than any of them. Not that I think mere birth of any +importance myself, but I object to people giving themselves airs without +some real <i>ground</i> for it. I am not alluding to Lady Daphne, whom I have +always found perfectly well-behaved and unpretentious."</p> + +<p>This was not perhaps the surest way of endearing Daphne to her new +companions, but then Queen Selina was less concerned to effect that than +to make them pay for the excessive deference she had so mistakenly shown +them in the past.</p> + +<p>However, in their simplicity it had never occurred to them that they had +any cause to be ashamed of their descent, and so they never imagined +that their Royal Mistress could insult them with it, and her shafts +missed the target.</p> + +<p>Fortunately for Daphne, too, she was already the object of a secret +<i>schwärmerei</i> that left no room in their sentimental bosoms for jealousy +or ill-feeling.</p> + +<p>But, not being aware of this as yet, she was rendered only unhappy by +this sudden rise in the Royal favour. Her one consolation was the +certainty that it would not be very long before she was again in +disgrace.</p> + +<p>On the afternoon of the day on which the State Council had been held, +the Crown Prince explored the surrounding country with a view to +selecting a golf course.</p> + +<p>He found a district which was in every way suitable for his purpose—a +stretch of undulating land in a valley behind the plateau on which the +Palace stood, abounding in natural hazards, and affording great +facilities for artificial ones—in short, an ideal site for any links. +He began laying it out the next morning. The Gnomes were brought out of +the mine and conducted to the spot. The general idea was conveyed to a +Gnome who seemed, on the whole, less devoid of intelligence than his +fellows, and they all set to work with more activity than immediate +result. However, they seemed to take kindly to their new industry, and +Clarence was very well pleased with them. He had had no experience in +golf-architecture himself, but the nature of the ground was such that it +required but little to turn it into a very sporting course indeed, and, +if the Gnomes did not do much else, they constructed some remarkably +cunning bunkers.</p> + +<p>While they were thus engaged he ordered several sets of clubs to be +made from rough designs of his own by a master artificer in Eswareinmal, +who carried them out with considerable skill and fidelity. The +implements he produced may not have been quite according to Club +standards, but they were fairly serviceable. The balls seemed at first +likely to be the main difficulty, but some were discovered on the +toy-stalls in the market square which, though not of rubber, were +composed of a substance that proved an admirable substitute. They were +certainly open to one objection that, in ordinary circumstances, might +have disqualified them—they cost considerably under a farthing each. +But Clarence got over that by paying a ducat apiece for them. And then, +as the work progressed but slowly, he was forced to wait with what +patience he could until the links were ready for practising on.</p> + +<p>It does not take long for most people to get accustomed to any +surroundings, no matter how novel, and Queen Selina and her family soon +became acclimatised. Now that her household had lost their terrors for +her, she began to enjoy the sensation of being a Queen and inspiring +reverence and awe wherever she went, though she could have wished to be +the ruler of a Kingdom that was not quite so <i>outré</i> as Märchenland. +However, she felt she must take it as it was, and in a short time she +had almost forgotten that there ever had been a period when she had not +occupied a throne.</p> + +<p>Princess Edna, though she frequently protested that her rank had no +charms for her, was ready enough to assert it on all occasions, and +exercised authority over the unfortunate ladies-in-waiting to a degree +that might have rendered their lives a burden to them if they had been +able to take her as seriously as she did herself, which they were not.</p> + +<p>"Mother," she remarked one day, "I've been quite shocked to find how +appallingly ignorant our Maids of Honour are. Fancy, they've never heard +of Shakespeare, or Ibsen, or Bernard Shaw, or—well, anybody!"</p> + +<p>"My dear," said the Queen, "what can you <i>expect</i> from such a set of +giggling, empty-headed minxes?"</p> + +<p>"I know. Still, I feel it a duty to do what I can to improve their +minds. I shall bring down my note-book this afternoon. It's got all my +notes on those lectures on English Literature I attended last Autumn. I +thought I'd read them aloud to them. It would give them a very good +general idea of the subject. Enough, at least, to enable them to talk +about it without exposing themselves."</p> + +<p>"I'm sure, Edna dear, it's most sweet of you to trouble about them."</p> + +<p>"Oh, since I have to live with a Court, I must try and raise it to a +more intellectual level."</p> + +<p>And so that afternoon, while the ladies of the Court were engaged, under +the Queen's supervision, in knitting little woollen garments of +shattering hues for the unsuspecting Gnomes, the Princess Royal produced +her note-book and read aloud extracts which gave an impressionist +bird's-eye view of English Literature from the fourteenth to the close +of the nineteenth Century.</p> + +<p>No doubt the lecturer had given his audience credit for some previous +acquaintance with the subject, and it may be that Princess Edna's method +of note-taking had been a trifle desultory; it was certain that the +ladies-in-waiting found a difficulty in assimilating the scraps of +literary pemmican she dispensed to them.</p> + +<p>They received with polite but languid attention such items as that: +"Shakespeare stands supreme among dramatists for consummate knowledge of +the human heart"; that: "as <i>Ralph Roister Doister</i> is the first pure +comedy, so <i>The Vicar of Wakefield</i> may be termed the first idyllic +English novel"; that: "while Byron possessed more intellect than +imagination, Shelley, on the contrary, was rather imaginative than +intellectual"; and even the statement that: "Browning's 'Ring and the +Book' contains upwards of twenty-one thousand lines" left them unmoved.</p> + +<p>It is true they were more interested in hearing that it was: "after he +had come under the spell of Petrarch and Boccaccio that Chaucer produced +his wondrous Tales," but it appeared their interest was due to some +slight misapprehension. Daphne felt the fearful joy of suppressed mirth +combined with the danger of detection as she heard Edna explaining with +laborious patience that she had <i>not</i> intended to convey that the Poet +had been afflicted by a pair of enchanters with any caudal appendages +whatever.</p> + +<p>But the Princess Royal could not conceal her disgust when her final +extract, which was to the effect that: "during the closing decade of the +Nineteenth Century England became once more a 'nest of singing birds,' +as was apparent from the stream of fresh and melodious strains issuing +from, among other sources, 'The Bodley Head,'" was greeted with a ripple +of girlish laughter from her hearers. It seemed that this +incontrovertible statement of fact had somehow aroused reminiscences of +another head which, if fresh, had not been precisely melodious on the +luncheon board after the Coronation.</p> + +<p>Princess Edna waited with cold dignity until the last giggle was no +longer audible before announcing that she was willing to answer any +questions they might wish to ask her. Upon which Baroness Kluge von +Bauerngrosstochterheimer begged that they might be favoured with the +outline of one of the romances written by the Poet Shakespeare, who they +had been informed by her was so unsurpassed as a story-teller.</p> + +<p>Now Edna was undoubtedly well versed in the Literature of her native +land. She could not only have given with tolerable accuracy the names +and dates of the principal authors of each century, but a list of their +best-known works, and an estimate of the rank assigned to them by modern +criticism. She had even, impelled by an almost morbid conscientiousness, +consulted the works themselves, and could honestly assert that she had +read every single play of Shakespeare's all through, though her private +preference was for a more advanced and psychological form of drama.</p> + +<p>And yet on this occasion she chose to parry the Baroness's very +reasonable request. "Shakespeare," she said, in her most superior tone, +"did not write romances. He wrote <i>plays</i>."</p> + +<p>"Will your Royal Highness please," said the Baroness, "to tell us about +one of <i>them</i>?"</p> + +<p>For the life of her Edna could not just then summon up a clear +recollection of the plot of any Shakespearian comedy or tragedy—and it +is quite possible that there are many persons as highly educated as she +who might be equally at a loss.</p> + +<p>"With so prolific a writer as Shakespeare," she hedged, "it is difficult +to single out any particular play."</p> + +<p>She was so plainly embarrassed that Daphne felt impelled to come to the +rescue.</p> + +<p>"I think, Ma'am," she said, "they would like the story of <i>The Merchant +of Venice</i>!"</p> + +<p>"I should hardly call it suitable myself to such an audience as this," +replied Edna, who was possibly confusing it with <i>Othello</i>. "No, Miss +Heritage, I really think something less—less objectionable would +be—There's <i>As you like it</i>, now, <i>quite</i> a pleasant play. I think I +can remember the outline of <i>that</i>. Let me see. Yes, it's about a girl +called "Rosalind," who dressed up as a boy and ran away into a forest, +where she met Ferdinand—or was it Bassanio?—anyway, the name is of no +consequence. Well, and he carved her name on all the trees, and so they +fell in love, and in the end they were married, you know."</p> + +<p>As drama this appeared to strike the ladies-in-waiting as lacking in +incident, and the Baroness von Haulemännerschen openly declared that an +ancestress of hers who also ran away into a forest had the far more +exciting experience of being poisoned by a jealous Queen and enclosed by +dwarfs in a glass coffin.</p> + +<p>"Oh, very well!" said Edna; "if you are going to compare your own silly +traditions with works of genius, I give you up as hopeless!"</p> + +<p>And this was the beginning and the end of the Princess Royal's attempt +to infuse Culture into Court Circles.</p> + +<p>She had certainly failed signally to inspire her ladies with any +enthusiasm for English Literature, though, strangely enough, Daphne +succeeded later in giving them a more favourable impression of its +quality.</p> + +<p>Edna was, of course, incomparably more widely read, but then Daphne +knew such authors as she had read well enough to be able to give a very +full and clear account of her favourite books, and to repeat many of her +best loved poems from memory.</p> + +<p>It is quite possible that much of the pleasure her companions took in +hearing her do so was due to her own personality. They were not, it must +be confessed, a highly intellectual or cultivated set of young women, +but one and all regarded Daphne with a whole-hearted adoration which +would have given Princess Edna, had she condescended to notice it, a +lower opinion than ever of their intelligence.</p> + +<p>The links were at last in a sufficiently advanced stage for practice at +the first nine of the eighteen holes, and Clarence undertook to instruct +the Marshal in the mysteries of the game. The Marshal, though slightly +handicapped by insisting on playing in a breastplate and high boots, was +so much encouraged by the success which most beginners at golf +experience that he at once became an ardent votary. He tried to make +converts of the Courtiers, but they preferred to keep an open mind and +remain spectators for the present.</p> + +<p>Prince Tapfer von Schneiderleinberg indeed went so far as to say that +golf seemed to him to be without the element of danger which all genuine +sport should possess. He modified that opinion, it is true, after +incautiously standing close behind the Marshal when he was driving off +from the tee, but it did not alter his prejudices against the game.</p> + +<p>King Sidney practised most assiduously in private, and found he improved +in his driving under Clarence's tuition. The Gnomes had been established +in a kind of compound near the links, but their unfortunate tendency to +bolt with the club-bags and purloin every ball they found rather +impaired their usefulness as caddies. Marshal Federhelm treated his with +regrettable inhumanity.</p> + +<p>There was still a good deal of "ground under repair" on the course, but +the day was drawing near when the links could be formally opened. The +Marshal was anxious to celebrate the occasion by challenging his Royal +Master to play him a single, a challenge which was conveyed through the +Crown Prince.</p> + +<p>"Well, what do <i>you</i> think, my boy," asked King Sidney. "Can I beat +him?"</p> + +<p>"I think you ought to, Guv'nor. He fancies himself at it—but he's +pretty rotten."</p> + +<p>"In that case, you can tell him I accept," said the King.</p> + +<p>But on the morning before the day, Clarence, after watching his parent +top and slice and foozle through a whole round without intermission, +became less sanguine.</p> + +<p>"I tell you what it is, Guv'nor," he said, frankly, "the Marshal's been +shaping a bit better these last few days, and it's my belief he can give +you a stroke a hole and win easy."</p> + +<p>"After all," said the King, "I'm not sure there isn't a certain loss of +dignity—playing with my own subject, don't you know."</p> + +<p>"It won't do to let him lick you, certainly," agreed Clarence.</p> + +<p>"Quite so, my boy, quite so. I was thinking—I might be prevented by +sudden business—I could go and sit with the Council, you know."</p> + +<p>"He'd only want you to fix another day for playing him. It's no use, +Guv'nor, you can't get out of it now. Perhaps you'd do better if you +played with a different sort of ball. I must see if I can't get you one +or two."</p> + +<p>And that evening he brought his father half a dozen. "They're specially +marked," he said, "so you can't make a mistake over them, and I fancy +you'll find they travel better than any of the Marshal's."</p> + +<p>"You've got those golf balls I gave you?" he asked the King at breakfast +next morning. "Mind you don't forget to take 'em."</p> + +<p>"I shan't forget, my boy. But what I'm most troubled about is my +swing—there's something wrong with it, only I can't find out what."</p> + +<p>"I think it a great pity myself," said Queen Selina, "that you ever +agreed to play this match at all. If you are beaten it will certainly +lower your prestige. But I am sure the dear Marshal has too much tact +not to let you win."</p> + +<p>"Don't you worry, Mater," said Clarence. "The Guv'nor's going to win on +his own, hands down!"</p> + +<p>"I sincerely hope so. It will be a sad blow to the Throne if he does +<i>not</i>."</p> + +<p>These remarks did not help much to steady King Sidney's nerves when he +met the Marshal on the links, where, as Monarch, he naturally had the +honour. A large crowd of onlookers from the Court had collected, and the +players had decided to dispense with caddies under the circumstances.</p> + +<p>The first hole was only about a hundred and sixty yards; a deep gully +lay between, and on either side of the approach were beds of tall +rushes.</p> + +<p>King Sidney addressed his ball for some time in agonising indecision +before he finally drove off. A cloud of sand rose; the ball was nowhere +to be seen, and, taught by experience, he looked behind for it.</p> + +<p>"Jolly good shot!" cried Clarence. "Right on the green!"</p> + +<p>"Is it, my boy?" said the King. "I can't see it there myself."</p> + +<p>"No more can I," Clarence owned, "but I bet you what you like you're on +the pretty, anyway. Your drive, Marshal."</p> + +<p>The Marshal smote a mighty blow, and his ball likewise vanished. +Clarence was of opinion that it had gone over the boundary, but the +Marshal was so certain that it was on the green that he declined to +search for it.</p> + +<p>"Funny," said Clarence disappointedly, as they neared the pin, "I don't +see your ball anywhere, Pater. Nor yet the Marshal's."</p> + +<p>"I fancy mine isn't very far away, my boy," said the King hopefully.</p> + +<p>One of the Courtiers who had gone to the hole, called out to say that he +could see a ball marked with a Royal Crown wedged in by the pin.</p> + +<p>"By George, Guv'nor!" cried Clarence, "you've holed it in one!"</p> + +<p>"Ah," said King Sidney, "I <i>thought</i> I'd got the right direction."</p> + +<p>But the next moment both of them were depressed by the announcement that +the Marshal's ball had also landed in the hole. The Courtier had +naturally mentioned his Sovereign's achievement first, but there could +be no possible doubt that the Marshal had succeeded in equalling it.</p> + +<p>To have holed out at a hundred and sixty yards is not by any means an +unprecedented feat, but that two players should have done it in +succession was at least a rather remarkable coincidence. It was a severe +disappointment to the King, who had serious doubts of his own ability to +repeat such a performance.</p> + +<p>The next hole was a long one, some six hundred yards, over undulating +land with patches of bog; the green was on a hillock protected by +artfully devised bunkers, and the approach was full of difficulties.</p> + +<p>The Marshal was given the honour, and, as before, none could follow the +flight of his ball, though he declared with the greatest confidence that +it was straight for the green. King Sidney's drive did not look very +promising, but Clarence assured him that it was probably a longer one +than he thought.</p> + +<p>But neither player could locate his ball as they trudged on, and, though +it seemed unlikely that either could have reached the green, they did +not stop to search on the way to it. Still, when they arrived there each +of them was obviously astonished by the discovery that the other had +holed out once more. Even had the distance been less, it seemed to them +that this was stretching the long arm of coincidence almost too far, but +they did not say so; in fact, they both thought it wiser to abstain from +any comment at all. The next hole was some three hundred and fifty +yards, with several extremely tricky hazards, but, contrary to all +reasonable expectations, both King Sidney and the Marshal distinguished +themselves by doing it in one.</p> + +<p>At this the King felt bound to make some comment. "Very even game this, +Marshal, so far," he said.</p> + +<p>"Very even indeed, Sire!" said the Marshal curtly, and turned aside to +curse under his breath.</p> + +<p>However, after they had played the fourth and fifth holes with precisely +the same result, King Sidney became suspicious. "Clarence, my boy," he +said, taking him aside. "It strikes me there's something rather odd +about his play. I can't understand it!"</p> + +<p>"<i>I</i> can," said Clarence; "it's plain enough. Haven't you noticed he's +been using a mashie—the <i>same</i> mashie every time? Well, he's bribed or +bullied that pop-eyed little swine of an Astrologer to enchant it for +him—that's what <i>he's</i> done!"</p> + +<p>"What a confounded low, ungentlemanly trick!" spluttered King Sidney in +high indignation. "Just when I was beginning to find my form at last, +too! I shall decline to go on with the match. And what's more, when we +<i>do</i> get a Golf Club started, I'll have him blackballed for it!"</p> + +<p>"I wouldn't make a row about it if I were you," advised Clarence.</p> + +<p>"Not make a row? When he's taking an unfair advantage of me by using +this infernal Magic?—which is unlawful, by Gad, don't you forget +<i>that</i>! Why shouldn't I denounce such trickery?"</p> + +<p>"Because," said the Crown Prince, "he might say something disagreeable +about it being a case of Pot and Kettle, don't you know."</p> + +<p>"Let him!" cried the King. "Let him! I defy him to prove that I've had +anything done to <i>my</i> clubs!"</p> + +<p>"Not the clubs," said Clarence; "it's those balls I gave you. I hadn't +meant to tell you, but p'raps I'd better now. I paid that little sweep +to put a spell on 'em. Of course I'd no idea he'd go and overdo it like +this. If he'd been anything of a Golfer he'd have known most of these +holes couldn't be done under three or four. And now he's given you both +away, blast him!"</p> + +<p>"It—it's <i>most</i> unfortunate!" said King Sidney. "I—I don't quite see +what to do about it."</p> + +<p>"Simple enough," said his son, "pretend not to notice anything and play +it out."</p> + +<p>"I suppose I must, my boy, I suppose I must. But I know I shan't play so +well after this—it's quite put me off my game!"</p> + +<p>"No, it hasn't, Guv'nor. You'll play up all right, at least if Xuriel +knows his job."</p> + +<p>Xuriel apparently did know his job, for the King's ball continued to be +as foozle-proof as the Marshal's mashie.</p> + +<p>It would be tedious to describe any further holes. When a bewitched +mashie is pitted against an enchanted ball, there can obviously be none +of the alternations and vicissitudes of Fortune which constitute the +charm of Golf.</p> + +<p>When they were at the turn, having halved every hole up to the ninth, +the Marshal had had enough of it. "We are too well matched, Sire," he +said, "and to proceed would only be to waste your Majesty's time, which +is of far more value than my own."</p> + +<p>"H'm, well, perhaps we'd better call it a draw and have done with it," +said the King.</p> + +<p>The Court had witnessed the game without excitement or astonishment. +They saw no particular reason why the balls should fail to reach the +hole in one stroke, and did not care in the least whether they failed or +not. The only impressions they received were that Golf was too +monotonous and too easy a pastime to have any attractions for them, and +that nothing should induce them to indulge in it against such +invincible champions as his Majesty and the Ex-Regent.</p> + +<p>"I must say, my boy," said the King to his son, as they walked back to +the Palace together, "I wish you hadn't gone to that magician fellow. It +makes it so very awkward for <i>me</i>."</p> + +<p>"It would have been a jolly sight more awkward if I hadn't. Just think +of the licking you'd have had, what?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes—but there's your Mother. She's so set against Magic of any +kind. I really don't know what I'm to say to her."</p> + +<p>"Well," said Clarence, "I should hope, Guv'nor, you wouldn't be such a +jay as to say anything."</p> + +<p>"It might be only distressing her unnecessarily," said the King.</p> + +<p>"Sidney!" exclaimed the Queen when they met, "I can see by your face +that you've been beaten after all!"</p> + +<p>"Not at all, my love, not at all. Far from it!"</p> + +<p>"Then you've won?"</p> + +<p>"Well—er—not exactly <i>won</i>, my dear. We—we finished up all square."</p> + +<p>"Considering how long you've been learning, that's as bad as if you'd +lost. Now, mind what I say, Sidney, you must never attempt to play golf +again after this. I cannot have you making yourself ridiculous!"</p> + +<p>"I think you're right, my dear," he said meekly. "In fact, I had already +decided to give it up."</p> + +<p>Clarence clung to his Golf as long as he could, but he found it dreary +work going round the course alone. None of the Courtiers could be +induced to learn the game, and he felt a natural reluctance to take on +the Marshal as an antagonist, even if the latter had continued to be +keen. But he had conceived a strong distaste for the game, and it was +rumoured that there had been a stormy interview between him and the +Astrologer Royal, who kept his bed for several days afterwards.</p> + +<p>And Clarence, as the Yellow Gnomes were impossible as caddies, had to +carry his own clubs, which he particularly detested. So in course of +time he ceased to visit the links, and thus deprived himself of his only +form of open-air exercise.</p> + +<p>There was nothing much for him to do, except to lounge and loaf +aimlessly about the Palace, with a depressed suspicion that he was not +inspiring the full amount of respect that was due to his position as +Crown Prince. It would have been a distraction to make advances to +Daphne, but, after his somewhat cavalier treatment of her at the Ball, +he could not be sure how they would be received. Moreover, either by her +own management or his Royal Mother's, he was never given a chance of +seeing her except in public.</p> + +<p>He found a resource in gambling with the gentlemen of the Royal +Household. They played for high stakes, but no higher, seeing that he +could replenish his purse as often as it was emptied, than he could well +afford. His visits to the sacks of gold in the King's Counting-house +became more and more frequent, but he would have derived more enjoyment +from cards if he had won occasionally.</p> + +<p>One afternoon when, the usual card-players being absent on some hunting +expedition, he was left to his own devices, he wandered forlornly +through a suite of empty halls till he drifted out upon a balcony that +overlooked the Palace gardens.</p> + +<p>And then, as he stepped through the window, his heart gave a sudden +leap. At the corner of the balcony he had just recognised Daphne. She +was quite alone, and he recognised that the opportunity, half-feared, +half-desired, had come at last.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII</h2> + +<h3>"A STEED THAT KNOWS HIS RIDER"</h3> + + +<p>Daphne turned and saw Prince Clarence almost immediately, and, after +making the prescribed curtsey, was about to retreat indoors when he +stopped her.</p> + +<p>"I say, Lady Daphne," he remonstrated, "don't run away like that!"</p> + +<p>"Your Royal Highness will be good enough to excuse me," she said; "I +ought to be with Princess Ruby by this time."</p> + +<p>"<i>She's</i> all right—trying to teach the Pages hockey in the Entrance +Court. And—look here, you needn't be so beastly formal—with <i>me</i>, you +know."</p> + +<p>"I may remind your Royal Highness that you desired me to observe the +strictest etiquette."</p> + +<p>"Did I? I only meant in public. Let's drop it just now, anyway. I've +been wanting to get a talk with you. You see, you're the only person +here I can really talk to; and if you only knew how awfully hipped and +depressed I'm feeling——"</p> + +<p>"Are you?" she said. "I'm sorry." And there was certainly pity in the +soft grey eyes which rested on him for a moment or two.</p> + +<p>"I give you my word," he went on, "there are times when I almost wish +myself back at the office again. There were things to be done there, +even if I didn't do 'em. Here there's nothing—except cards. It +wouldn't be so bad if the chaps here only knew Auction—I could hold my +own at that. But you couldn't play bridge with the sort of packs they've +got in this God-forsaken country. So they've taught me a bally game they +call 'Krebsgriff,' and I've lost over two sacks of ducats at it already. +Anyone would think after <i>that</i> they'd treat me as a pal, but not a bit +of it!"</p> + +<p>"Perhaps, Sir, they're afraid of being rebuked for such presumption."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps, but I don't think it's that. They're polite enough and all +that, to my face, but they don't look <i>up</i> to me, you know!"</p> + +<p>"Why <i>should</i> they?" Daphne thought, but all she said was, "That's very +sad."</p> + +<p>"Isn't it?" he said; "they don't give me a chance to show what I <i>can</i> +do. I could knock their silly heads off at golf, and they won't even +learn! And now I can't get a game; and this afternoon, when <i>I</i> was +feeling inclined for cards, they all go off to the forest without a word +to me, hunting beastly boars and bears, and I'm left without a soul to +speak to."</p> + +<p>"They might have asked you to do them the honour of coming too," said +Daphne.</p> + +<p>"I couldn't very well have gone if they had. You see, they hunt boars +and that on horseback here, and riding's a thing I've never gone in +for."</p> + +<p>"It's not too late to begin, Sir."</p> + +<p>"Well, to tell you the truth, I did think at one time of taking a few +lessons. But I don't know. You see, it would get about, and—well, +people would think it rather ridiculous."</p> + +<p>"I should have thought—" began Daphne; "no, I mustn't say any more."</p> + +<p>"Oh, go on, Lady Daphne, don't mind <i>me</i>! What would you have thought?"</p> + +<p>"Well," said Daphne boldly, "that nothing could be so ridiculous as a +Crown Prince who can't sit a horse."</p> + +<p>"I daresay I could as well as any other fellow, if I tried."</p> + +<p>"No doubt, sir, but if you never <i>do</i> try."</p> + +<p>"I would, if I thought you cared."</p> + +<p>"Of course I care, Prince Clarence," said Daphne. "Naturally, I should +like to see you doing everything that other Princes do. You really +aren't, so far, you know. I suppose I oughtn't to have said that—I +couldn't help it."</p> + +<p>"That's all right," he said. "There's one thing," he added, thinking +aloud, "if I <i>did</i> learn to ride decently, you and I might go out riding +together, what?"</p> + +<p>"It's rather early to talk about that," said Daphne, "when you haven't +even begun to learn."</p> + +<p>"I know, but I <i>will</i> begin. For <i>your</i> sake."</p> + +<p>"No, Prince Clarence, for your own," she replied, "though I shall be +glad, too. And now, I mustn't stay here any longer."</p> + +<p>Why, he asked himself, after she had gone, was she so keen on his +cutting a figure at Court? The answer was obvious—he had interested and +impressed her more than he could have hoped. But that, he shrewdly +perceived, only made it more necessary for him to be wary. She was +certainly a most fascinating girl, but if she had any ambitious designs +on him, she would find that he was quite capable of taking care of +himself. Still, she was right about his riding. Every Prince ought to be +able to ride. It would not take him long to learn. And when he could +ride he would go out hunting. She would think a lot more of him when +she saw him returning in triumph with a few boars and bears as trophies +of the chase.</p> + +<p>Accordingly he took the earliest opportunity of mentioning to his family +that he intended to take lessons in horsemanship, which both the King +and Queen considered an admirable idea. The Marshal was consulted, and +though he opposed it at first, on the ground that anything which might +affect the succession to the throne was to be avoided, he gave way in +the end, and undertook to act himself as Clarence's riding master. +Clarence was prudent enough to stipulate that none of his family should +be present while he was undergoing instruction, and the Court were not +to be informed that he was having any lessons at all until he had +completed the course and become an accomplished equestrian.</p> + +<p>"Well, my boy," said the King, when the Crown Prince entered the Royal +Parlour after his private lessons in the Palace tiltyard. "Well, and how +did you get on, hey?"</p> + +<p>"Never got on at all," Clarence reluctantly admitted. "Not likely I +should, when there wasn't a bally gee in the stables that would let me +come near him!"</p> + +<p>"Clarence!" cried his mother, "you <i>don't</i> mean to say you've been there +all this time without riding a single horse!"</p> + +<p>"I'd have ridden 'em right enough, if they'd let me get on 'em—but they +wouldn't."</p> + +<p>"And pray what was the Marshal about?" inquired the Queen.</p> + +<p>"Well, he was laughing most of the time; it's my belief he'd had 'em all +gingered up beforehand."</p> + +<p>"I'm quite sure, Clarence, he would be incapable of such conduct as +that. Why <i>should</i> he?"</p> + +<p>"<i>I</i> don't know," he said. "But I won't have <i>him</i> about again. I'll get +some one else to teach me."</p> + +<p>"But, my dear boy, nobody can teach you much if you can't even manage to +get on a horse's back. You'll only get hurt if you try any more, and you +will be far wiser to give it up altogether."</p> + +<p>"Not much, Mater!" he declared; "I'm not so easily bested as all that. +Now I've begun I mean to go on with it."</p> + +<p>And he went on; for, to do Clarence justice, want of pluck was not among +his defects. But he was obliged to admit that the Marshal was not fairly +accountable for the horses' behaviour, since they were quite as +unmanageable when he was no longer there.</p> + +<p>They were spirited creatures, but perfectly docile until they caught +sight of Clarence, when they immediately became as vicious as the most +untameable bronco. If he contrived occasionally to get hoisted into the +saddle, he never remained there long enough to put the Royal Chief +Huntsman's instructions into practice, and he began at last to have +serious doubts whether Nature had ever intended him to shine as a +horseman.</p> + +<p>He said nothing of these ignominious experiences to Daphne, partly +because he never found an opportunity, though more from a fear of being +laughed at. But he could not keep them from his family, and so Daphne +came to hear of his repeated failures through Princess Ruby. She did not +laugh at them, however; she was even a little touched. She thought more +of him for his attempts to follow her unlucky suggestion than if he had +never attempted anything at all, and fully believed that if he +persevered he would conquer in the end.</p> + +<p>His Royal Mother was so perturbed and alarmed that at last she made a +confidant of the Court Godmother, who was about to depart on her annual +visit to the Court of Clairdelune. "He <i>will</i> go on with it!" Queen +Selina lamented, "and I <i>know</i> he'll break his neck before long! It does +seem so strange that those horrible horses should behave like this with +Clarence and nobody else. When his poor dear Grandfather was such a good +rider, too! I can't think why they should, Court Godmother, can you?"</p> + +<p>The Fairy Vogelflug thought privately that the reason was not very far +to see. The horses of the Royal stud were, she knew, of an exceptional +aristocratic breed. Now poor Clarence, though of Royal blood on his +mother's side, unfortunately had little of the air and appearance which +these intelligent and observant animals probably connected with a true +Prince. It was more than likely that they had failed to recognise that +he was a Prince at all, and so resented being called upon to carry him.</p> + +<p>But, though she could be out-spoken enough on occasion, she felt that +this was hardly an explanation she could give to his mother. "Well, my +dear," she said, "it's very trying for you, of course. But I don't know +that there's anything <i>I</i> can do."</p> + +<p>"I—I thought perhaps," said Queen Selina, with some natural hesitation, +"that you, as a Fairy, might—er—know some quite simple little spell +which——"</p> + +<p>"As I have told you before," interrupted the Fairy, "I make a point of +using my knowledge of Magic as seldom as I can nowadays. I have my +health to consider. And, in any case, I am acquainted with no spell for +making a Prince into a horseman. Princes in Märchenland," she added, +rather unkindly, "have never needed such aids."</p> + +<p>But, after all, she was anxious that this Royal family, whom she had +been largely responsible for importing, should do her as much credit as +possible, and so she applied herself to think of something that might be +of help to the unfortunate Crown Prince. A means occurred to her at +length, but as she was by no means sure that it would be effectual, she +was careful not to commit herself.</p> + +<p>She did not even mention it till she was on the point of starting for +Clairdelune, and then, before she stepped into her dove-chariot, she +suddenly said to the Queen, <i>á propos</i> of nothing in particular, "By the +way, my dear, that jewel you were wearing when you first came—I haven't +seen you with it for a long while—how is that?"</p> + +<p>"Well, you see, Court Godmother, my Crown jewels seem to suit me so much +better."</p> + +<p>"Then, if you don't want that pendant yourself, you had better give it +to your son."</p> + +<p>"To Clarence?" cried the Queen. "Why, what use would it be to him?"</p> + +<p>"It is a jewel which any Prince might be proud to wear," said the Fairy; +"and I should strongly advise you to see that he wears it. Not merely +now and then, but constantly. It may—mind, I don't say it <i>will</i>—but +it <i>may</i> bring him better luck than he has enjoyed as yet."</p> + +<p>"But really, Godmother, I can't quite believe that a thing—" began the +Queen, when the Fairy cut her short unceremoniously.</p> + +<p>"I've no time to stay here arguing about it," she said; "my doves will +be catching cold if they stand about any longer. By all means don't take +my advice if you don't believe in it; I merely thought you might find it +worth trying—but you must please yourself. And now, with your +permission, I'll take my leave of you."</p> + +<p>At a sign from her, the team of doves fluttered up in a snow-white cloud +and winged their flight to the neighbouring Kingdom of Clairdelune, +where she had another Royal Godson, Prince Mirliflor, in whose affairs +she took a keener interest than she could in Clarence's.</p> + +<p>"Old people have such queer ideas," thought Queen Selina, as the chariot +rapidly receded from sight. "As if that twopenny-halfpenny pendant of +Miss Heritage's could—but the Court Godmother will be annoyed if I +don't follow her advice—and it's best not to offend the old creature. +I'll go up and see if it's still in my jewel case."</p> + +<p>It was, and she brought it down in time to intercept Clarence as he was +starting in rather low spirits for another crowded hour of anything but +glorious life in the Riding Court.</p> + +<p>"Clarence, my boy," she said, "I want you to oblige me by wearing this +in future."</p> + +<p>"What—that thing you bought before we came away!" he replied. "I say, +Mater, you <i>don't</i> expect me to go about with a woman's pendant on my +manly bosom!"</p> + +<p>"Your Godmother Vogelflug thinks it is quite a fit ornament for a +Prince," urged his mother, "and—and she as much as said that it would +bring you good-luck."</p> + +<p>"Did she, though? Well, I could do with a bit of that for a change." And +he allowed her to fasten the chain round his neck. "By Gad, makes me +feel like a Good Forester or a Member of the Ancient Order of Buffaloes +or something!" he remarked.</p> + +<p>"Never mind," she said; "and it really doesn't look so very out of +place. But remember, Clarence, if it's to do any good, you must wear it +<i>always</i>."</p> + +<p>"Right-oh!" he said; "and now I'll go and take my usual morning toss, +what?"</p> + +<p>Half an hour later, he came into the Royal Parlour, where his family +were assembled, Daphne being with them. He looked round the circle with +a satisfied air, and then said in a tone of studied carelessness, "If +you've nothing better to do just now, all of you, you may as well look +in at the Riding Court in a few minutes, and see how I'm getting on. +I—er—should like Lady Daphne to come, too, and the whole Court. Tell +'em to hurry up. You'll find me down there ready for you." He was gone +before they had recovered from their surprise.</p> + +<p>"Dear me," said the King, "I'm not quite sure that it would be wise to +have the Court looking on just yet, eh, my dear?"</p> + +<p>"I have every confidence in Clarence," said the Queen. "He would not +have suggested that they should attend unless—but perhaps a smaller +audience, of just ourselves, might be less trying for him."</p> + +<p>So it was only the Royal family and Daphne that went down to the Riding +Court, where, to Queen Selina's alarm, some very formidable-looking +jumps had been put up.</p> + +<p>"He's never going to be rash enough to try to get over those!" she said. +"Tell him he's not to run such risks. I can't allow him to!"</p> + +<p>Just then Clarence cantered in on a high-spirited mare, over which he +seemed to have complete control. He put her at obstacle after obstacle, +and surmounted all of them with the greatest ease. To prove that he was +equally at home on any mount, he had several other horses brought in, +and over each he showed the same mastery, and a seat with which Daphne, +who was critical in such matters, could find no fault.</p> + +<p>"You young dog!" said his father, when the exhibition was over and +Clarence had dismounted. "So you've been taking us in all this time, +pretending you couldn't stick on a horse for more than a few seconds, +hey?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, well," he said modestly, "I didn't like to say too much. Fact is, +it's only quite lately that I've felt what you might call at home on a +gee."</p> + +<p>The Stud grooms could have testified how very lately this was if they +had thought proper to do so—which, of course, they did not.</p> + +<p>"It only shows what can be done with a little perseverance," said Queen +Selina. "Clarence, you will be able to ride through the City now!"</p> + +<p>He managed to get Daphne to himself for a few minutes on the way back to +the Palace.</p> + +<p>"Well, Lady Daphne," he began, "I've done what I could to please you, +and I hope you are satisfied, what?"</p> + +<p>"Indeed I am, Prince Clarence," she said warmly, for he had risen +several places in her esteem during the past hour. "And I congratulate +you most heartily. And now things will be ever so much pleasanter for +you, won't they?" As she spoke she noticed the pendant, which, of +course, she recognised immediately.</p> + +<p>"Ah, you're looking at this," he said. "Daresay it strikes you as funny +my wearing it?"</p> + +<p>"Not at all, Sir," she replied; "it isn't really a woman's ornament." +She did not tell him how she knew it was not, for she had not forgotten +her undertaking to say nothing about it.</p> + +<p>"Well, it was the Mater's," he said. "She's made me promise to wear it +always. Thinks it may bring me luck."</p> + +<p>"I hope it will, Prince Clarence," she said, quite sincerely; and, as +the Queen happened to look back just then and summon her sharply to her +side, that was all that passed between him and Daphne on that occasion.</p> + +<p>She was rather pleased than otherwise that he should be the possessor of +the pendant. As has been said, she had never known her father, so there +were no tender associations attaching to it. And she had been a little +afraid that Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson had only bought it out of +consideration for her. It was some relief that she had found a use for +it. Daphne was, of course, quite unaware who her unknown father had been +or that the pendant was a badge of his princely rank; and both the Queen +and her son had no suspicion of the truth. Nor did either of them +connect it with his suddenly acquired mastery of the whole art of +horsemanship, Queen Selina believing that his reports of previous +unsuccess had been intended to increase the surprise of his triumph, +while Clarence naturally found it easy to persuade himself that he had +been learning more from his disheartening failures than he had been +conscious of at the time. He certainly did not hide his new talent in a +napkin, but organised riding excursions of the lords and ladies of the +Royal household, at the head of which he made a very gay and gallant +appearance on a prancing bay palfrey. Only there was one thorn in his +luxuriously padded saddle. He had hoped that he might have the pleasure +of commanding Daphne to ride by his side on these excursions, but, +though she accompanied them, it was never on horseback. Queen Selina, it +seemed, had developed such a preference for her first lady-in-waiting's +society that she was always required to accompany her in the Royal +coach.</p> + +<p>Daphne would willingly have dispensed with this and other signs of the +marked favour with which her Sovereign was overwhelming her just then. +She had no illusions as to the motives. The Queen thought—most +mistakenly, as it happened—that making a favourite of Daphne was the +surest method of snubbing and annoying her other ladies-in-waiting, for +whom she had begun to conceive a hearty dislike.</p> + +<p>The dislike was certainly reciprocated. They resented their Royal +Mistress's insolence as much as they despised her previous +obsequiousness. They accepted the fact that she was their Queen, but, +among themselves, they did not pretend any respect for her, as was +manifest from their habit of referring to her in private as "Mother +Schwellenposch!" Edna, who was scarcely more beloved, was known as +"Princess Four-eyes," in allusion to her <i>pince-nez</i>. Daphne found it +hard at times to refrain from joining them in this irreverence, but, +while she saw the Queen's and Edna's weak points as clearly as her +companions—and indeed more clearly than any of them—her sense of +loyalty kept her silent. She might laugh when she was alone, and +frequently did, but that was a relief to her feelings for which she felt +she need not reproach herself very severely. Another reason for Queen +Selina's insistence on Daphne's company in the coach was, as she was +fully aware, the desire to keep her at a safe distance from the Crown +Prince—a needless precaution which had its amusing side for her.</p> + +<p>Still, she often longed to be on a horse instead of being shut up in a +great lumbering vehicle with the Queen and the Princess Royal, even if +Princess Ruby's presence did something to make things less dull. On one +of these expeditions Queen Selina had once more provided herself with a +sack of gold from which she and the Princesses scattered <i>largesse</i>.</p> + +<p>"<i>You</i> may throw a little if you like, Miss Heritage," said the Queen +graciously. (She reserved the title "Lady Daphne" for occasions when the +Court was present.)</p> + +<p>"I'd rather not, your Majesty," she replied. "I mean," she explained, +"it's not as if it was <i>my</i> money."</p> + +<p>"I should have thought," said Edna, "that that was all the more reason +for throwing it away." And as she spoke she flung a handful to a stout +old citizen, who glared with indignation—not at her, however, but at +the nimbler and needier persons who had grabbed most of the coins before +he could stoop to pick them up.</p> + +<p>Daphne felt rather ashamed of these proceedings, which seemed to her not +merely undignified, but likely to demoralise the public. But she said +nothing.</p> + +<p>"We're not doing this out of <i>ostentation</i>, Miss Heritage," explained +the Queen, who seemed to have divined something of her sentiments. "It's +policy. You may have noticed that we've not been nearly so well received +lately. <i>Why</i>, I don't know, unless there's any ill-feeling about those +detestable little Gnomes."</p> + +<p>There was a good deal. The Gnomes, having no employment on the +golf-links, had recently broken out of their compound and found their +way into Eswareinmal, where they made themselves very much at home. They +quartered themselves on several of the householders, and, having +discovered that cooked food was more palatable than earth, they had no +diffidence in helping themselves. In other respects they were +inoffensive and inclined to be sociable, but, even in Märchenland, the +most harmless and playful Yellow Gnome is not considered a desirable +addition to any respectable family. The citizens one and all regarded +their visitors as intolerable nuisances for which they had to thank +their Sovereigns.</p> + +<p>"It was his Majesty's idea to free them," the Queen went on. "I was +always in favour of keeping them in the mine, where they were out of +mischief. And they certainly mustn't be allowed to run about loose any +longer. They ought to learn some sort of discipline. Perhaps the best +thing would be to train them as Boy Scouts.... Have you caught cold, +Miss Heritage? You seem troubled by a most distressing cough."</p> + +<p>King Sidney himself had begun to doubt whether the enfranchisement of +the Yellow Gnomes was quite one of his happiest inspirations. Such +Märchenlanders as had been induced to enter the mine were demanding +wages which left but a small margin for profit, especially when it was +considered that, if their methods of working were more systematic than +their predecessors', they somehow got very much less gold. No sacks at +all had been delivered of late, and the shelves of the Royal +Counting-house were beginning to look ominously bare.</p> + +<p>He forced himself to mention this to the Queen after the drive that +afternoon, and point out the necessity for being rather more economical +than they had been hitherto. "I'm sure, Sidney," she protested, "no one +can say <i>I</i> am extravagant! It was absolutely necessary to have the +whole Palace done up—I had to order some new dresses, as I couldn't be +expected to wear ready-made robes in my position, and one or two tiaras +and things from the Court Goldsmith, whose charges certainly were +disgracefully high. Then the household expenses come to several sacks a +week, try as I <i>may</i> to keep them down!"</p> + +<p>"I daresay, my love, I daresay—but I hear there was another sack +emptied only this afternoon—and we really can't go on like this!"</p> + +<p>"Then I shall have to give up driving out altogether, Sidney. You've no +idea how unpopular you've made us all by releasing those wretched little +Gnomes. The people object to having to associate with them—and I'm sure +I don't wonder. You simply <i>must</i> find some way of getting rid of them!"</p> + +<p>"The Court Chamberlain tells me a certain number could be taken on the +Palace Kitchens as extra scullions."</p> + +<p>"And we shall have them getting upstairs and running about all over the +Palace!"</p> + +<p>"Oh no, my dear; there will be strict orders against that. But, to +return to our expenses, I'm afraid Clarence hasn't been as careful as he +might have been, and I shall have to speak to him very——"</p> + +<p>"No, you will not, Sidney. I won't have you scolding Clarence just when +he's doing so well—riding and going out hunting and making himself a +social leader. You can give him a hint to be less extravagant if you +like—but no more. But the <i>first</i> thing you have to do, is to settle +the trouble about those Gnomes. You'd better ask the Marshal if <i>he</i> can +suggest anything."</p> + +<p>The Marshal's solution was simple but practical. There was, it seemed, a +marshy tract at a considerable distance from the capital which needed +draining and reclaiming—a work which the more able-bodied of the Gnomes +could carry out under strict control. So the majority were deported to +the Märchenlands, the remainder being employed in the Royal Kitchens as +supernumerary and highly incompetent scullions.</p> + +<p>Whether a damp climate would suit the Gnomes' constitutions was not +a matter of general concern. Most of them had been supplied with +jerseys, which, if they made them look more hideous little objects +than ever, had been knitted expressly for them by the Queen and her +ladies-in-waiting—and what more could they possibly want?</p> + +<p>The citizens of Eswareinmal witnessed the exodus of the gnomes with +profound relief, but without any outburst of gratitude to their +Sovereign. It had somehow been allowed to transpire that they owed their +deliverance entirely to the statesmanship of the ex-Regent.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX</h2> + +<h3>THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE</h3> + + +<p>King Sidney's remonstrances to Clarence on his extravagances were put in +too mild a form to offend. "Perhaps I <i>have</i> got through rather a lot +lately," the Crown Prince admitted. "Not that I spend much on +myself—precious little chance in a bally place like this. It mostly +goes in tips. You see, the peasants about here think anything under a +purse of gold stingy. But it certainly struck me the last time I went to +the Counting-house that what sacks there were looked a bit flabby. When +do you expect some more in?"</p> + +<p>"The Lord Treasurer thinks one or two may be delivered in a week or +so—but we shall want considerably more than that to pay our way, and I +don't see myself where it's to come from."</p> + +<p>"I suppose," said Clarence, "it wouldn't quite do to have the gates +melted down, or the thrones; but there's any amount of other gold +furniture knocking about—what's the matter with coining that?"</p> + +<p>"It <i>did</i> occur to me," confessed King Sidney, "but the Court +Chamberlain says they're only silver gilt, and that's no good <i>here</i>, +you know."</p> + +<p>"Well," said Clarence, "it's pretty clear that we shall all be in the +cart if we can't find some way to raise the wind."</p> + +<p>A day or two later he burst into the Royal Parlour where his father was +sitting disconsolately alone. "I've found it, Guv'nor," he announced +triumphantly.</p> + +<p>"Eh, my boy, found, what?"</p> + +<p>"The way to raise the wind. I've been in to see little Pop-Eye—<i>you</i> +know, the Astrologer Royal."</p> + +<p>"Xuriel? I haven't seen him since that—er—match I played with the +Marshal."</p> + +<p>"I daresay not. The <i>Marshal</i> saw him, though—and he hasn't been fit to +be seen in public since. Well, it seems he's been pottering away at +Magic all this time on the quiet—and quite lately he's come upon an old +spell-book of his father's and tried some of the formulas in it. And +he's turned out one little thing that's simply <i>it</i>. I bought it of him +on the spot. I'll have it brought in here for you to see."</p> + +<p>When it was brought it was not much to look at, being just an ordinary +round table of the plainest design.</p> + +<p>"Ah, but you wait," said Clarence. "Just say to it 'Little table, be +laid.'"</p> + +<p>"Really, my boy," protested his father, who had evidently forgotten his +Grimm's Fairy Tales, "I can't bring myself to——"</p> + +<p>"Try it, Guv'nor—and see what happens."</p> + +<p>"Oh well, it's all nonsense—all nonsense—but—er—'Little table be +laid.'"</p> + +<p>Instantly the table was covered with a snowy linen cloth and laid with a +daintily prepared meal for one person, including a small flagon of wine +and a knife and even a two-pronged fork.</p> + +<p>"Neat, isn't it?" remarked Clarence. "The little joker wouldn't part +with it at first—afraid of getting into more hot water about it."</p> + +<p>"I don't suppose for a moment the food's genuine," said the King. +"Well," he pronounced, after trying it, "I'm bound to say it's quite +tasty—really very tasty indeed. I think I'll have a little more—ate so +little at lunch. The wine isn't at all bad either—sort of Moselle +flavour. It would be awkward if your mother were to come in just now, +eh?"</p> + +<p>"If you've done," said Clarence, "all you've got to say is: 'Little +table, be cleared.'"</p> + +<p>The King repeated the words, and the table became bare as before.</p> + +<p>"Highly ingenious," he said; "but all the same, my boy, considering the +<i>cuisine</i> we have in the Palace already, it seems a waste of money to +buy it."</p> + +<p>"But there's money in it, Guv'nor—money enough to make us all +millionaires if we go the right way to work it! Listen to me. Xuriel +says he could easily make any quantity of these tables—produce 'em in +all styles and sizes, to dine any number, if you and the Mater will only +give him a free hand."</p> + +<p>"I think you're forgetting, my boy," said King Sidney with dignity, +"that there is a law—a law which your mother and I think a very wise +and salutary one—against the practice of anything in the nature +of—ah—Magic in our dominions."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I know <i>that</i>," said Clarence. "But you can alter it easily enough, +can't you?"</p> + +<p>"No doubt we could. But why <i>should</i> we?"</p> + +<p>"Do you mean to say you don't see why? And you've been a business man +all your life! Of course, we shouldn't give Xuriel such a concession as +this except on our own terms. He's willing to let us take two-thirds of +the selling price of every table he sells. And they'll sell like hot +cakes! Why, there won't be a family in all Märchenland that can afford +to be without one. They'll pay any price we like to put on such an +article as this. Just <i>think</i> of it, Dad! No expenses—no risk—and a +bigger income than we could ever hope for from any bally mine. You +<i>can't</i> let a chance like that slip through your fingers!"</p> + +<p>"I quite see the possibilities, my boy!" said the King; "and in +fact—but I can't decide one way or the other till I know what your +Mother thinks of it."</p> + +<p>Queen Selina took an unexpectedly broad-minded view of the scheme as +soon as she fully understood its advantages.</p> + +<p>"Of course," she said, "nothing would induce me to encourage any +enterprise that was based on Sorcery. But the Astrologer Royal is far +too respectable a little man to have anything to do with <i>that</i>. And +these tables would be such a boon to so many hundreds! We cannot leave +that out of consideration. The dear people will be so grateful to us for +allowing them to be placed within the reach of the humblest. I daresay +Mr. Xuriel would supply them on the hire system. And as for there being +any Magic about the process—if there <i>is</i>, it's quite harmless, and +it's much more probable that it can be accounted for by purely natural +causes which unscientific persons like ourselves can't be expected to +understand. After all, who really <i>knows</i>?"</p> + +<p>"And who really <i>cares</i>?" added Clarence, "so long as the tables sell. +It's lucky the Guv'nor and I have had a business training. We shall be +able to check Master Xuriel's accounts—he'll do us in the eye if he +can, I'll bet. We'd better start it as a private company. The Patent +Self-supplying Tables Co., Limited. Under Royal Patronage, what?"</p> + +<p>"I cannot have any in the Palace," objected the Queen. "The <i>chefs</i> +would make such a fuss if I did. And another thing, Clarence—it mustn't +on any account be known that <i>we</i> take a share of the profits. A Royal +Family has to be so very careful that its actions are not +misinterpreted."</p> + +<p>"We'll be sleeping partners, Mater," said the Crown Prince, "and I don't +fancy Master Xuriel will be such a fool as to give us away. So far as +the Public'll know, we're interested in the venture on strictly +philanthropic principles."</p> + +<p>"And that will be quite true," added Queen Selina, "for I can +conscientiously say that I wouldn't be connected with it if I didn't +feel it was for the general advantage."</p> + +<p>Thus was the "Patent Self-supplying Tables Co., Ltd.," founded. A large +disused granary in the City was adapted as an Emporium, and the +Astrologer Royal, after working day and night for a week, filled it with +an extensive stock of dining-tables which were graduated to suit the +needs of every class of purchaser.</p> + +<p>As Clarence had predicted, they met with a ready sale, for, although +Märchenlanders had a tradition of the existence of such tables, they had +never expected to be able to procure one for themselves by cash payment.</p> + +<p>It was obvious to all that an article which simplified housekeeping by +rendering both cook and kitchen fire superfluous was cheap at almost any +price, and the demand was so great that Xuriel had to work harder than +ever to keep pace with it.</p> + +<p>And everybody expressed the greatest satisfaction with the tables when +delivered—except, indeed, those citizens who earned their livelihood as +provision-dealers. They protested that they were being ruined by what +they chose to call unfair competition, and even sent a deputation to the +Palace to represent their grievances.</p> + +<p>"Show them into the Hall of Audience," said King Sidney, when he was +told of their arrival, "and tell them I will be with them presently and +hear anything they may have to say."</p> + +<p>After he had done so he addressed them in a paternal manner, but with +sound common-sense. It was very unfortunate, he admitted, but it was one +of these cases where a small minority had to suffer for the benefit of +the community at large. As a constitutional and democratic Monarch, he +could not interfere to restrict the production of articles that +increased the comfort and well-being of the vast majority of his beloved +subjects. The deputation had his sincere sympathy, but he could do no +more than offer them his advice, which was to escape the starvation they +seemed—a little unnecessarily, if he might say so—to apprehend by +immediately investing their savings in these self-supplying tables. He +added that, from all he could hear, he thought it very probable that the +prices would go up very shortly.</p> + +<p>The deputation then thanked him and withdrew. Such dealers as could +afford the outlay followed his advice, and very soon the sacks in the +Sovereign's Counting-house were fuller than ever, and all danger of a +Royal bankruptcy was happily at an end, while the Family had the +additional pleasure of finding themselves popular once more.</p> + +<p>Strictly speaking, the Astrologer Royal had not been authorised to +employ his occult skill in producing any objects but the self-supplying +dinner-tables, though it was rumoured that his industry was not entirely +confined to these. He certainly sold the Crown Prince a sword with which +he could face undismayed the fiercest of bears and boars, while the old +Court Chamberlain bought a silk skull-cap that he found most useful on +occasions when he did not desire to attract attention. But, perhaps from +unwillingness to get Xuriel into trouble, neither of them made any +mention of these purchases.</p> + +<p>Clarence should have been satisfied, for his feats in the saddle and his +daring in the forest, where he slew every wild beast he encountered, had +rendered him a hero in the eyes of the populace, and even of the Court. +And yet he was very far from being satisfied—for what was the good of +his glory if it brought him no nearer Daphne? He hoped it was making an +impression, but he could not be certain, because he never succeeded in +getting a moment alone with her. When she was not in attendance on his +Mother she was either with Ruby or the ladies-in-waiting, or, worse +still, surrounded by courtiers who had not the tact to withdraw on his +appearance. And although she did not seem to show a preference for any +one in particular, that did not prevent him from being furiously jealous +of them all.</p> + +<p>One afternoon Daphne received a message by one of the pages that she was +wanted at once in the Hall of Audience by Princess Edna. But when she +obeyed the summons the only person she found in the hall was the Crown +Prince in hunting costume, with high boots and a plumed hat.</p> + +<p>"It's all right," he called out as she hesitated, "Edna will be here +directly.... You look as if you didn't believe me."</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid I don't, your Royal Highness," said Daphne.</p> + +<p>"Don't you? Well, you're right. It was not Edna that sent for you. It +was me."</p> + +<p>"You might have sent for me in your own name, Prince Clarence."</p> + +<p>"I daresay! And then you'd have got out of coming! I've something I +particularly want to say to you. And I say—<i>do</i> sit down. It's like +this," he proceeded, after Daphne had sat down on one of the benches, "I +never seem to see anything of you now—what with all those Courtier +chaps always hanging about you. I wonder you let 'em. You wouldn't if +you knew as much about 'em as <i>I</i> do. Why, that fellow Hansmeinigel's +ancestor was half a hedgehog—a beastly common ordinary hedgehog, by +Gad!—and as for young Bohnenranken——"</p> + +<p>"Your Royal Highness may spare yourself the trouble of going on," said +Daphne. "I know all about their descent already—from themselves. +They're not in the least ashamed of their ancestors—indeed they're very +proud of them."</p> + +<p>"More than I should be if they were mine. Anyhow, there isn't one of 'em +that's fit for you to make a pal of."</p> + +<p>"You would have more right to say that, Prince Clarence, if I had ever +shown the slightest inclination to treat them as 'pals.'"</p> + +<p>"You can look higher than bounders like them. And I must say I feel a +bit hurt, that you haven't taken more notice of all I've been doing to +please you. I mean, learning to ride as I've done, and leading an active +life, and all that."</p> + +<p>"I really thought your Royal Highness was doing it for your own +pleasure. But of course I've noticed the change, and if I've had any +share in bringing it about, I'm very glad."</p> + +<p>"And is that all I'm to get by it? I want a lot more than that. I want +<i>you</i>!"</p> + +<p>"Don't be absurd, Prince Clarence," said Daphne. "You know very well you +would never be allowed to marry <i>me</i>, even if <i>I</i>——"</p> + +<p>"Oh, of course, I know that. But—but, you see, I—er—well, I wasn't +thinking of <i>marriage</i> exactly."</p> + +<p>"Then," said Daphne, with ominous quietness, "would your Royal Highness +be good enough to explain what you <i>were</i> thinking of exactly?"</p> + +<p>"Well," he said, "<i>my</i> idea was something more in the nature of a—what +do you call it?—a morganatic alliance. Of course even that would have +to be kept dark because of the Mater, but——"</p> + +<p>Daphne rose. "Prince Clarence," she said, "is it because I have been +your sister's Governess that you think you have the right to insult me +like this?"</p> + +<p>"It isn't an insult," he protested; "you don't understand. I assure you +it's quite the usual thing in cases like ours. You'd be none the less +thought of—rather the other way about. So why take this narrow-minded, +prudish view of it? I didn't expect it—from <i>you</i>, you know!"</p> + +<p>"Probably," said Daphne, "you don't expect to get your ears boxed—but +you will, if you dare to say any more."</p> + +<p>"Oh, do you think you'd better?" he asked. "I mean—smacking a Crown +Prince's head—well, it's a jolly serious offence, you know—what?"</p> + +<p>"I suppose," she said scornfully, "you think I should deserve to be +<i>executed</i> for it."</p> + +<p>"It would make a good 'par' in the papers," he replied, "if we had any +papers here. Something of this sort: 'The execution of Lady Daphne took +place yesterday in the Market Square. There was no hitch, everything, +including Lady Daphne's head, going off with the greatest <i>éclat</i>. The +Crown Prince was expected to be present, but was unavoidably detained +out hunting.'... Ah, you're laughing! You're not so very angry with me +after all!"</p> + +<p>"I was," said Daphne; "but, after all, you don't know any better, and it +really isn't worth while. Still, as it seems I can't expect any +consideration from your Royal Highness, it will be impossible for me to +remain in her Majesty's service."</p> + +<p>He began to realise at last how deeply he had offended her, and to +desire a reconciliation on almost any terms.</p> + +<p>"No, I say," he pleaded, "don't take it like that. I—I made a mistake. +I'll never do it again. I swear I won't! <i>Now</i> won't you stay?"</p> + +<p>Daphne looked at him for a moment before she replied. "I wouldn't stay, +Prince Clarence," she said, "if I didn't believe you really are a little +sorry and ashamed of yourself. And I will only stay now on condition +that you never try to speak to me again except in public."</p> + +<p>He had a sudden sense of what this would be to him—he might almost as +well lose her altogether. There was only one way of obtaining her full +forgiveness and the privilege of being alone with her as often as he +wished. Of course he would have to pay pretty dearly for it—but, hang +it, she was worth making some sacrifice for! He might be able to get +round his people after all.... Yes, he'd take the plunge, whatever it +cost him.</p> + +<p>"But—but look here," he began desperately, "suppose—suppose I ask +you"—he was on the point of adding, "to be my wife," when the words +died on his lips as he saw that his mother had just entered the Audience +Chamber. "Not now," he broke off heartily, "some other time."</p> + +<p>Queen Selina regarded Daphne with cold displeasure for a moment or two +before speaking. "I was not aware, Miss Heritage," she said, "that your +duties required you to be in this part of the Palace at <i>any</i> time."</p> + +<p>"I had a summons, your Majesty," explained Daphne, "which I understood +was from the Princess Royal, to come to her in the Hall of Audience, or +I should not be here."</p> + +<p>"If her Royal Highness had required you at all, Miss Heritage, I think +it more likely, on the whole, that she would have sent for you to my +Bower, where she has been sitting with me all the afternoon. But I will +find out if the message came from her."</p> + +<p>Daphne bit her lip.</p> + +<p>"It did not, your Majesty," she said; "I know now that it was given to +me—by mistake."</p> + +<p>"A mistake, Miss Heritage, which I trust will not happen again. And, as +it is the hour when you should be in attendance on Princess Ruby, I will +ask you to go to her at once."</p> + +<p>"<i>She</i> wasn't to blame, Mater," said Clarence, after Daphne had left the +Hall. "It was all my fault. <i>I</i> sent her that message."</p> + +<p>"It's very chivalrous of you, Clarence, to take the blame on yourself," +replied his Mother; "but don't imagine you can deceive <i>me</i>. I know very +well you are much too clever and wideawake to do anything so +compromising. That girl is doing her best to entrap you into some rash +promise. I've suspected it for some time."</p> + +<p>"No, I don't think so, really, Mater. Just before you came in she was +asking me to promise not to speak to her again, except in public."</p> + +<p>"And didn't you see that was just her artful way of leading you on? But +of course you did! As if you could fail to see through such an obvious +trick as that."</p> + +<p>Now Clarence came to think of it, it <i>was</i> pretty obvious. He shuddered +to remember how very nearly he had been taken in by it. But the +shrewdest man is liable to lose his head for the moment. Fortunately he +had recovered his in time.</p> + +<p>"Well, Mater," he said, "I wasn't born yesterday, you know. I flatter +myself I'm up to most moves on the board. And you may depend upon it if +she's had any designs on me—mind you, I don't say she <i>has</i>—but <i>if</i> +she has, she sees now that they'll never come to anything. She's given +me up as a hopeless proposition."</p> + +<p>This statement was inspired less by any personal conviction than by the +dread that without such reassurance his anxious Mother might dismiss +Daphne on the spot.</p> + +<p>Queen Selina did not dismiss Daphne, whose powers of keeping Ruby amused +and the ladies-in-waiting in good humour were too valuable to be +dispensed with unless it was absolutely necessary. But she was allowed +to see in many ways that she had fallen from favour. One of these was +she was no longer invited to take part in the daily drives, a +deprivation which would alone have consoled her for much worse +penalties.</p> + +<p>And she was freed from any further importunities from the Crown Prince, +who kept his side of the compact by maintaining a cold and lofty +dignity. Clarence intended this to convey that his eyes were at last +open to her designs, and that it would be useless for her to seek to +beguile him any longer. But as Daphne was quite guiltless of any designs +at all, she was merely grateful to him for leaving her in peace.</p> + +<p>Queen Selina generally left it to the Marshal to direct her excursions, +and he always rode beside the Royal coach. One afternoon he had +conducted her and her eldest daughter by a road across a fertile plain +dotted with pleasant villages and isolated farmhouses, towards the +outlying spurs of a range of mountains.</p> + +<p>On one of these spurs the Queen happened to notice a large castle, whose +grim-looking keep and towers were surrounded by a high and far-extending +wall, while at its rear rose a frowning black crag.</p> + +<p>"Tell me, Marshal," she said, "whose place is that, and who lives +there?"</p> + +<p>"That is Castle Drachenstolz, your Majesty," he said. "It has belonged +for many centuries to a Count who chose, at some time during the +previous reign, to change the original family name to that of von +Rubenfresser. It's present occupant is the last of the race, the young +Count Ruprecht."</p> + +<p>"Really!" said the Queen, "considering the Count is so near a neighbour +of ours, he <i>might</i> have had the civility to call, or at least leave +cards, on us before now!"</p> + +<p>"He would no doubt be happy to present himself at Court, Madam, if he +were not under strict orders never to go outside his Castle walls."</p> + +<p>"But why not?"</p> + +<p>"His parents were accused, whether justly or not I cannot say, of +certain malpractices, and the late King, your Majesty's gracious +grandfather, ordered them both to be put to death. Burnt alive, if I +remember rightly. This youth, being a mere infant at that period, was +allowed to live, but in semi-confinement within his ancestral walls, +with a custodian (who is now removed), and a few old family retainers, +who are the only persons he has ever been permitted to see."</p> + +<p>"And is there anything against the young Count himself?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing whatever," replied the Marshal. "He has been brought up in the +simplest manner and on the strictest principles, and by all accounts, is +a most amiable and excellent young man."</p> + +<p>"It seems rather hard that he should have been a prisoner all these +years," said Princess Edna, "for no fault of his own."</p> + +<p>"It does seem hard, your Royal Highness, and, in fact, while I was +Regent I was on the point of ordering him to be allowed at large, +when—when I was relieved of all responsibility. However, his lot is not +a very severe one. The estate is large, and he can drive or walk +anywhere within its boundaries. I understand that he spends much of his +time in his kitchen garden, where he has brought the art of forcing +certain vegetables to truly wonderful perfection."</p> + +<p>The young Count did not sound from this description particularly +exciting, even to Edna, but still she could not get him and his +undeserved captivity out of her thoughts, and, as soon as she got back +to the Palace, she attacked the King on the subject.</p> + +<p>"It's all very well, father," she concluded indignantly, "but in these +days you simply <i>can't</i> keep that young man shut up for life just +because my great-grandfather chose to have his parents burnt alive—most +likely for no reason at all."</p> + +<p>"<i>I</i> don't want to keep him shut up, my dear. Never heard of him before. +I am quite willing to set him free if I am satisfied that it's the right +thing to do."</p> + +<p>"Of course it's the right thing to do, Sidney," said his wife; "and, +what's more, it will be very popular. Just one of these gracious little +acts of clemency that go home to people's hearts. The Marshal quite +agreed with me about that."</p> + +<p>"Oh, very well," said the King, "I'll send a herald over to tell him he +needn't consider himself a prisoner for the future."</p> + +<p>"We owe him more than that, Sidney," said the Queen; "we ought at +<i>least</i> to ask him over to lunch."</p> + +<p>"Yes, we might do that," agreed Edna; "not that he's likely to accept."</p> + +<p>"He cannot refuse a Royal command, my love," said her mother.</p> + +<p>The Count did not refuse. On the appointed day Clarence and his sisters +saw from one of the windows a dilapidated sable coach drawn by eight +very ancient coal-black horses turn into the Courtyard.</p> + +<p>"Only wants a few undertaker's men in weepers to be a really classy +funeral!" was the Crown Prince's tribute to this equipage. "'Come to +bury Cæsar, not to praise him,' as Hamlet or some other Shakespearian +Johnny says, what?"</p> + +<p>When the young Count von Rubenfresser was ushered into the Royal +presence his entrance made a slight sensation. Nobody had been prepared +for the fact that he was much nearer seven than six feet in height. +Otherwise there was nothing alarming about him; he wore his flaxen hair +rather long and arranged over the centre of his head in a sort of roll; +his china-blue eyes (which Ruby said afterwards was "plain all round, +like a fish's eyes") were singularly candid; he had a clear, fresh +complexion, full red lips, and magnificent teeth. He wore a rich suit of +sable as deep as his coach. "Magog in mourning," Clarence christened him +in an undertone.</p> + +<p>It was curious that he should have inspired Daphne at first sight with a +vague repulsion, and that Ruby should have felt a similar antipathy, +though, with her, it took the form of a violent fit of the giggles—but +so it was. Daphne was thankful that she was able to remain at a distance +from him, as she was not lunching at the Royal Table.</p> + +<p>He was shy at first, as most persons would be if the first meal they had +ever eaten away from their own home had to be consumed in the presence +of Royalty, but he had been evidently trained to observe the ordinary +table etiquette, and as he became more at ease he talked fluently +enough, though at times with a <i>naïveté</i> that was almost childlike, and +increased Clarence's resolve to pull his leg whenever he saw an +opportunity.</p> + +<p>"Your Majesties must pardon my asking the question," he said, in his +thin, piping voice, as he helped himself to a cutlet, "but is this what +is called <i>meat</i>?"</p> + +<p>"So we're given to understand by the butcher, Count," replied Clarence. +"Why do you want to know?"</p> + +<p>"Because," he replied, "I've often <i>heard</i> of meat, but this is the +first time I've ever <i>seen</i> it. Do you know," he went on presently, "I +<i>like</i> meat. I shall have some more."</p> + +<p>"I should, if I were you," advised Clarence; "it may make you grow!" +which reduced Ruby to silent convulsions.</p> + +<p>"Do you really think it <i>will</i>?" inquired the Count, either not +noticing, or tactfully disregarding, Princess Ruby's lapse from good +manners. "It might. My poor dear Father and Mother were both great +meat-eaters, I believe, before they took to vegetarianism, which was +quite late in life. I cannot remember seeing them, but I've always +understood that they were much taller than I am."</p> + +<p>"You don't say so," returned Clarence. "Must have been most interesting +people to meet."</p> + +<p>"They were, your Royal Highness. Though, unfortunately, I cannot speak +of my own knowledge. As your Majesties may be aware, during the short +time they were spared to me I was too young to appreciate their +society."</p> + +<p>"Well, well, Count," said Queen Selina, perceiving that this was +delicate ground, "it's all very sad, but you must try not to think about +it now. The Marshal tells me you give a great deal of your time to +growing vegetables. How do tomatoes do with you?"</p> + +<p>"I don't pay any attention to tomatoes, your Majesty," he replied, with +a blush that few tomatoes could have outdone. "My efforts have been +chiefly directed to pumpkins. I have reared some particularly fine ones. +I am very fond of pumpkins."</p> + +<p>"Jolly little things, ain't they?" put in Clarence. "So playful!"</p> + +<p>"<i>Are</i> they?" said the Count with perfect simplicity. "I did not know +that. But then I have never attempted to play with <i>my</i> pumpkins."</p> + +<p>"Haven't you?" said Clarence. "Well, you get 'em to play +kiss-in-the-ring with you, and you'll find out how frisky they can be!"</p> + +<p>"I do not know anything about kissing," he confessed, "except that it is +very wrong."</p> + +<p>"Not <i>pumpkins</i>," said the Crown Prince. "There's no harm in that! Ask +the bishop!"</p> + +<p>"I say, old girl," he remarked to Princess Edna, after their visitor had +taken his departure, "what on earth induced the Mater to tell that lanky +overgrown lout we should be pleased to see him any time he cared to drop +in? We shall have the beggar running in and out here like a bally +rabbit, you see if we don't!"</p> + +<p>"Not if you intend to go on insulting him, Clarence, as you did to-day +at lunch," replied Edna coldly.</p> + +<p>"Why, I was only ragging him. Who could help ragging such a champion mug +as that?"</p> + +<p>"There is more—far more—in him than you are capable of seeing, +Clarence. And, even from a physical point of view, he is immeasurably +your superior."</p> + +<p>"I admit I shouldn't have a look in with him if we were both candidates +for a Freak Show," he conceded. "On the other hand, no one can say I'm +gone at the knees."</p> + +<p>"It's a pity, Clarence, that you're so narrow as you are!" she said.</p> + +<p>"D'you mean round the chest or calves?" he asked. "Because I'm quite up +to the average measurements."</p> + +<p>"I meant, so insular in your prejudices. You were almost <i>rude</i> to the +poor Count. When he was our guest, too!"</p> + +<p>"I expect," he said, "that if he's ever our guest again, I shall be a +bit <i>more</i> insular. I can't stick the beggar, somehow!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X</h2> + +<h3>THE BLONDE BEAST</h3> + + +<p>The Count was not slow to take advantage of his <i>permis de circuler</i>; +his coal-black horses and coach were soon a familiar spectacle in the +streets of Eswareinmal, where he had discovered the delights of +promiscuous shopping. He ordered a self-supplying dinner-table of the +best quality—to be paid for by monthly instalments—from the Astrologer +Royal, with whom he struck up a sort of friendship. Nor did he neglect +to avail himself of his general invitation to the Palace, where he +dropped in so frequently as almost to justify Clarence's prediction. +Queen Selina gave him occasional hints that she had not expected him +quite so often, but hints were thrown away on the Count's ingenuous +nature—he seemed to take it for granted that he was always welcome.</p> + +<p>Princess Edna certainly never discouraged his visits. She had been +struck from the first by his great stature and powerful physique, which +were just what she imagined that Nietzsche's ideal Superman would +possess. It has already been mentioned that she had been attending +lectures on the Nietzschean philosophy.</p> + +<p>Those were the days—not so very long ago, though they seem remote +enough now—when a certain class of high-browed and serious persons +accepted works of modern German philosophers as containing a new gospel +which none who desired intellectual freedom, enlightenment, and +efficiency could afford to neglect. The theories of "the Will to Power" +and of Might being equivalent to Right are already hopelessly +discredited in this country by recent exhibitions of the way in which +they work out in practice. But it was not so then, and Edna, who liked +to feel that she was one of the elect and in the advance guard of +Culture, readily imbibed as much of the Nietzschean doctrine as could be +boiled down for her in a single lecture. She would not, of course, have +thought of regulating her own actions on such principles, any more than, +in all probability, did their author himself. But she was very anxious +to see some one else do so, and the young Count seemed to have been +formed by Nature for Nietzsche's typical "Blond Beast," if he only chose +to divulge his possibilities. Unfortunately, he did not seem even to +suspect them; he remained quite oppressively mild and amiable. She very +nearly gave him up in despair once when he timidly presented her with a +pair of mittens which he had knitted for her himself. However, a day +came when she saw him under a less discouraging aspect.</p> + +<p>They were at lunch, to which he had invited himself as usual, and Ruby +had asked her brother how it was that in all his hunting expeditions he +had never managed to slay a dragon.</p> + +<p>"Never saw one to slay, Kiddie," he replied. "They seem scarce about +here."</p> + +<p>The Court Chamberlain, from behind the King's chair, took it upon +himself to explain that there were no longer any dragons in existence, +the few that remained having been exterminated by the late King's +orders.</p> + +<p>"Oh!" exclaimed Ruby, "I <i>did</i> so want to see a dragon! And now I never +shall!"</p> + +<p>"If you wish it, little Princess," said Count von Rubenfresser kindly, +"you shall see mine."</p> + +<p>"<i>Yours!</i>" cried Ruby, quite forgetting her dislike for him in her +excitement. "Have you <i>really</i> got a dragon—a real <i>live</i> one?"</p> + +<p>"A real live one—and almost full-grown," he replied. "My poor dear +Father had a pair, but they were killed. Mine is the last of the breed. +I discovered it myself when I was a child in a cave close to the castle. +At that time it was only an egg."</p> + +<p>"Hatch it yourself?" inquired Clarence.</p> + +<p>"Only partially," said the young Count; "the sun did the rest." (It was +perhaps as well for Daphne that she was not at the table just then.) "I +begged that its life might be spared, and it was. So Tützi and I have +grown up together."</p> + +<p>"Tootsie!" remarked Clarence <i>sotto voce</i>, "what a dashed silly-ass name +for a dragon!"</p> + +<p>"And will you show us him?" asked Ruby eagerly. "Mummy, couldn't we go +to the Count's castle and see his dragon? This afternoon?"</p> + +<p>"I should rather like to see it myself," said her Father. "No idea there +<i>were</i> such things. What do you say to our driving back with the Count +and having a look at it, eh, my love?"</p> + +<p>"I think, Sidney," replied the Queen, "we certainly ought to do so."</p> + +<p>So, to Ruby's delight, the State coach was ordered to take the Royal +Family to Drachenstolz, and the party set out shortly after lunch. +Clarence accompanied them on horseback, while the Count followed in his +sombre vehicle. Daphne was left behind, and the Court, although invited +to join the party, begged with singular unanimity that they might be +excused.</p> + +<p>On arriving at the Castle the visitors were first taken over the +interior, which was ill-lighted and rather depressing, after which the +Count led them through a spacious courtyard to the kitchen-garden, where +the Queen deigned to compliment him on the huge size of the vegetable +marrows and pumpkins that were ripening in the sun.</p> + +<p>"If there <i>should</i> be a Harvest Festival at the Church, Count," she said +graciously, "I'm sure some of those would come in very nicely for it!"</p> + +<p>They then passed over a rough tract of ground towards a rocky cliff that +formed part of the Castle boundary. In this cliff was a deep cavern, on +one side of which was a stout staple with a chain attached, only a +portion of which was visible. Here their young host stopped and gave a +low whistle. Instantly there was a rattle of the chain, and the next +moment all but the Count and Ruby hastily retreated as a great horny +head with distended nostrils and lidless eyes was protruded from the +opening.</p> + +<p>"Don't be alarmed!" said the Count, calmly unfastening the chain and +leading the creature out into the open. "Tützi is perfectly tame, as you +can see."</p> + +<p>It may or may not have been full-grown, but it was large enough at all +events to be a fairly fearful wildfowl, with its huge leathery wings, +crested spine, formidable talons, and restless tail. The colour of its +scales was extraordinarily rich, ranging from deepest purple and azure +through vivid green to orange and pale yellow, and fully justified King +Sidney in remarking—from a safe distance—that "it appeared to be in +very good condition."</p> + +<p>But there was no doubt about its tameness. It suffered Ruby, who showed +no fear of it whatever, to stroke it on its plated beak, and even to +scratch it behind its bristly ears, with every sign of satisfaction.</p> + +<p>"Ruby!" shrieked the horrified Queen, "come away at <i>once</i>! I'm sure it +isn't safe to tease that dreadful thing!"</p> + +<p>"I'm <i>not</i> teasing him, Mummy," replied Ruby, whose eccentric <i>penchant</i> +for reptiles was now being gratified beyond her wildest dreams. "He +<i>loves</i> being tickled. Can't you hear him purring?"</p> + +<p>As the noise the brute was making would have drowned that of the most +powerful dynamo, the question was almost unnecessary. Count Ruprecht +next made his dragon exhibit the few accomplishments it had learnt, +which were of the simplest, consisting in sitting up, rolling over and +shamming death, and reviving to utter three terrific snorts, supposed to +be loyal cheers, all at the proper word of command. He concluded by +mounting its back and riding it several times round the enclosure, after +which he lay between its forepaws, while it licked his face with its +huge flickering forked tongue.</p> + +<p>"Capital!" cried Clarence, apparently unimpressed, though he did not +venture very near the beast. "You've only to teach it to jump through a +hoop, and you'd make quite a decent Music-hall 'turn' together. What do +you feed it on, eh? Sop—or canary-seed?"</p> + +<p>To which the Count did not vouchsafe any reply.</p> + +<p>"I've been most interested, I'm sure, my dear Count," said the Queen, +after he had chained it up again. "And it's quite a thing to have +seen—once. But we really can't allow you to go on keeping such a +creature as that—<i>can</i> we, Sidney?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly not, my love," said the King. "It's against the law, you +know, Count, against the law."</p> + +<p>"Is it, your Majesty?" said the Count. "I—I had no idea of that—no one +ever told me so!"</p> + +<p>"Well, it <i>is</i>, you know. You must put an end to it—have it destroyed. +Painlessly, if you like, but—well, you've got to get rid of it +somehow."</p> + +<p>"In your own interest, Count," urged the Queen. "Just think how +unpopular you would be with your neighbours if it broke loose!"</p> + +<p>"I should not like to be unpopular," he said. "And if your Majesties +insist on slaying the only living creature that loves me——!"</p> + +<p>"What?" put in Clarence unfeelingly, "don't the hearse—I mean the +carriage-horses love you?"</p> + +<p>But again the Count took no notice of the question.</p> + +<p>"It's too bad of you, Father!" cried Edna indignantly; "yes, and you +too, Mother! To come here at Count Ruprecht's invitation, to see his +dragon and then tell him to destroy it! I think it perfectly disgraceful +of you, and you will get a very bad name in the country when people hear +of it. When you happen to be Sovereigns you might at least <i>behave</i> as +such!"</p> + +<p>"Well, well, my dear," said her Mother, who had not considered the +question from this side before, "we merely threw it out as a +suggestion—nothing more. And if the Count will undertake to keep his +dragon under proper control, that is all we shall require of him."</p> + +<p>The Count willingly gave this undertaking, and the visit ended without +any loss of cordiality on either side.</p> + +<p>"We've seen the dragon, Miss Heritage!" Ruby announced with sparkling +eyes on her return. "And he is such a darling! Do you know, I don't +think the Count can be quite so horrid after all, or Tützi wouldn't be +fond of him. Only fancy, Mums and Daddy wanted the Count to have him +killed! But Edna made them say he needn't. <i>Aren't</i> you glad?... Oh, I +forgot—you never really loved my newts. But you <i>would</i> Tützi—he's +quite <i>dry</i>, you know—not the least bit clammy.... Do you think there's +time before dinner for me to run down and play with the Gnomes?"</p> + +<p>"My dearest!" cried Daphne, "surely your Mother doesn't approve of your +doing that?"</p> + +<p>"She wouldn't mind if she knew. They're yellow—but quite nice. Much +better fun than those fat little muffs of pages, who are too afraid of +spoiling their clothes to play at anything rough. You don't mind my +having a game of 'I spy' with the Gnomes—just till it's time to dress +for dinner—do you, Miss Heritage?"</p> + +<p>"Well, darling," said Daphne, "I'm not allowed any authority over you +now, you know. But I'm quite sure that if her Majesty ever hears of your +running about with Yellow Gnomes, she will blame me for it, and probably +send me away."</p> + +<p>"Oh, then I won't any more. Only it will be rather dull without them. I +almost wish sometimes I had lessons to do. But there's nothing for me to +learn. I can understand everything everybody says, and they understand +me. And there aren't any pianos, and History and Geography are no +earthly good here, and I know more Arithmetic as it is than I shall ever +want now I'm a Princess. Princess Flachspinnenlos promised to show me +how to work a spinning-wheel some day, but she's not very good at it +herself, and anyhow, I'm sure it will be frightfully boring. Still, I'd +rather give up the Gnomes than lose <i>you</i>, Miss Heritage, dearest!"</p> + +<p>She spoke with feeling, for it meant abandoning a cherished scheme of +hers for inciting them to steal up during dinner and pinch the pages' +legs.</p> + +<p>Daphne was sorry for the poor little tomboy Princess, of whom she had +grown to be really fond. There was little she could do for her, however, +beyond being with her as often as she could; and the Queen had shown a +tendency of late to discourage even this.</p> + +<p>Edna looked forward with interest to the Count's next visit; his +performances with the dragon had impressed her greatly in his favour, +and she had begun to think that he might have the makings of a Superman +in him after all. It might be time to begin his education, and she +prepared herself for the task by running through her lecture notes on +Nietzsche once more.</p> + +<p>When he called he was shown by her command to the chamber which served +as her boudoir, where, rather to the scandal of some of the Court +ladies, she received him in private.</p> + +<p>He looked taller than ever as he sat doubled up on a low seat. "I came +to thank you, Princess," he began, "for persuading your exalted parents +to spare my poor dear Tützi. Of course I don't want to break the law, +but he is chained up, and besides, he is such a good dragon that I'm +sure nobody <i>could</i> object to my keeping him."</p> + +<p>"Why are you so anxious not to break the law?"</p> + +<p>"Because it's wrong to break laws."</p> + +<p>"And do you never do anything wrong?"</p> + +<p>"Never. My tutors taught me that people who do wrong are always punished +for it. I shouldn't like to be punished at all."</p> + +<p>"Still, you must have <i>wanted</i> to do bad things now and then."</p> + +<p>"Now and then I have," he confessed. "Especially lately. But I never +<i>do</i> them. You see, bad people are never really liked."</p> + +<p>"Do you know, Count, what the great German philosopher Nietzsche would +call such goodness as yours? He would say it was 'slave-morality.' You +only do what other people tell you is right because you're afraid of +what they would think of you if you didn't. You have courage enough to +master Tützi, but you daren't defy what Nietzsche so finely terms 'the +Great Dragon of the Law,' which says: 'Thou shalt'—'Thou shalt not.'"</p> + +<p>"What?" he said in surprise. "Is there another dragon besides Tützi? And +one that can talk, too! I never heard of <i>him</i>!"</p> + +<p>"Nietzsche was speaking metaphorically, of course," said Edna +impatiently. "He meant the human laws and customs and prejudices which a +true Superman should soar above. I think you ought to be more of a +Superman."</p> + +<p>"Ought I?" he said, open-mouthed. "What sort of things does a—one of +those gentlemen—do?"</p> + +<p>"Well," said Edna, after refreshing her memory by her notes, "you should +begin by 'hating and despising the ideals of the average man'! You +should create your own Truth—your own Morality. Obey only your +primordial instincts—the Will to Power."</p> + +<p>"I wonder if I could do all that."</p> + +<p>"Of course you can, if you are strong enough—and I believe you are."</p> + +<p>"And what <i>else</i> ought I to do, Princess?"</p> + +<p>"Well, let me see—oh, yes, you should 'act towards slave or stranger +exactly as you think fit.' You should be 'an intrepid experimentalist, +ceaselessly looking for new forms of existence.' You must 'be able to +bear the sight of others' pain, remembering that you cannot attain the +height of greatness——'"</p> + +<p>"I've grown taller lately," he interjected, "a great deal taller; +haven't you noticed it?"</p> + +<p>"'Attain the height of greatness,'" resumed Edna severely, "if you do +not feel within yourself both the will and the power to inflict great +suffering! And 'through it all you must exhibit the joyous innocence of +a child that is amusing itself.' Do you understand?"</p> + +<p>"I think I do. It means I must do whatever I feel inclined, without +minding what people say. Shall you be pleased with me, Princess, if I do +that?"</p> + +<p>"I shall at least respect you more than I can do while you form your +conduct entirely on Sunday School standards."</p> + +<p>"Then I'll try," he said. "Yes, I will certainly try. Do you know, I +think I shall rather like being what your great teacher with a name like +a sneeze calls a Superman."</p> + +<p>"Then make yourself one," she said, "for I am quite sure that you have +the power."</p> + +<p>Probably she did not know herself exactly what she wanted him to be; it +did not mean much more than the admiration for the prehistoric male +brute to which the more advanced type of young woman seems peculiarly +prone. But when he left she felt that she had made a most promising +convert, and had every reason to be satisfied with the success of her +afternoon.</p> + +<p>As much could not be said with regard to her Mother, who remonstrated +with her after the Count's departure as strongly as she dared.</p> + +<p>"I shouldn't see him alone like that, again, my love," she said +anxiously. "It might put ideas into people's heads. Indeed I'm not sure +that, as it is, some of the Court don't think there must be something +between you."</p> + +<p>"It's perfectly indifferent to me <i>what</i> they think, Mother," was the +lofty reply. "As a matter of fact, there is nothing whatever between us. +I am merely doing what I can to make him a little more civilised."</p> + +<p>"There would be no objection to that, my dear. Only it <i>does</i> look so +very like <i>encouraging</i> him, you know. And it's so necessary to be +careful just now. I'm afraid the People think we are making far too much +of that young man. I noticed they looked very black that day we drove +over to Drachenstolz. I really think it would be better if the next time +he calls you would be 'not at home' to him."</p> + +<p>"My dear Mother," returned Edna, "I am old enough to have the right to +choose my own friends, and I shall certainly decline to drop them just +because the Court chooses to make my friendships a subject for foolish +gossip."</p> + +<p>Queen Selina did not venture to pursue the conversation any farther, but +she was more relieved than she would once have thought possible when she +heard that the Court Godmother had returned from Clairdelune. According +to strict etiquette, it was for the Fairy to attend her Mistress and +report herself, but the Queen waived all ceremony by paying the first +visit. She went at once, and unattended, to the apartments in one of the +towers that had been assigned to the Court Godmother, who, without +seeming at all overwhelmed by such condescension, received her with more +benignity than usual. "Thank you, my dear," she said, in answer to the +Queen's inquiries, "I am tolerably well, and feel no ill effects from my +journey. And I think," she added complacently, "you will agree that I +have spent my time at Clairdelune not altogether unprofitably. But you +shall hear all about it presently. Tell me how things have been going on +here while I have been away. As satisfactorily, I trust, as possible?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, quite—quite—that is, I've been just a little worried lately about +that young Count Rubenfresser. He has taken to coming here oftener than +I think quite desirable."</p> + +<p>"Coming here?" repeated the Fairy, with surprise. "Why, I thought he was +never allowed outside his Castle!"</p> + +<p>"Not till lately. My poor dear Grandfather seems to have been very +severe both on him and his parents. But the Marshal spoke so highly of +the poor young man, and recommended so strongly that he should be given +his freedom, that his Majesty and I decided to do it."</p> + +<p>"Oh," said the Fairy. "Well, of course, if the Marshal thinks it safe!" +She suspected the ex-Regent of cherishing some resentment against her +still for the part she had taken in bringing back the Sovereigns to +supersede him, and she had no wish to run counter to him again. So, +whatever she might think of the wisdom of his advice, she was far too +prudent an old person to express her doubts. "But I gather," she went +on, "that you don't approve of the young Count yourself, my dear?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, he seems gentlemanly enough—though rather taller than the average. +The only reason that I disapprove of him is that I'm afraid he comes +here so often on Edna's account."</p> + +<p>"You don't mean," said the Court Godmother, in some alarm, "that she +shows any——?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, <i>dear</i> me, no! Not the slightest! She thinks he requires +civilising, and is trying to do it for him, that's all. But I can't get +her to see that the notice she takes of him is liable to be +misunderstood. Not only by him—but by everybody, you know."</p> + +<p>"Oh well, my dear, if it's no worse than that, you needn't trouble +yourself about it. And now for <i>my</i> news. You've heard me speak of +Prince Mirliflor of Clairdelune, King Tournesol's only son?"</p> + +<p>Queen Selina had heard her speak of him so often that she instinctively +prepared herself for half an hour of <i>ennui</i>.</p> + +<p>"A charming young man. I don't say he hasn't his faults, but I shall +make it my business to cure him of them all in time. I was one of the +three Godmothers at his christening—the other two have gone years +ago—I forget what <i>their</i> gifts were—Courage and Good-looks, I think. +<i>I</i> gave him what I still consider a most useful present for any infant +prince—a complete set of the highest ideals."</p> + +<p>"How <i>nice</i>!" murmured Queen Selina absently, for her attention was +beginning to wander already. "Most neat and appropriate, I'm sure."</p> + +<p>"They <i>would</i> have been," said the old Fairy, "if he'd made use of them +sensibly, as I intended. But that is just what he <i>hasn't</i> done. For +instance, although he's been of an age to marry these three years, he's +refused to look at every eligible Princess that has been suggested to +him because, if you please, she doesn't happen to come up to his ideal +of beauty!"</p> + +<p>"Dear me," said the Queen, concealing a yawn, "you don't say so, Court +Godmother!"</p> + +<p>"My dear," said the Fairy irritably, "it's nonsense to tell me I don't +say what I've just said! And, as I was about to tell you, his conduct +caused the greatest disappointment and annoyance to his father, who is +naturally anxious that his line should not die out. So he begged me to +use <i>my</i> influence. Well, I saw, of course, that the only way was to +appeal to <i>another</i> of the ideals I had given him—his ideal of Duty. I +put it to him that he owed it not only to his father, but his country, +to choose a bride without any further shilly-shallying."</p> + +<p>"And what did he say?" asked the Queen, with more interest, as she had +begun to see what was coming.</p> + +<p>"Don't be in such a hurry," said the Fairy; "I haven't finished what <i>I</i> +said yet. I told him that personal beauty was of very little consequence +in a bride, and that what he needed was a sensible girl who would be +clever enough to keep him from having too high an opinion of +himself—which, I may say, has always been one of his failings. I added +that your Edna was just the very person for him."</p> + +<p>"How kind of you to put in a word for her!" said Queen Selina. "And—was +it any <i>good</i>?"</p> + +<p>"So much so that, to his father's great joy, he recognised that it was +his imperative duty to seek the hand of such a paragon of wisdom and +learning. And I am empowered by him to prepare you for his arrival in +the course of a day or two, in the character of the Princess Royal's +suitor. So you see," she concluded, "I haven't been at Clairdelune all +this time for nothing."</p> + +<p>"Indeed you have not, dear Court Godmother; and I'm most grateful, I'm +sure, for all the trouble you must have taken. Fancy our Edna the Queen +of Clairdelune some day! Not that she isn't fitted for any position. How +pleased she will be when she hears of this, dear thing! So will his +Majesty—and Clarence too! He and dear Prince Mirliflor will be able to +go out hunting together. For—I forgot to tell you—since you have +deserted us, Clarence has learnt to ride most beautifully!"</p> + +<p>"Has he indeed?" said the Fairy. "Then I was right after all. I thought +it just possible that, if you could persuade him to wear that jewel——"</p> + +<p>"Do you mean that pendant of mine? He <i>does</i> wear it, but that has +nothing whatever to do with his riding. He'd taught himself to ride long +before I gave it to him. He was only pretending he couldn't, as a joke."</p> + +<p>"He may say so, my dear—but, all the same, if it hadn't been for that +jewel——"</p> + +<p>"Really, Court Godmother," said Queen Selina, who naturally resented +anything that detracted from her son's credit, "it astonishes me to +find anyone so—so clear-headed as you are in most things still clinging +to these superstitious ideas. As if the mere fact of wearing a piece of +jewellery could suddenly make anyone into a good rider!"</p> + +<p>"It depends upon what the piece of jewellery is," said the Fairy.</p> + +<p>Queen Selina saw her way to an absolutely crushing rejoinder. "Well, +this particular piece of jewellery," she said, "happens to be a paltry +ornament which I bought from Miss Heritage before I ever heard of +Märchenland."</p> + +<p>Her shot had certainly told. "What?" faltered the Court Godmother, +obviously out of countenance. "Did I understand you to say you <i>bought</i> +that jewel—and from the Lady Daphne?"</p> + +<p>"I prefer to call her Miss Heritage—the other is merely a courtesy +title. Yes, I did buy it from her. She was in difficulties at the time, +and I gave her thirty pounds for it, which was a good deal more than +anybody else would have done."</p> + +<p>"And—and—have you told this to any other person—the—the Marshal, for +instance?"</p> + +<p>"My dear Court Godmother, I am not in the habit of <i>proclaiming</i> my acts +of charity—for it <i>was</i> an act of charity!"</p> + +<p>"An act of charity," said the Fairy drily, "which I should strongly +advise you to keep to yourself."</p> + +<p>"I intend to," replied the Queen, as she rose with much dignity, though +her face was redder than usual. "I should never have mentioned it at +all, even to you, Court Godmother, if I hadn't felt it necessary. Of +course, in my present position, I should never <i>dream</i> of buying +jewellery from one of my own ladies-in-waiting. But it was different +then. I hadn't come into my Kingdom, and Miss Heritage was only my +governess; and anyway, it was a perfectly fair bargain, so my conscience +is absolutely clear. Still," she added, turning on the threshold, +"perhaps you will admit <i>now</i> that you were just a <i>little</i> mistaken in +attaching any importance to wearing that pendant?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said the Fairy, completely crestfallen and subdued, "I made a +mistake—a great mistake—I admit that."</p> + +<p>"I thought you would!" returned the Queen triumphantly. "And now I must +go to dear Edna and tell her the news about Prince Mirliflor."</p> + +<p>She had no suspicion of the state of mind in which, by her unconscious +revelation, she was leaving the unhappy Court Godmother, who was so +stunned that it was some time before she could think out the situation +at all clearly.</p> + +<p>The present Sovereigns of Märchenland, it seemed, were nothing but +impostors! Innocent impostors, no doubt—but that did not lessen her own +responsibility for helping to place them on the throne. If she made the +truth known, would the people—worse still, would the ex-Regent—believe +that she and the Baron and the Astrologer Royal had not been deceiving +them from the first? She recognised now that they had been too ready to +accept the wearer of Prince Chrysopras's jewelled badge as the +sought-for Queen without some further inquiry—and yet who in all +Märchenland would have dreamed of making any? How could anyone have +supposed that Queen Selina had merely become the possessor of the jewel +by purchasing it from that little Lady Daphne? It seemed to follow that +Lady Daphne must be the true Queen. The Fairy remembered now that she +had taken her to be so at their first meeting. If only she had thought +then of asking a question or two, the mistake might have been discovered +before matters had gone too far—but, in her unfortunate anxiety to see +a legitimate sovereign ruling Märchenland once more she had taken +everything for granted. How could she put it right now without appearing +either a traitress to the Kingdom, or at least a foolish old Fairy who +ought to have known her own business better? That was a bitter +reflection for an autocratic dame who had long been accustomed to +consider that age and experience had endowed her with a wisdom which was +absolutely infallible.</p> + +<p>There was just one faint hope to which she clung. She had been mistaken +once—why should she not be mistaken again? Lady Daphne might herself +have bought the pendant from some third person. In that case she would +have no better claim to the throne than Queen Selina, and matters could +be left as they were—which would relieve the Fairy of the unpleasant +necessity of having to admit that she was liable to error.</p> + +<p>She could not rest till she knew more, and so, as soon as she felt equal +to any action, she took her crutch-handled staff, hobbled down the +winding steps, and then up more stairs and along a succession of +corridors, until she reached the door of the chamber she had been told +was Daphne's.</p> + +<p>"I shall know very soon now!" she told herself. "And, after all, there's +nothing to be uneasy about. Whoever this girl may be, it's most unlikely +that she will turn out to be any relation of poor Chrysopras'."</p> + +<p>But, in spite of these reassurances, it was a very tremulous hand that +rapped at the door, and the Court Godmother's heart sank as she heard a +clear sweet voice inviting her to enter.</p> + +<p>It would have been such a relief, just then, to find that Daphne was not +in her room.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI</h2> + +<h3>A WAY OUT</h3> + + +<p>Daphne was rather surprised to see the Court Godmother enter, for she +had not honoured her by any special notice since her first arrival. But +she was pleased, and touched as well, by a visit which she knew must +have cost the old Fairy considerable effort.</p> + +<p>"I thought I'd come up and see how you were getting on, my dear," began +the latter, after sinking into the chair Daphne had brought forward for +her, and recovering her breath. "I hope you are happy here—and—and +well treated?"</p> + +<p>"Quite, thanks, Court Godmother," said Daphne.</p> + +<p>"But you shouldn't sit moping here by yourself like this."</p> + +<p>"Her Majesty doesn't like me to come down until she sends for me," +explained Daphne; "and she hasn't to-day. But I haven't been moping, +Court Godmother; I've been listening to the swallows. They're discussing +their plans for the winter, and they <i>can't</i> make up their minds where +to go, poor darlings!"</p> + +<p>"That's only what you <i>fancy</i> they're talking about," said the Fairy +sharply; for the gift of understanding bird-language is comparatively +rare, and only possessed by those who have a strain of Fairy blood in +their descent. "You can't possibly <i>know</i>!"</p> + +<p>"I didn't till I came here, and then I suddenly found I could. Princess +Ruby declares I make it all up—but I don't. I can even understand what +some of the animals have to say, and its rather fun sometimes. The other +morning in the Gardens I heard a tortoise telling a squirrel——"</p> + +<p>"I daresay, I daresay," interrupted the Court Godmother, who had not +come there to hear the small talk of any tortoise; "I find their +conversation wearisome myself—and so will you when you've been here a +little longer. And so you're comfortable here, are you?" she went on, +looking round the chamber, which had walls of mother-o'-pearl with +hangings of delicate shimmering blue-green at the window and round the +small ivory four-post bed. "Well, this room looks very cool and +pleasant. And you've pretty dresses to wear, it seems. I like that one +you have on—most becoming, though it wants an ornament of some kind to +set it off. But perhaps you don't care for jewellery?"</p> + +<p>"I do," said Daphne, "very much. But I haven't any now, you see."</p> + +<p>"But you had once, hadn't you? I seem to recollect the Queen telling me +she bought something—a pendant, I fancy she said—from you before you +came to Märchenland. Or was it somebody else?"</p> + +<p>"No, it was me," said Daphne. "It was very decent of her, because I was +in rather a hole just then—with a debt I couldn't possibly have paid +otherwise—and the pendant was no use to <i>me</i>, you see—not a thing I +could ever have worn."</p> + +<p>"So you wasted your money in buying an ornament which was unsuited to +you, eh?"</p> + +<p>"I didn't buy it, Court Godmother," said Daphne, and proceeded to +explain—much as she had done at "Inglegarth"—how it came into her +possession. The Fairy questioned her about her father, but she had +little information to give. Even his name was uncertain, as it seemed he +had only moved into his last rooms shortly before his death. All his +landlady could say was that it was something foreign which she could not +pronounce. But she had gathered from certain things he had let fall that +he had led a wandering life as a musician, and had at one period been a +riding-master. She believed that, in the latter capacity, he had met his +young wife, Daphne's mother, and that it had been a runaway marriage. +She died soon after giving birth to Daphne, and left him so +broken-hearted that he did not care to make any fight against illness +when it came to him, but rather welcomed a death that meant re-union. +"But all I <i>really</i> know," concluded Daphne, "is that that pendant +belonged to him, and that my adopted Mother took care of it for me till +I was grown up. And I think he would not have minded my selling it when +I wanted the money so badly."</p> + +<p>"Well, whether he would have minded or not," said the Fairy, "you <i>did</i> +sell it—and a sorry bargain you made of it, too! I'll be bound, now, +that you've told the whole Court about it long ago!"</p> + +<p>"I have told no one, Court Godmother," said Daphne. "Why should I tell +them about my own private affairs? I shouldn't have said anything to +<i>you</i>, if you hadn't heard of it already from her Majesty."</p> + +<p>"You were wise to hold your tongue," remarked the Fairy, greatly +relieved. "For I may tell you that, if the Court once heard that the +Queen bought that jewel from you, it would prejudice them very seriously +against her. And I am sure you would not wish <i>that</i>."</p> + +<p>"Of course I shouldn't wish it," said Daphne, a little haughtily. +"Though how I could prejudice her Majesty by telling anybody of an +instance of her kindness to me, I really don't know. She's scarcely worn +the pendant herself, and now she's given it to Prince Clarence. But +nobody knows that it was once mine, and you can be quite sure that +nobody ever will, from me."</p> + +<p>"In a Court like this, my child," said the Fairy, almost apologetically, +"one cannot be too careful. But I can see you are to be trusted." And, +after some conversation on less dangerous subjects, she retired.</p> + +<p>Her worst fears had been confirmed; she could no longer doubt that +Daphne was Prince Chrysopras's daughter. She wondered now how she could +ever have doubted it. But this constituted her Daphne's official +Godmother. As such, was it not her duty to see that she had her rights?</p> + +<p>If she did her duty to her godchild it might entail very unpleasant +consequences to herself—consequences from which she felt herself +shrinking as much as ever. Might they not be avoided? Daphne evidently +had no suspicion of her claims. And, as the Fairy reminded herself, +"What the eye does not miss the heart will not grieve for." The child +was quite happy and contented as she was. If the Marshal still had any +ambition to resume his power, he would have no scruples about removing +any rival.</p> + +<p>"I should only be exposing her to danger," thought the Court Godmother. +And there were the poor King and Queen to be considered, and the Baron +and the Astrologer Royal, who would all go down in the general <i>débâcle</i> +if the truth were allowed to come out. She was bound to think of +<i>them</i>. So far as she could see, the only result of disclosure would be +to establish the Marshal as Monarch—and they had had quite enough of +him as Regent.</p> + +<p>So, as it is seldom difficult to discover insuperable objections to any +course that one has strong personal reasons for avoiding, the Fairy +easily persuaded herself that she owed it to others to remain silent. +The secret was safe enough. Both Queen Selina and Daphne could be +depended on not to betray it now. It was better for everybody +concerned—particularly the Court Godmother—that it should remain +unknown for ever.</p> + +<p>Still, her conscience smote her a little with regard to Daphne. She was +so well fitted to be a Queen—it seemed hard that she should forfeit the +crown that was rightfully hers. "But that's entirely her own fault!" the +Fairy told herself. "Xuriel read the stars quite correctly. He foretold +not only the very spot where she would be discovered, but the sign by +which she was to be recognised. If she chose to part with the jewel to +another, she must take the consequences. <i>I</i>'m not responsible!"</p> + +<p>And yet, after all, Daphne <i>was</i> her god-daughter, if she could not be +openly acknowledged as such. Something must be done to make up to the +poor child for all she had lost. And here the Fairy had a positively +brilliant idea—why not marry her to Mirliflor? But almost immediately +she remembered with dismay that she had been making a very different +matrimonial arrangement for him. That, however, was before she knew what +she knew now. The case was entirely altered—she could not possibly +allow him to commit himself to an alliance with a daughter of these +usurpers. That must be prevented at all hazards, and fortunately he had +taken no irretrievable step as yet. "Unless I'm much mistaken," she +thought, "he will forget all about Princess Edna if he once sees Lady +Daphne. She ought to be lovely enough to satisfy even <i>his</i> ideal. But +if he doesn't see her soon, it may be too late to save him."</p> + +<p>Like most Fairy Godmothers, she possessed the power of impressing any +<i>protégé</i> of hers who was not more than a couple of hundred leagues away +with a perfectly distinct vision of anybody or anything she chose. She +had made not a few matches by this means in her best days, and some of +them had not turned out at all badly. But it was a long time since she +had last exercised any of her occult faculties. To do so demanded a +concentration of will-power and psychic force which told on her more and +more severely as she advanced in years, and she had resolved to abstain +from any practices that might shorten the life to which she had every +intention of clinging as long as possible.</p> + +<p>"But I must risk it—just for this once," she decided. "Yes, I'll make +him dream of her this very night."</p> + +<p>Meanwhile Queen Selina had informed her daughter of the brilliant future +that awaited her, and was not a little annoyed at Edna's failure to +express the least enthusiasm.</p> + +<p>"I wish Godmother wouldn't meddle like this in my affairs," she said. "I +suppose I shall have to see this Prince Mirliflor now if he comes; but +it is not at all likely that he will have any of the qualities that +appeal to <i>me</i>."</p> + +<p>"My love!" remonstrated Queen Selina. "He will be the King of +Clairdelune some day!"</p> + +<p>"He may be, Mother," returned Edna. "But that is a consideration which I +shall not allow to affect me in the slightest."</p> + +<p>"Of course not, my dear," said her Mother, feeling that Edna could be +safely trusted to look after her own interests. "You are free to decide +exactly as you please. I shall put no pressure on you whatever."</p> + +<p>"My dear Mother," returned Edna, "you would gain nothing by it if you +did."</p> + +<p>That night the Court Godmother retired early, and spent a long and +strenuous vigil in calling up a vivid recollection of Daphne as she had +seen her that afternoon, and imprinting the vision on her godson's +sleeping brain. She was unwell in consequence all the next day, but she +was easier in her mind after having prevented any untoward effects her +counsels might have had upon Mirliflor. It was rather a strain upon her +to face the Royal Family again, but she forced herself, for her own +sake, to treat them with as much outward respect as before.</p> + +<p>She had begun to think that the worst was over when an envoy suddenly +arrived in hot haste from Clairdelune bearing a formal proposal from +Prince Mirliflor for Princess Edna's hand, and the information that he +was following shortly to plead his suit in person.</p> + +<p>He had also entrusted the messenger with a short despatch to his +Godmother, which she read with impotent fury. It was a somewhat involved +and incoherent letter, expressing his thanks for the vision, for which +he could not doubt he was indebted to her, but intimating that she had +convinced him so forcibly that Princess Edna possessed qualities +infinitely more precious than the most exquisite beauty, that his +determination to win her had already been irrevocably fixed.</p> + +<p>"Prefers her to Lady Daphne, does he?" she said to herself, as she +realised that she would be forced to speak out now if he was to be saved +from such an alliance. "Then he must <i>marry</i> her, that's all! I can't +and won't turn all Märchenland topsy-turvy on <i>his</i> account! I've done +all I could for him, and I shall leave him to go his own way. I'll go up +to bed before he arrives, and I expect it will be a long time before I'm +able to come down, for I feel sure I am going to be ill—and little +wonder!"</p> + +<p>Queen Selina was so elated by the Prince's message that she ordered it +to be publicly announced at once. The Court, whom she informed herself, +expressed the greatest delight, and, as for the old Court Chamberlain +von Eisenbänden, he was almost lyrical in his jubilation.</p> + +<p>"This is indeed a glorious day, Madam!" he cried. "It has long been my +dream to see the reigning houses of Märchenland and Clairdelune united, +but of late I had begun to despair that it would ever be accomplished! +And from all I have heard of Prince Mirliflor, her Royal Highness is +almost as much to be felicitated as he!"</p> + +<p>"Thank you, Baron," replied the Queen. "We are all most pleased about +it. Though I shall be very lonely without her. You see," she added, +raising her voice for the benefit of such of her ladies-in-waiting as +happened to be within hearing, "there is no one else here who is any +companion for me. I can't make intimate friends of any of my ladies, as +I could of the dear old Duchess of Gleneagles, for instance, or even +the Marchioness of Muscombe. Ah, my dear Baron, our English aristocracy! +You've nothing to approach them in a country like this—nothing!"</p> + +<p>"I can well understand," he said, "that your Majesty must feel the loss +of such society."</p> + +<p>"I miss it, Baron," Queen Selina confessed, without untruthfulness, +seeing that she always <i>had</i> missed it. "It is only natural that I +should. The Duchess is such a sweet woman—a true <i>grande dame</i>! And the +Marchioness, though only a peeress by <i>marriage</i>, <i>such</i> a clever, +talented creature! They would both have so rejoiced to hear of our dear +Edna's engagement—she was such a favourite of theirs, you know! I +remember the Duchess always prophesied that she would make a brilliant +marriage."</p> + +<p>These particulars were thrown in mainly for the edification of the +Court, but Queen Selina had almost brought herself to believe them, and, +in any case, none of her own family was at hand just then, so she was +safe from contradiction.</p> + +<p>The announcement of Prince Mirlinor's proposal had no sooner reached +Count Rubenfresser's ears than he drove over to the Palace, to ascertain +from Edna herself whether the report had any truth in it. He succeeded +in obtaining a private interview, and at once put his question.</p> + +<p>"It is only true so far as that the Prince has proposed to me by +letter," Edna informed him. "Whether I shall accept him when he appears +will depend entirely upon circumstances."</p> + +<p>"You <i>won't</i> accept him, Princess," said the Count, drawing himself up +to his full height, which was now well over seven feet. "Or, if you do, +he will never wed you. <i>I</i> shall see to that!"</p> + +<p>"Really, Count!" protested Princess Edna, feeling secretly rather +pleased. "I don't quite see what it has to do with <i>you</i>."</p> + +<p>"Don't you?" he replied. "I <i>might</i> want to marry you myself. I've been +thinking of it lately."</p> + +<p>"Have you?" said Edna, not so pleased. "That is very good of you. But +has it never occurred to you that I might have a voice in the matter?"</p> + +<p>"You would <i>have</i> to belong to me, if I wanted you badly enough," he +said calmly.</p> + +<p>"And you're not sure yet if you do want me badly enough, but, in the +meantime, you would prevent anyone else from marrying me if you +could—is <i>that</i> it?"</p> + +<p>"That's exactly it!" he said, gratified at being so thoroughly +understood.</p> + +<p>"Well, can't you see how <i>selfish</i> that is of you?"</p> + +<p>"It's splendid being selfish," he said, "and not really so difficult +after all—when you <i>try</i>."</p> + +<p>"And how do you suppose you could prevent me from marrying Prince +Mirliflor if I thought proper to accept him?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, that would be easy. I should only have to unchain Tützi, and send +him to kill the Prince for me. Tützi's so intelligent and obedient that +he'll do everything I tell him."</p> + +<p>"I think you forget, Count, that it's against the law to let that dragon +loose."</p> + +<p>"I know," he said; "but I've no respect for human laws any more. I'm not +going to obey anything in future, except my own instincts."</p> + +<p>"I'm sure you don't mean that. And if you really sent that dragon to +kill anybody—especially anyone who had done nothing to offend you—it +would be very wicked indeed."</p> + +<p>"Other people might think so," he said. "I shouldn't myself—and that's +all that really matters. I'm going to make my own morality for the +future. I want to be a Superman, like that learned man you told me about +with the odd name. Aren't you glad I'm taking your advice?"</p> + +<p>"Of course I am pleased," said Edna, "that you should be more +independent and unconventional and assert yourself—which is all that +Nietzsche really meant. You mustn't carry it too far, you know."</p> + +<p>"But you said I couldn't be really great unless I felt the will and the +power to inflict great suffering," he said; "and that's just what I <i>do</i> +feel."</p> + +<p>"Yes, but you can feel the will and the power without actually +inflicting suffering," said Edna instructively. "Nietzsche never +intended <i>that</i>. And if you set that horrid dragon of yours at the +Prince, you <i>would</i> inflict very great suffering indeed."</p> + +<p>"I shouldn't mind <i>that</i>," he said.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps not—but Father and Mother would. And you would be imprisoned +again, and lose your dragon as well. But I don't suppose for a moment +you are serious. It would be too absurd of you to threaten violence to a +Prince before I've ever seen him or made up my mind to accept him—which +most likely I shall not do."</p> + +<p>"That is true," he said, rather as if he were glad of an excuse for not +taking any immediate action. "Yes, I will wait till I hear whether he is +betrothed to you or not. But if I find he <i>is</i>, I shall have to clear +him out of my path somehow or other."</p> + +<p>He left Edna with the consciousness that she had been more than usually +interested. The Count was certainly developing. She liked his new air of +self-confident domination. It would be rather thrilling, she thought, to +be wooed in this masterful way. But he had taken some pains to let her +see that he was not sure yet whether she was worth the trouble of +wooing! That was insulting, of course, but he might alter his opinion in +time—and then she would know how to avenge herself. She wondered if +Prince Mirliflor would be ardent and domineering enough to carry her by +storm, and caught herself hoping he might be.</p> + +<p>But when, shortly afterwards, she heard that he was just entering the +Courtyard of the Palace with his suite, she was seized by a sudden +panic. "<i>You</i> go down and speak to him, Mother," she implored the Queen. +"I—I can't see him just yet. And make him understand that I must get to +know him better before I can give him a definite answer."</p> + +<p>Queen Selina bustled down to the State Reception Hall, where she arrived +in a highly flurried condition, just after the Prince and his brilliant +retinue had been ushered in.</p> + +<p>"My dear Prince!" she began. "This is really <i>too</i> kind! So delighted by +your proposal—we <i>all</i> are—dear Edna especially. We feel it such a +compliment. My husband—his Majesty, I mean—will be in directly, but +Edna has asked me to make her apologies for not coming down for a few +minutes. The poor child—naturally—is feeling a little shy and +overcome."</p> + +<p>"Madam," said the Prince, whose comely face and gallant bearing had +already won him the sympathies of those of the Court who were present, +and particularly the Court Chamberlain's, "I count each minute a month +until I have the happiness of looking upon the enchanting face that has +haunted me constantly from the moment I beheld it in a vision."</p> + +<p>"In a vision?" cried the Queen. "How very odd! But how did you know, +Prince, it was our Edna?"</p> + +<p>"I will attempt to describe my vision, Madam," he replied, "and, though +my poor words cannot hope to do it justice, they will at least convince +you that it was indeed the Princess whom I was permitted to see."</p> + +<p>He described her as well as he could, though with a growing bewilderment +that the lady of his dream should have a Mother who so little resembled +her.</p> + +<p>Queen Selina listened to his rhapsody with misgivings. With every +allowance for the fervour of a lover who was also a Fairy Prince, even +maternal partiality could not blind her to the fact that his description +would be far less incorrect as applied to that Heritage girl than to the +Princess Edna.</p> + +<p>"It certainly <i>suggests</i> dear Edna, Prince," she remarked, with a mental +note that Daphne must be kept out of his way. "Except, perhaps in one or +two respects; but then you can't expect to see people in dreams looking +<i>exactly</i> like themselves, <i>can</i> you? I'll run up and bring her down to +you—and, if a Mother may say so, I <i>don't</i> think you'll be <i>very</i> +disappointed."</p> + +<p>But it was to Daphne's chamber that she went first. "Oh, Miss Heritage," +she began, quite pleasantly, "I'm going to ask you to do something for +me. I don't at all like the effect of those jewels they've sewn on to +the front of my satin-brocade. I'm sure they would look much better on +my cloth-of-gold skirt. <i>Would</i> you mind getting both skirts from my +wardrobe and just making the necessary alterations for me? You had +better set to work at once, as I may be requiring the cloth-of-gold very +shortly. And as time is pressing, I will tell them to bring all your +meals up here till the work is done. It's so important that I can't +trust any of the regular ladies-in-waiting with it."</p> + +<p>"That disposes of <i>her</i> for at least a week," she reflected, as she went +on to Princess Edna's apartments. "And everything ought to be settled +long before <i>that</i>!"</p> + +<p>When, a little later, she smilingly re-entered the Reception Hall with +one arm affectionately placed round her reluctant daughter's waist, it +cannot be denied that the Prince was very much disappointed indeed. The +vision had not prepared him for Edna's <i>pince-nez</i>, among other matters, +and altogether he felt that his Godmother had exaggerated the Princess's +personal attractions to a most unscrupulous degree. But this he had +sufficient self-command to conceal. In fact, he rather overdid it, +though it was only to himself that his courtly greeting sounded fulsome +and insincere.</p> + +<p>But if Edna detected no extravagance in his homage, she was none the +more pleased with it. It made her feel awkward and self-conscious. She +set him down in her own mind as "too finicking," while his good looks +did not happen to be of a type that appealed to her.</p> + +<p>Still, they got through the first interview fairly well, though both +were relieved when a message came from the Court Godmother that she was +feeling too indisposed to leave her apartments, but would be glad to see +him as soon as he was at liberty. He had himself conducted to her at +once, and was not a little aggrieved, as well as surprised, by the +asperity of his reception.</p> + +<p>"Well," she said peevishly; "so you've seen your Princess, have you? +And now I suppose it is all settled between you?"</p> + +<p>"Not yet," he said stiffly. "I believe she is reserving her answer till +we are better acquainted."</p> + +<p>"But you don't expect it will be unfavourable, do you?"</p> + +<p>"Do <i>you</i>, Godmother? I can't think you would have urged me to present +myself here to be publicly humiliated."</p> + +<p>"Oh, there's no doubt she will accept you," she said, with a sharp +twinge. "You need have no apprehensions on that score. And, as you no +longer consider beauty indispensable, I daresay she will be as +satisfactory a helpmate as you could wish."</p> + +<p>"I daresay," he agreed dully; and then his pent-up grievance suddenly +broke out in spite of him. "With all respect to you, Godmother +Voldoiseau," he said, "I don't consider you've treated me fairly over +this! You persuaded me that it was my duty to marry at once, and that +there were better and more permanent qualities than beauty. I'm not +complaining of <i>that</i>—I am quite ready to believe that the Princess +Edna is as learned and admirable a lady as you gave me to understand, +while she is not without good looks of a kind. But why send me a vision +representing her as a miracle of loveliness? That is a deception which I +can't understand, and I confess I find hard to forgive!"</p> + +<p>How could she have foreseen that he would be foolish enough to imagine +that the vision represented Edna? But the worst of it was that the Fairy +could not explain her real intention just then without landing herself +in fresh difficulties. So she sought refuge in prevarication.</p> + +<p>"<i>I</i> send you a vision!" she said. "I don't know what you're talking +about, Mirliflor. A vision, indeed!"</p> + +<p>"Didn't it come from <i>you</i>?" he asked lamely. "I—I made sure it must +have."</p> + +<p>"You had no business to make sure of anything of the kind. And if you +choose to dream that your future bride is more beautiful than she +happens to be, I don't see why you should put the blame on <i>me</i>! But the +truth is you're longing for some excuse for getting out of this +marriage. Come, Mirliflor, you know you are—and you had better say so +frankly."</p> + +<p>"It is not so, Godmother," he replied; "I'm quite prepared to obey your +wishes. After all, since I <i>must</i> marry, I am not likely to find a more +advantageous match than this. Besides, I couldn't possibly back out of +it now—even if I desired."</p> + +<p>"And what," asked the Fairy, "if you actually meet the Princess of your +dreams?" She was ignorant of the Queen's man[oe]uvre, and so thought he +could not well fail to come across Daphne that very evening.</p> + +<p>"That is so likely!" he said bitterly. "A mere creation of my own +mind—an ideal that I ought to have known would never be realised! No, +Godmother, since there is no hope of that, it matters little to me whom +I marry!"</p> + +<p>"Listen to me, Mirliflor," said the Fairy impatiently. "I—I'm not so +bent on this alliance as I was. Never mind <i>why</i>—but I'm not. +And—and—if you would rather withdraw, it's not too late. <i>I</i> see +nothing to prevent you."</p> + +<p>"Nothing to prevent me!" replied Mirliflor indignantly. "There is my +honour! What Prince with any sense of honour at all could propose to a +Princess and then inform her that he finds, after a personal interview, +that he has changed his intentions? You of all people, Godmother +Voldoiseau, should know that we cannot <i>do</i> these things!"</p> + +<p>"Those ideals again!" said the exasperated Fairy. "You'll drive me out +of all patience directly! But there—I've said all I could, and if you +<i>will</i> be pig-headed, you must. And now I'll ask you to go away, as I'm +really not well enough to bear any more conversation."</p> + +<p>He had not been gone more than ten minutes when there was another knock +at her door, and this time it was Princess Edna herself who entered.</p> + +<p>"So it's <i>you</i>, is it?" snapped the Court Godmother, with none of her +customary urbanity. And then, recollecting the necessity of keeping up +appearances, threw in a belated "my dear." "Well, I hear you are taking +time before you put Mirliflor out of suspense, but I presume you've +already decided to accept him?"</p> + +<p>"That's what I came to consult you about, Court Godmother," replied +Edna. "I don't feel that I—he is at all a person I could ever be happy +with. He is not on the same intellectual plane with me—we should have +nothing whatever in common. He seems to have none of the qualities that +would make me respect and look up to a man."</p> + +<p>Relieved though she was, the Fairy still resented any disparagement of +her favourite godson from such a quarter.</p> + +<p>"Hoity-toity!" she exclaimed—an expression which, if it ever was +popular, is no longer used by anyone but Fairy Godmothers—and even the +Fairy only indulged in it under extreme provocation. "Let me tell you +that Mirliflor is not generally regarded as ineligible. But, no doubt, +my dear," she added acidly, "you have every right to be fastidious." +She was greatly tempted to let her know that Mirliflor would be anything +but broken-hearted by a refusal, but prudence warned her that she had +better not. "And may I ask what you propose to say to him?"</p> + +<p>"Oh," said Edna, "I suppose I shall have to tell him to-night that I +find I don't like him enough to marry him."</p> + +<p>"And give everybody to understand that he is personally displeasing to +you! Indeed you will not!" said the old Fairy imperiously. "<i>Other</i> +persons' feelings have to be considered as well as your own. <i>Mine</i>, for +one. Mirliflor would never forgive me for exposing him to such +humiliation. Nor would his father, King Tournesol, for that matter, and +I can't afford to quarrel with either of them. You can't get rid of an +unwelcome suitor like that—at all events, not in Märchenland!"</p> + +<p>"Can't I?" said Edna. "Then how <i>am</i> I to get rid of him?"</p> + +<p>"A Princess of high breeding," replied the Fairy, "finds some means of +tempering her refusal so as to avoid wounding her suitor's pride; and I +may tell you Mirliflor has more than his share of that. The usual method +here is to accept him, on condition that he succeeds in answering some +question so difficult that it is no disgrace if he fails to answer it."</p> + +<p>"Do you mean something in the nature of a riddle?" asked Edna.</p> + +<p>"Well, a riddle will do. Yes, there are precedents for that. A riddle +would be quite in accordance with Court etiquette. Ask him a riddle if +you like."</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid I am not very familiar with riddles," said Edna. "I have +never found them particularly amusing myself. But I must try and +remember one. It needn't be so very difficult, because he doesn't seem +to me clever enough to guess <i>any</i> riddle."</p> + +<p>"Quite clever enough not to try!" was on the tip of the Fairy's tongue, +though she did not say it. "I've no doubt, my dear," she replied, "that +any riddle you may ask Mirliflor will be quite beyond his power to +answer."</p> + +<p>"Thank you very much for your advice, Court Godmother," said Edna. "I +daresay I shall be able to remember a riddle of some sort by this +evening."</p> + +<p>The Fairy felt that she had extricated herself from her dilemma with +considerable tact and ingenuity. Not only had she delivered her godson +from the slight of being summarily rejected by this upstart girl, but +she had saved herself from all necessity to make any compromising +disclosures.</p> + +<p>"Yes," she told herself complacently, "I've really got myself and +Mirliflor out of it very neatly indeed. I mayn't be quite as +quick-witted as I was in my prime—but I'm not in my dotage <i>just</i> +yet!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII</h2> + +<h3>UNWELCOME ANNOUNCEMENTS</h3> + + +<p>Princess Edna took the earliest opportunity of acting on the Fairy +Vogelflug's suggestion. At the conclusion of the banquet that evening, +she requested King Sidney to order the silver trumpets to be flourished, +and when this had been done and an expectant hush fell upon the +assembly, she rose. After regarding the Prince, who sat on her right, +with a graciousness which, enhanced as it was by her <i>pince-nez</i>, struck +terror into his very soul, she began in a high, clear tone:</p> + +<p>"You all know, I think," she said, "that his Royal Highness Prince +Mirliflor of Clairdelune has done me the great honour of asking me to be +his wife, and that I have promised him my answer this evening. That +answer I am now about to give. Prince Mirliflor, you have impressed me +so favourably that, although I had previously no thought of marrying, I +have decided to accept you." At this the whole Court broke out in +frantic and rapturous applause, for they had been most anxious for the +Prince to succeed in his project—if only for the reason that it would +entail the removal of Princess "Four-eyes" to Clairdelune. The King +exclaimed, "Quite right! Sensible girl!" and Queen Selina assured the +Prince that he had won a treasure. Clarence, who had taken a liking to +his new brother-in-law, which was not entirely reciprocated, rose and +clapped him heartily on the back, while the old Court Chamberlain could +scarcely contain his pride and joy. Edna held up her hand for silence. +"Wait, please!" she said; "I haven't finished. I said I would accept +you, Prince Mirliflor, and so I will—on condition that you are able to +give the correct answer to a question I am about to ask you."</p> + +<p>There was a murmur of disappointment at this, though it was generally +recognised that the Princess's action was quite <i>en règle</i>. The Prince, +feeling that it was at least a reprieve, begged her to put the question +without keeping him in any further suspense.</p> + +<p>"My question is this," said Edna: "Why did the sausage roll?"</p> + +<p>"Hang it all, Edna!" cried Clarence, "you're not going to chuck him +unless he can guess a rotten riddle like that!"</p> + +<p>"Of <i>course</i> not!" said her anxious Mother. "Don't be alarmed, dear +Prince Mirliflor. She doesn't mean it <i>seriously</i>. It—it's a little +joke, that's all!"</p> + +<p>"It's not a joke, Mother," said Edna; "I'm perfectly serious. I am sure +Prince Mirliflor is so clever that he will have no difficulty in +guessing the riddle. If he can't—well, I shall be very sorry, but—I +shall not be able to marry him."</p> + +<p>"Alas, Princess!" said Mirliflor, "but it passes my poor wit to discover +why the sausage rolled."</p> + +<p>"Will your Majesties pardon me," struck in the Court Chamberlain, "if I +humbly offer a suggestion. Such a problem as her Royal Highness has +propounded cannot be solved in a moment. It is only just to his Royal +Highness Prince Mirliflor that he should be given a night to reflect +before delivering his answer."</p> + +<p>"Certainly," said the King; "you must see that yourself, Edna. Give him +a chance—every chance!"</p> + +<p>"I have no objection, Father," said Edna. "The Prince shall have till +to-morrow morning to think it over—but I can give him no longer."</p> + +<p>"It's an infernal shame, Mirliflor!" said Clarence. "I haven't an idea +why the bally sausage rolled, or I'd tell you, dear old chap!"</p> + +<p>"I am sure you would, my dear Prince Clarence!" Mirliflor assured him; +"but, believe me, I am none the less grateful to you."</p> + +<p>Queen Selina did all she could think of to persuade her daughter to +alter her decision, and, when this failed, to extract the answer to the +momentous conundrum, which Edna knew her mother too well to confide to +her, so that at length she was obliged to take up her bedroom taper and +retreat, with a Parthian prediction that such folly would be bitterly +repented in the future.</p> + +<p>Edna's next visitor was the Court Godmother, on whose entrance she at +once informed her waiting-women that she would not require their further +services that night. "Well, Godmother," she began, as soon as they were +alone together, "I did as you advised, you see. And—you don't think +Prince Mirliflor can possibly find out the answer, do you?"</p> + +<p>"My good girl," said the Fairy, "I'd defy the Astrologer Royal himself +to find it out, if he consulted all the stars and all his mystic books +into the bargain! How the dickens did you come to invent such a riddle +as that?"</p> + +<p>"I didn't invent it," said Edna; "I heard it a long time ago—at the +Theatre—in some silly play. I've forgotten what the play was +about—but I remembered the riddle."</p> + +<p>"Are you sure you remember the answer? I have heard of sausages +<i>talking</i> occasionally, and I daresay they can roll, but I fail to see +what intelligible reason <i>any</i> sausage could give for doing it."</p> + +<p>"It's a catch," explained Edna. "It's like this. Why did the sausage +roll? Because it saw the jam-<i>turnover</i>. <i>Now</i> do you see?"</p> + +<p>"I can't say I do, my dear. It seems senseless to <i>me</i>. But that's all +the better—the more idiotic it is, the less chance of its being +guessed. Yes, on the whole, I don't think you could have thought of a +better one."</p> + +<p>Shortly afterwards Prince Mirliflor, just as he was about to extinguish +the flambeaux and turn into bed, was startled to see his door opening by +some mysterious means. He was more startled still when the figure of the +old Court Chamberlain suddenly materialised in the centre of the room.</p> + +<p>"Your Royal Highness will forgive my intrusion," said the Baron, "when I +explain the object of this visit. My reason for suggesting that the +Princess should grant you a night to answer her question was that I felt +convinced that she would be unable to refrain from telling it to some +person—her mother, most probably. So I resolved by means of this" (and +here he exhibited a small skull-cap of purple silk) "to penetrate unseen +to the Princess's apartments and overhear her conversation. To my +disappointment, she would reveal nothing to Her Majesty, but by-and-by +the Court Godmother paid the Princess a visit, in the course of which I, +remaining, of course, invisible, succeeded in learning the secret on +which your Royal Highness's happiness and the hopes of all Märchenland +depend. The answer, it seems—though I must admit I can make little of +it myself—is——"</p> + +<p>"Stop, Baron!" interrupted Prince Mirliflor, "I refuse—do you hear?—I +refuse to take advantage of any information obtained in such a +disreputable manner—I insist on your leaving this room at once without +another word!"</p> + +<p>"But, sire, hear me! This is not a case for being over-scrupulous. In +love, as in war, all is fair. And the answer is—'Because——'"</p> + +<p>"<i>Will</i> you get out?" cried the Prince, stopping both his ears. "I won't +hear you. I can't, as you can see. And if you don't clear out at once, +I'll strike this gong for the guard!"</p> + +<p>The Baron, seeing that he could do no more, hastily put on his cap again +and disappeared. "What a pity," he thought, "that such a fine young +Prince should be so priggish when his own interests are concerned!"</p> + +<p>But although Mirliflor's code of honour was undoubtedly high, it is +quite possible that he might not have stopped his ears quite so +hermetically if Princess Edna had only borne a closer resemblance to his +vision of her.</p> + +<p>As it was, even if the Baron had forced him to hear the answer, it would +have made no difference, since he had not the least intention of +profiting by it, and so he slept soundly, with no apprehensions +concerning what the morrow might bring him.</p> + +<p>Shortly after breakfast the next day the Court filled the body of the +Hall of Audience, on the dais of which the King and Queen presently +appeared and took their thrones, Prince Mirliflor and the members of +the Royal Family being accommodated with lower seats on the same +platform.</p> + +<p>"Now, Prince Mirliflor," remarked Edna sweetly, "you have been given a +night to consider the answer to my question. I hope you have found it?"</p> + +<p>The Prince was about to confess his utter inability to do so, when, to +his extreme annoyance, he found that the Baron, who had stationed +himself behind his chair, was whispering discreetly into his ear. "Will +you be kind enough to leave me alone, Baron?" he said in a savage +undertone. "I've told you already that I don't desire any interference +in my affairs. Oblige me by holding your tongue!"</p> + +<p>"Certainly, your Royal Highness," said the Baron obsequiously, "your +wishes shall be obeyed.... His Royal Highness, Madam," he said aloud, +"begs me to make his excuses. He feels too much agitated to speak for +himself, but instructs me to say that he believes the reason why the +sausage rolled was because it had seen the jam pasty. And," he added +confidently, "your Royal Highness will, I am sure, be gracious enough to +admit that Prince Mirliflor has answered her question with absolute +correctness."</p> + +<p>Mirliflor's attempts to deny that he had offered any solution whatever +were unheard in the tumult of acclamation which followed the Court +Chamberlain's announcement.</p> + +<p>"He <i>hasn't</i> given the correct answer!" declared Edna, as soon as +silence could be obtained. "He ought to have said 'the jam +<i>turnover</i>'—not the 'jam <i>pasty</i>'!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, come, my dear!" said her father. "That's splitting hairs, you know. +He was near enough. What's the difference?"</p> + +<p>"None that <i>I</i> can see," pronounced the Queen. "Both are pastry, and +both contain jam. Yes, Prince Mirliflor, you have won the dear child, as +I'm sure you richly deserved to!"</p> + +<p>"How <i>can</i> you say that, Mother?" cried Edna, scarlet with vexation. +"When his answer utterly missed the point? And, anyhow, it was given by +proxy, so it doesn't count!"</p> + +<p>"H'm—ha!" said King Sydney, "that's rather a ticklish question! What do +<i>you</i> think, my love?" and he consulted the Queen in undertones for a +minute or two. "Well," he announced presently, "her Majesty and myself +both consider that the Prince's answer should be adjudged correct, and +that its having been given by proxy is—ah—no disqualification +whatever. Still, to avoid all appearance of favouritism, we propose to +refer the case to the final decision of our Council."</p> + +<p>"I say!" protested Clarence in a horrified whisper, "you're never going +to leave it to those old pumps?"</p> + +<p>"It's quite safe, my boy," said the King. "<i>They</i> won't give it against +him!"</p> + +<p>So, after the Councillors had filed out to deliberate, Clarence devoted +himself to keeping up Mirliflor's spirits, though the latter could not +be induced to see that he had no cause for uneasiness.</p> + +<p>But King Sidney had not been mistaken in his prediction; after a short +absence the Councillors filed in again and reported that they were +unanimously of opinion that Prince Mirliflor had succeeded.</p> + +<p>"There, my dear," said the King to the Princess Royal, as soon as the +shouts of joy had quieted down, "you've got the Council's decision. Give +the Prince your hand, and let's have no more bother about it."</p> + +<p>"I won't!" declared Edna, losing all self-control in her rage and +disappointment. "He hasn't won me fairly. I've been tricked into this, +and it's all the Court Godmother's doing!"</p> + +<p>No accusation could well be more unjust, but it was difficult for the +Fairy to disprove it without declaring that she had done her utmost to +hinder the match—and this would have been impolitic just then.</p> + +<p>"<i>My</i> doing, forsooth!" she repeated. "If you really believe that, you +were never more mistaken in your life!"</p> + +<p>"Oh no, I'm not mistaken!" said Edna. "It was <i>you</i> who suggested my +asking the riddles—and you were the only person I told the answer. If +you did not tell him, I should like to know who <i>did</i>!"</p> + +<p>"May I remind you, Princess," said Mirliflor, "that the answer was not +made by me?"</p> + +<p>"You let the Baron answer for you, which is just as bad!" retorted Edna. +"And I absolutely refuse to be trapped and cheated into marrying +anybody!"</p> + +<p>"<i>My</i> conscience at least is clear," he said. "But I am to understand +that you decline to marry me, Princess—is that so?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly I do. Nothing would induce me to accept you after this! I +don't care what Father and Mother or the Council or anyone says! +When—if—I marry I intend to choose for myself. And you are about the +last person, Prince Mirliflor, I should ever dream of choosing!"</p> + +<p>"I am desolated to hear it, Princess," he replied, with admirable +patience and resignation. "But since I have the misfortune to be so +obnoxious to you, the only service I can render you now is to relieve +you of my presence as soon as possible."</p> + +<p>Queen Selina implored him to stay to lunch, and even held out hopes that +Edna might relent in time—but all her entreaties were in vain. To her +infinite chagrin and the general lamentation, he insisted on leaving the +Palace within an hour. He said no farewell to his Godmother, who for her +part was glad to escape a private interview with him, but he took his +leave of his host and hostess with all due outward courtesy, though +inwardly fuming with rage and impatience to quit a place where he +considered he had been so wantonly insulted.</p> + +<p>Count von Rubenfresser must have got wind from some quarter of the +Prince's discomfiture, for on the very next day he turned up at the +Palace about lunch time, according to his previous habit, and Queen +Selina, though far from delighted at his appearance, could hardly avoid +inviting him to remain. His manner at table was considerably more +assured, and his appetite, if anything, heartier than usual, but even so +he seemed, to all but Princess Edna, an indifferent substitute for the +Prince whose departure they were still mourning.</p> + +<p>Edna, however, seemed to make a point of treating him with marked +favour, so much so that, when lunch was over and the Royal Family had +removed to the Terrace, it was rather with disgust than surprise that +they discovered that the Princess Royal and the Count had stolen off +together to a secluded part of the gardens.</p> + +<p>Whether <i>amour propre</i> had incited her to make a special effort to +overcome his hesitation, or absence and jealousy had quickened his +somewhat lagging ardour, none could say with any certainty, but when +they eventually re-appeared, Queen Selina observed with positive horror +that they were walking hand-in-hand.</p> + +<p>"It's quite all right, Mother," said Edna, as they came within speaking +distance; "Ruprecht and I are engaged."</p> + +<p>"Engaged!" spluttered King Sidney. "You've got to get your Mother's +consent for that, you know. And we couldn't hear of it. Not for a +moment! Eh, my love?"</p> + +<p>"Of course not!" said the Queen. "Entirely out of the question!"</p> + +<p>"We expected this," remarked Edna calmly. "But no amount of opposition +will make the slightest difference to <i>us</i>—will it, Ruprecht?"</p> + +<p>"Not the slightest," he replied. "At least—to ME."</p> + +<p>"But think, my dear, only <i>think</i>!" the distressed Queen entreated Edna. +"After you've just made us all so unpopular by refusing a Prince, you +simply <i>can't</i> go and engage yourself to some one whose position is so +far beneath your own!"</p> + +<p>"Ruprecht is above me in every sense," said Edna; "and because I'm a +Princess by no wish of mine is no reason why I should sacrifice myself +for reasons of state. I utterly and entirely deny that any parents, no +matter what their position in life, have the right nowadays to dictate +to their children whom they should marry or not marry. Of course, I +would rather you were sensible enough to recognise our engagement, but +if you aren't, I shall simply marry Ruprecht just the same."</p> + +<p>Queen Selina reflected. If she refused consent, it would only end in a +still worse situation. And, after all, she would have been proud enough +in her Gablehurst days to be able to announce her daughter's engagement +to a real Count with a fine and ancient castle.</p> + +<p>"Well," she said, "if it's understood that there must be no thought of +marriage for at least a year——"</p> + +<p>"Oh, Ruprecht will wait a year for me—won't you, Ruprecht? But the +engagement must be proclaimed at once—we insist on <i>that</i>. And now you +may kiss Mother, Ruprecht, and tell her that you already look on +yourself as her son."</p> + +<p>The Count stooped to give his prospective Mother-in-law an amateurish +embrace, while Ruby fled, fearing that her own turn would come next. +"Good Lord, Edna!" said Clarence, drawing her aside, "have you gone +dotty or what? To go and chuck a real good sort like Mirliflor, and then +take this overgrown bounder—it beats me what you can see in the +beggar!"</p> + +<p>"I see a man, Clarence, whom I feel I can really look up to."</p> + +<p>"You'll have the devil of a way to look up, if he goes on growing much +longer. He's shot up lately like a bally beanstalk!"</p> + +<p>"You are jealous because he makes you feel so small. I glory in his +being so big. He is just my idea of a superman!"</p> + +<p>"Strike out 'man' and substitute 'swine'!" said Clarence, "and I'm with +you!"</p> + +<p>"There's no need to descend to vulgarity, Clarence. And it seems a pity +you should be so prejudiced against him when he is only anxious to prove +the affection he feels for <i>you</i>!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, <i>is</i> he? Well, if he comes pawing me about, he'll find out what +<i>my</i> sentiments are!"</p> + +<p>"I should advise you to be civil to him—for your own sake," said Edna +coldly, "because he's rather a powerful person."</p> + +<p>Queen Selina had no option but to inform the Court of the engagement +without delay, and the general consternation it caused could only find +expression in chilling silence.</p> + +<p>To the Court Godmother she tried to present the matter as favourably as +possible. "I don't pretend," she said, "that it is quite all we could +desire from a mere worldly point of view. But in a case of true love on +both sides such as this, his Majesty and I both feel that it would not +be <i>right</i> to interfere. And you know what dear Edna can be when she's +once set her mind on anything. Besides," she concluded, "we've insisted +on their being engaged for a year—a good deal may happen before then."</p> + +<p>"It may," agreed the Fairy; "and I shall be very much surprised if it +doesn't. But, so far as I am concerned, Princess Edna may bestow her +hand as she pleases. I shall never go out of my way to find her a suitor +again, I can assure you!"</p> + +<p>It had already occurred to her that the Royal Family might very shortly +find Märchenland too hot to hold them, which would relieve her of all +responsibility for them. So she saw no reason for interfering with any +of their proceedings.</p> + +<p>Ruby rushed excitedly up to Daphne's chamber, where she had been hurting +her pretty fingers by laboriously unpicking the innumerable jewels from +one of the Queen's robes and sewing them on to another. "Oh, Miss +Heritage, dear," she began, "it's such <i>ages</i> since I've seen you, and +I've such lots to tell you about. Just fancy! Edna's engaged!... No, +not Prince Mirliflor! She sent <i>him</i> away the day before yesterday. I +can't think why—when he was so perfectly ripping. It's Count +Rubenfresser."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Ruby!" cried Daphne in dismay. "Not to <i>him</i>! How <i>can</i> she?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know—but she is. Mums doesn't like it, of course, but she's +had to give in, and they'll be married in a year. Isn't it awful? +There's only <i>one</i> advantage about it that <i>I</i> can see—Tützi will be +one of the family now.... Oh, and you needn't go on sewing any more. +Mummy said after lunch that she'd forgotten to tell you she won't want +the skirt altered after all, and that you might come down again as usual +now."</p> + +<p>So Daphne made her re-appearance that evening, and was welcomed by the +Court with as much effusion as if they had not seen her for weeks. The +Count was there, his towering form more splendidly apparelled, as became +his new <i>rôle</i> of an accepted suitor, and she soon learnt that she was +by no means alone in loathing the thought of the engagement. Princess +Edna was in such high good humour that she not only deigned to single +out Daphne by her notice, but actually offered to present her to her +<i>fiancé</i>—an honour from which Daphne had the courage to beg that she +might be excused.</p> + +<p>"I see how it is, Miss Heritage," said Edna, with a frown, "You can't +understand my rejecting a Prince and preferring some one of so far +inferior a rank. I really should not have thought you would be quite so +snobbish as that!"</p> + +<p>"It isn't that, Princess Edna," said Daphne desperately. "It's +because—I'm sure—I can't explain why, but I am sure he's bad—<i>really</i> +bad!"</p> + +<p>"If you mean by that—that he is not a pattern of virtue like Prince +Mirliflor," said Edna, "he is none the worse for it, in <i>my</i> eyes!"</p> + +<p>"I meant more—much more than that. But I ought not to have said +anything."</p> + +<p>"Oh, pray go on. In fact, I <i>insist</i> on it."</p> + +<p>"Well, then, Princess Edna," said Daphne undauntedly, "not only I, but +almost everybody at Court, think that a marriage with Count von +Rubenfresser would be a horrible mistake."</p> + +<p>"So <i>you</i> have joined the league against him, have you, Miss Heritage?" +said Edna. "But, of course, you would condemn anyone who failed to +conform to your prim, governessy little notions of right and wrong. I +might have known as much! I am only sorry I should have gone out of my +way to offer you a privilege you are so incapable of appreciating. You +may now retire."</p> + +<p>Daphne retreated accordingly. She knew very well that she would have +been wiser in her own interests to hold her tongue, and she had +certainly done no good by speaking. But for no earthly inducement would +she have allowed herself to be presented to that detestable Count. She +had been almost forced to speak plainly, if only in the faint hope of +opening Edna's eyes to a sense of what she was doing. And though she had +failed, she did not in the least regret having spoken. If the other +ladies-in-waiting had known of her protest she would have been more +idolised by them than ever, but a lingering sense of loyalty kept her +from saying anything that might increase their disaffection for +"Princess Four-Eyes."</p> + +<p>Perhaps the person in the Royal Household who felt the engagement most +acutely was the old Court Chamberlain. Queen Selina, returning from a +drive the next day, discovered him weeping, or rather absolutely +blubbering, in a darker corner of one of the passages. "I can't help it, +your Majesty," he said, almost inarticulate with emotion. "That the +Princess should have scorned such a consort as Prince Mirliflor for one +whose parentage—it's too much to bear! I think my old heart would break +if I had not once more put a hoop around it. If your Majesty only knew +how your subjects detest such an alliance as this!"</p> + +<p>"I don't see what it has to do with <i>them</i>, Baron," said the Queen. "But +they have certainly been less respectful lately. I'm afraid we shall +have to take a sack of gold out again on our next drive. I was most +alarmed this afternoon by a rude person throwing something into the +coach which I quite thought at first was a bomb. However, it turned out +to be only a particularly fine turnip, though it very narrowly missed +his Majesty's nose. Of course, as the Marshal assures us, it <i>may</i> have +been intended merely as a humble sort of offering, but I should like to +feel surer about it than I do. And—strictly between ourselves, Baron—I +should be only too thankful if this engagement was broken off. But what +can I <i>do</i>? The Princess won't listen to <i>me</i>!"</p> + +<p>"Perchance," said the Baron, "she would allow herself to be influenced +by the noble ladies whom your Majesty spoke of."</p> + +<p>"The Duchess of Gleneagles and the Marchioness of Muscombe? Ah, my dear +Baron, she might, if they were only here! I know they would do their +best to persuade her. But what is the use of thinking of that, when they +are both so far away?"</p> + +<p>"And doubtless your Majesty is in ignorance of their very whereabouts."</p> + +<p>"Oh, they would be in London just now," said the Queen, not displeased +to exhibit her knowledge. "The dear Duchess travelled down from the +North sometime ago to her town residence in Stratford Place—had her +tiara stolen on the journey, Baron—and came to tell me about it at +once, poor soul! And—yes, the Muscombes must be back in that cosy +little flat of theirs in Mount Street by this time. They always spend +Easter in London, you know."</p> + +<p>"In London!" sighed the Baron. "That is truly a far cry from our +Märchenland! But your Majesty can see that, in my present spirits, I +should make but a sorry figure at Court. Have I your leave to absent +myself for a brief period!"</p> + +<p>"By all means—as long as you like," said the Queen, who rightly +considered that a Court Chamberlain in constant floods of tears would do +little to relieve the prevailing depression. And so the Baron did not +appear that evening, which might have excited some remark if anyone had +happened to notice his absence.</p> + +<p>On the following morning Queen Selina paid a surprise visit to the +Tapestry Chamber, where her ladies were more or less busy in +embroidering "chair-backs" (she was too much in the movement not to know +that the term "antimacassars" was a solecism). It was an industry she +had lately invented for them, and they held it in healthy abhorrence.</p> + +<p>She had not had at all a good night, and was consequently inclined to be +aggressive. "Good morning, girls," she began, "I fancy I heard, just +before I came in, one of you mentioning a person of the name of 'Old +Mother Schwellenposch.' The speaker, if I'm not mistaken, was Baroness +Bauerngrosstochterheimer."</p> + +<p>"It was, your Majesty," admitted the Baroness, rising and curtseying.</p> + +<p>"And who, may I ask, is this Mother—whatever-her-name is? Some vulgar +acquaintance of yours, I presume?"</p> + +<p>"If your Majesty is so pleased to describe her, it is not for me to +protest," was the Baroness's demure reply, followed by suppressed but +quite audible giggles from her companions.</p> + +<p>"Why you should all snigger in that excessively unladylike way is best +known to yourselves," said Queen Selina. "But I can make allowances for +you, considering who your ancestresses <i>were</i>! It's true I <i>had</i> hoped +when I first came here that, if I could not expect quite the sort of +society I had been accustomed to, I should at least have people about me +of ordinary refinement! As it is, I often wonder what my dear friends +the Duchess of Gleneagles and the Marchioness of Muscombe would say if +they knew the class of persons I have to associate with. I can fancy how +they would pity me. When one has enjoyed the privilege of intimacy with +really great ladies like them, one is all the more apt to notice the +difference.... Is that you, Baron? Returned so soon? But you shouldn't +come bursting in like this without asking for an audience. That is +<i>quite</i> against my rules!"</p> + +<p>"Your Majesty will, I feel sure, pardon the intrusion when you hear my +tidings," said the Baron. "I have the honour to inform your Majesty that +your high-born friends, the Grand Duchess of Gleneagles and the +Margravine of Muscombe, are now in the Palace!"</p> + +<p>"The—the Duchess? And the Marchioness?" cried the Queen. "Nonsense, +Baron! It must be some silly mistake of yours. How could they possibly +get <i>here</i>?"</p> + +<p>"In the stork-car, your Majesty," he explained. "I brought them myself. +As they are still sunk in sleep, I have had them laid on couches in one +of the vestibules, and instructed the Lady Daphne to remain in +attendance."</p> + +<p>"Good gracious!" said Queen Selina faintly. She was painfully conscious +that her face must be expressing dismay rather than delight, and that +her ladies-in-waiting had not failed to notice it. "What a—what a +delightful surprise! And Lady Daphne with them, did you say? I—I'll go +to them at once!"</p> + +<p>If the poor Court Chamberlain had expected any gratitude from his +Sovereign when they got outside, he received none. She did not speak to +him at all—possibly because she could not trust herself, and she +hurried towards the great Entrance Hall at a pace which left him +hopelessly in the rear. As she went she vainly endeavoured to think of +any possible excuse or apology that she could offer her distinguished +visitors, but her chief anxiety was that she might not arrive until +after they had awaked, and Miss Heritage had anticipated her +explanations.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII</h2> + +<h3>WHAT THE PIGEON SAID</h3> + + +<p>Daphne was passing through the upper gallery, on her way to join the +other ladies-in-waiting in the Tapestry Chamber, when she heard a +commotion in the great hall below, and, looking down over the +balustrade, was astonished to see two inanimate female forms being +carried by attendants into the vestibule. Baron von Eisenbänden, who was +directing them, caught sight of her and beckoned. On descending the +jasper staircase, she found him beaming with satisfaction, surrounded by +a host of courtiers, guards, and pages.</p> + +<p>"All will be well now, my Lady Daphne," he whispered confidentially. "I +have brought hither two noble dames to persuade the Princess to renounce +this ill-omened alliance—the Grand Duchess of Gleneagle and Margravine +of Muscombe, her Majesty's dearest and most intimate friends. She will +surely be overjoyed when I announce their arrival."</p> + +<p>Somehow Daphne could not share his certainty. Queen Selina had been +careful not to dwell too much, in her presence, on these aristocratic +acquaintances, and they certainly had not visited "Inglegarth" while she +had been an inmate of the household.</p> + +<p>"If I were you, Baron," she said diplomatically, "I should send away all +these people before I told her Majesty. I am sure she would rather +welcome her friends in private."</p> + +<p>He accepted the suggestion, cleared the hall, and bustled away, after +committing the still unconscious visitors to Daphne's care.</p> + +<p>She found them laid side by side on couches in the vestibule, which was +a lofty chamber, panelled in ivory and ebony, with inset opals of +enormous size and a ceiling of dull silver. The Duchess was a short, +spare, grey-haired and rather homely-looking woman in a black +<i>demi-toilette</i> with priceless old lace. Lady Muscombe was about +twenty-six, tall, with a beautiful figure and a pale, piquant face; she +wore a rose <i>charmeuse</i> gown that scintillated with <i>paillettes</i>; her +luxuriant, but just then slightly dishevelled, chestnut hair was +confined in a sparkling band, from which drooped a crushed pink plume.</p> + +<p>As they seemed on the point of awaking, Daphne, thinking that they would +probably prefer to do so unobserved, discreetly left them to themselves.</p> + +<p>Lady Muscombe was the first to recover. She sat up, stretched her white +and shapely arms, and yawned widely, revealing her perfect teeth, as she +regarded the Duchess with sleepy brown eyes.</p> + +<p>"I suppose you are the Duchess of Gleneagles?" she said. "And, if you +don't mind, I should rather like to know why you've brought me +here—wherever it is."</p> + +<p>"I?" said the Duchess. "I've had nothing to do with bringing you. Don't +even know who you are—though you seem to have got hold of my name."</p> + +<p>"Why, I married Muscombe—the Marquis, don't you know. I dare say you +knew before that I was Verity Stilton of the Vivacity. I was working my +way up to quite important parts. You may have seen me in some of them?"</p> + +<p>"I have not had that advantage. I seldom visit a theatre, and when I +do——"</p> + +<p>"You like to go and see something stuffy? <i>I</i> know. And I expect you've +got quite a wrong idea of Musical Comedy. Most of us in the Chorus at +the Vivacity were ladies by birth. And we didn't mix with the others, +off the stage. We were most particular, too. I assure you I never went +to sup alone with Nibbles—I call Muscombe 'Nibbles,' you know—he's so +exactly like a white mouse—I never supped with him alone till after we +were regularly engaged."</p> + +<p>"That is most interesting," said the Duchess, "and entirely to your +credit, but it doesn't explain how we came to be here together."</p> + +<p>"All I can say is that a queerly dressed old freak suddenly burst into +my flat, just as I was going to dine at the Carlton, and told me you +were waiting outside in a car to take me on a visit to the Queen."</p> + +<p>"And did not that strike you as slightly improbable?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, for anything <i>I</i> knew, you might be another of Nibbles's aunts. I +haven't nearly worked through all his relations yet. But I said at once +that I couldn't throw over my Carlton party to oblige any Duchess on +earth. And then the old creature put on a cap and vanished. And the +<i>next</i> thing I knew was that a cloak was thrown over my head and I was +being lifted up and bundled out kicking—and that's all I remember. I +don't know what they thought of me in Mount Street, or why nobody +interfered."</p> + +<p>"Much the same thing happened to <i>me</i>," said the Duchess. "Only I was +told that the Queen wished to see me at once on an urgent matter. Of +course, as the messenger's appearance did not inspire me with +confidence, I insisted on seeing his credentials. And then he +disappeared, and I found myself caught up and carried off. I suppose +none of my people were in the hall, or else they were too afraid to come +to my rescue. And Stratford Place is very quiet, so my smothered cries +attracted no attention. Besides, I fancy I must have been chloroformed."</p> + +<p>"I expect we both were. Nibbles would be furious if he knew—luckily he +doesn't. We had a tiff, and he went off to Monte, all on his little +lone. But I wish I had any idea where we are."</p> + +<p>"I have certainly no recollection of ever having been in such a place as +this before in my life," said the Duchess.</p> + +<p>Daphne returned in time to offer what explanations she could.</p> + +<p>"I know it must seem a little strange at first," she said, coming +forward, "but this is the Palace of the Queen of Märchenland."</p> + +<p>"Märchenland?" repeated the Duchess. "And where may <i>that</i> be? Never +heard of such a country!"</p> + +<p>"Well," said Daphne, "it's a long way from everywhere, and it's the +place where most of the stories one used to think were only Fairy Tales +really happened."</p> + +<p>"I never expected to find myself in Fairyland," the Duchess remarked. +"Tell me—are you the Queen of this country? You look as if you might +be."</p> + +<p>"Oh no," replied Daphne, with a little laugh. "I'm only one of her +ladies-in-waiting. She hasn't long been Queen. We were all carried here +from England in a big car drawn by flying storks—the one that brought +<i>you</i>, I expect. I don't know, of course," she added dubiously, "but +you may have met Queen Selina when she lived at Gablehurst—her former +name was Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson."</p> + +<p>"Wibberley-Stimpson?" repeated the Duchess thoughtfully. "No, I can't +say I remember anyone of that name."</p> + +<p>"Nor I," said Lady Muscombe languidly. "Don't know <i>any</i> one at +Gablehurst."</p> + +<p>"But if she is half as charming as you, my dear," added the Duchess +graciously, "it will give me much pleasure to make her acquaintance, +though I am curious to know why she seems to have taken so much trouble +to cultivate mine."</p> + +<p>At this moment Queen Selina herself arrived, very much out of breath. +"Your Grace!" she began, "My lady Marchioness!"</p> + +<p>"Ah, here is the housekeeper!" said the Duchess, before Daphne could +enlighten her. "Can you tell us, my good woman, when and where her +Majesty will receive us?"</p> + +<p>"I—I <i>am</i> her Majesty!" said Queen Selina, wishing she had devoted more +pains to her morning toilet.</p> + +<p>"Oh, to be sure," said the Duchess. "You must forgive my blunder, Ma'am, +but my sight is not what it was."</p> + +<p>"It is of no consequence, my dear Duchess—pray don't mention it. Miss +Heritage, I find I <i>shall</i> require that skirt after all. You will be +good enough to see to it at once, and not come down till it is +finished," said the Queen sharply, feeling it more imperative than ever +to prevent any account of this meeting from being communicated to the +Court.... "No, Baron, I shall not require <i>you</i>," she went on, as he +appeared at the entrance. "You have done quite enough." And Daphne and +the Baron withdrew accordingly.</p> + +<p>"I'm so distressed, your Grace, by this unfortunate—er—<i>contretemps</i>," +said Queen Selina, as soon as she had her guests to herself. "I really +hardly know how to apologise. I'm afraid my old Court Chamberlain has +taken a most unpardonable liberty."</p> + +<p>"Well, Ma'am," said the Duchess, "there's no doubt he kidnapped both +myself and this lady here. On false pretences, too! I don't know yet +whether he was acting on <i>your</i> instructions?"</p> + +<p>"Most decidedly not! Indeed I should never have ventured. The fact is, +he must have confused you with two other ladies of title who are great +friends of mine. I expect he heard me mention them, and—it was most +stupid and careless of him, I know—but he must have concluded I wanted +to see <i>them</i>, and brought <i>you</i> by mistake."</p> + +<p>"I see," said the Duchess; "though I don't understand how he came to +know our names and addresses, as he must have done to find us."</p> + +<p>"Oh," said Queen Selina, with much presence of mind, "you're both of you +public characters, you know. He's such an old blunderer, he probably +couldn't find the right people, and thought you would do as well."</p> + +<p>"I can only say," replied the Duchess, "that that impression of his has +put me to a great deal of personal inconvenience."</p> + +<p>"I was carried off without a chance of ringing them up at the Carlton, +where I ought to have dined last night!" complained Lady Muscombe.</p> + +<p>"If your Majesty will get a new Chamberlain—one who isn't an absolute +idiot," said the Duchess severely, "your house-party would be in less +danger of being recruited in this irregular manner."</p> + +<p>"But I assure you I'm delighted to see your Grace, and you <i>too</i>, of +course, Lady Muscombe! I hope, now you <i>are</i> here, you will stay as long +as ever you can. Such a pleasure always to his Majesty and myself to +welcome any of our own country-women! And now I will take you up to your +rooms, and you will no doubt be glad of a little rest before you come +down to lunch and meet the family."</p> + +<p>"I cannot possibly appear at lunch in this dress," said the Duchess; +"but I shall be glad if you will send me up some food, and then I must +really start for home."</p> + +<p>"So must I," declared Lady Muscombe; "there'll be a fuss if I'm not back +soon—and I simply <i>couldn't</i> stay in any house without a single trunk, +or a maid either! It isn't giving me a fair chance!"</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid the storks won't be fit for such a long return journey just +yet," said their hostess; "and it would be a pity to leave without +seeing something of Märchenland, so I hope you will remain for at least +a night, as a favour to me. I see no one of any real distinction <i>now</i>! +And as for clothes, I can lend you all you require. You will excuse +their being out of the fashion—we don't get the latest Paris models +here."</p> + +<p>"You're very kind," said the Duchess. "Then I will accept your +hospitality for the present."</p> + +<p>"So will I—er—your Majesty, thanks," said Lady Muscombe. "It will be +something to tell Muscombe—when we're on speaking terms again."</p> + +<p>"So very nice and friendly of you both!" said Queen Selina as she +escorted them across the hall to the foot of the immense staircase. "I +must apologise for asking you to come up all these steps, but there's +no such thing as a lift here. The Astrologer Royal offered to try and +procure us a flying carpet—but, of course, I wouldn't hear of that."</p> + +<p>"Well," said the Duchess, as she toiled up, "this is certainly a +wonderful Palace you live in—I have never seen one so splendid in my +life!"</p> + +<p>"Ah, my dear Duchess, it's much too large to be really comfortable, +and all the arrangements, too, so unlike our English ways! I'm afraid +I shall never get things done here according to <i>my</i> ideas.... This +is <i>your</i> room, dear Duchess, and yours is next, Marchioness. I will +send some of my waiting-women to you with everything necessary. You +will find us assembled in the Throne Room before lunch.... Oh, and +there's just one thing. My Court have got an impression—I'm sure +I don't know why—that we're quite old friends. If you <i>wouldn't</i> +mind—er—addressing me as 'Selina' now and then.... Not at all, I +assure you, I should consider it a compliment—from <i>you</i>.... Then I +shall hope to see you later on in the Throne Room.... It's in the left +wing, down the great corridor; you can't miss it because of the +trumpeters at the doors."</p> + +<p>After an interval the two visitors made their appearance in the Throne +Room, arrayed in magnificent but rather fantastic robes of velvet and +brocade with long hanging sleeves lined with ermine—a costume which +suited Lady Muscombe better than the Duchess.</p> + +<p>Queen Selina advanced to welcome them effusively. "So you've found your +way here!" she said. "How very well you both look in those dresses! Most +becoming, I assure you. By the bye, my dear Duchess, did you ever +recover that tiara you lost in the train?"</p> + +<p>"I never <i>did</i> lose it," replied the Duchess, "I believe some story got +into the papers, but it was a down-right lie."</p> + +<p>"So glad! I must tell you that I don't as a rule wear my crown at lunch, +but I thought, to-day being a gala occasion—"</p> + +<p>"Quite right!" said the Duchess. "And quite regal!"</p> + +<p>"I could lend both of you tiaras, if it would make you feel more at your +ease."</p> + +<p>"I feel perfectly at ease as I am, thank you," replied the Duchess +shortly.</p> + +<p>"Nibbles gave me one of the family fenders," said the Marchioness, "but +I never wear it—it gives me such a headache."</p> + +<p>"Ah, dear Lady Muscombe, I can sympathise with you—but I have to put up +with <i>my</i> headaches. I want you to come and shake hands with my +husband—His Majesty, you know."</p> + +<p>"Charmed," said the Duchess. "Is that His Majesty with the—er—auburn +whiskers and moustache? I thought it must be.... How d'you do, sir?"</p> + +<p>"Thank you, your Grace, I'm very tolerably well," said King Sidney, who +was not entirely at his ease in welcoming such distinguished +guests—especially as he was far from clear as to how and why they came +to be there. "Glad you found time to—er—look us up. Hardly had time to +settle down here ourselves yet—so you must take us as you find us."</p> + +<p>"I never expected to find you all so magnificent, I can assure you," +replied the Duchess.</p> + +<p>"Oh, well," he said, "my wife likes living in style. And of course when +you are Royalties, so to speak, you've got to do the thing well."</p> + +<p>"That is my eldest daughter, Edna, Duchess, the Princess Royal ... yes, +over there, with the eye-glasses. Edna, my love, come and tell her Grace +how delighted you are to see her, and Lady Muscombe too."</p> + +<p>"How do you do, my dear? You're looking well," said the complaisant old +lady, preparing to embrace her hostess's daughter.... "Oh, if you prefer +me to kiss your hand, ma'am——"</p> + +<p>"You shouldn't be so formal, Edna!" said her mother. "Not with such an +old friend as the Duchess. This, Duchess, is my son, the Crown Prince +Clarence, and here is my youngest daughter, Princess Ruby."</p> + +<p>"I must tell you about Edna, my dear Duchess," said Queen Selina, +drawing her apart after these presentations had been effected. "She has +only just become engaged—to a neighbour of ours, young Count von +Rubenfresser. From a merely worldly point of view she might have done +much better. In fact, Prince Mirliflor of Clairdelune came here to +propose to her, but she rejected him. Wouldn't hear of anyone but the +Count! So as His Majesty and I do not approve of forcing our children's +hearts, we have let her have her own way."</p> + +<p>"It seems quite a romance," observed the Duchess.</p> + +<p>"Quite. And of course the Count comes of a very old family. I forget +what the original title was, but they've had Castle Drachenstolz for +centuries. <i>Such</i> a picturesque old place! And—actually, +Duchess!—Count Ruprecht has a pet dragon there—it's the only one left +in Märchenland now, and as it's rather a curiosity in its way, and +quite inoffensive, we see no objection to his keeping it. You will +probably meet the Count to-day, he generally drives over to luncheon +now—so devoted to dear Edna! And such a height, too!"</p> + +<p>"I shall be interested to meet him," said the Duchess. "He must be +rather a remarkable person."</p> + +<p>Meanwhile Clarence was engaged in making himself agreeable to Lady +Muscombe. "Funny thing, Marchioness," he remarked, "but I seem to know +your face quite well."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps you've seem me on picture-postcards," she said, "or else at the +Vivacity. Before I married I was Verity Stilton, you know."</p> + +<p>"Oh," he stammered in confusion, "I—I wasn't aware—or else—of course. +Sorry!"</p> + +<p>"Why on earth <i>should</i> you be? You don't suppose I'm ashamed of having +been on the stage? I should soon have got to the front if I had stayed. +I was offered one of the best parts in 'The Girl from Greenland,' and I +threw it up to marry Muscombe. His people know perfectly well that I +sacrificed my career for his sake." (It might be added that if they did +not, it was no fault of Lady Muscombe's.)</p> + +<p>"I remember you," he said. "I used to go to the Vivacity before the +Mater came to the throne."</p> + +<p>"Ah, you haven't been a Royalty long, have you? Weren't you a +Wobbly-something or other before that?"</p> + +<p>"Wibberley-Stimpson was the family name," he corrected.</p> + +<p>"I knew it was something like that. And when you were—one of those, +what did you do with yourself?"</p> + +<p>"I was in Finance," he replied largely. "In the City, don't you know, +what?"</p> + +<p>"Really?" she drawled. "That accounts for my not remembering you. +Somehow, at the Vivacity, we didn't know any City men. All this must be +rather a change for you, isn't it?"</p> + +<p>"It was a bit, at first, but we soon got into it. Except the Guv'nor, +who's never taken very kindly to it—hasn't had the training, what?"</p> + +<p>"And you <i>have</i>? I see. And what does a Fairy Crown Prince have to do?"</p> + +<p>"Well," he said, "I do a lot of riding and hunting. Mostly boar about +here. The Guv'nor don't ride, nor does Edna. Can't induce them to get on +a horse. So <i>I</i> have to represent the family."</p> + +<p>"I expect you're no end of a nut here," she said.</p> + +<p>"Oh, really, Marchioness, you're pulling my leg!"</p> + +<p>"Am I? I've never pulled a Fairy Prince's leg before, so it's quite a +new experience for me. But one <i>expects</i> new experiences in +Fairyland—if this really <i>is</i> Fairyland, which I can't quite believe!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, it's Fairyland right enough, though, mind you, it isn't the place +it <i>was</i>. Nothing like the magic that there used to be. Most of it died +out. Still, we've got a sort of old Fairy Godmother, as part of the +Palace fixtures—goes about in a car drawn by doves—give you my word +she does! She has another old turn-out, with storks. We came here in +that—and I expect <i>you</i> did."</p> + +<p>"Yes, and I see the old gentleman over there who carried me off by main +force. He doesn't <i>look</i> as if he was such a good hand at abductions!"</p> + +<p>"He looks pretty much the blithering old idiot he is," said Clarence. +"If I'd only known he was going to London I'd have told him to get me a +few thousand cigarettes—they've none here of course. But I expect he'd +only have brought 'Woodbines,' or the wrong sort anyhow!"</p> + +<p>"Does he <i>always</i> bring the wrong sort?" inquired Lady Muscombe.</p> + +<p>"Well," said Clarence, crudely enough, "he didn't make much mistake +about <i>you</i>, Marchioness!"</p> + +<p>"That's exactly what I expected from you!" she said. "By the way, what +has become of the lovely person who was with the Duchess and me when we +first woke up? I think your mother called her Hermitage. I don't see her +anywhere here."</p> + +<p>"Heritage—Lady Daphne, as we call her now. She used to be my +kiddie-sister's governess."</p> + +<p>"Oh? Well, she's quite the sweetest thing I've seen—don't you think she +is, yourself?"</p> + +<p>"Not since <i>you</i> came!" was his gallant reply.</p> + +<p>"It's lucky Muscombe can't hear you paying me compliments of that sort," +she said. "If he did he'd want your blood. And why isn't that Lady +Daphne here? I'm dying to see her again. Duchess," she added, as the +elder lady, having escaped from her hostess, came towards them, "I've +been asking the Prince why that charming little Heritage creature isn't +here. You would like to see her, wouldn't you?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly," said the Duchess. "Where is she?"</p> + +<p>"We'll ask the Court Godmother," said Clarence (it had already struck +him that it might give Daphne a higher opinion of him if she could see +the terms he was on with a real English Marchioness). "She'll know." But +the Fairy could only say that she supposed Lady Daphne was remaining in +her own rooms for some reason.</p> + +<p>"I wish you'd get her to come down, Court Godmother," said Clarence. +"These ladies would like to see her."</p> + +<p>"I will go and fetch her myself," said the Fairy, who was pleased, in +spite of herself, that her unacknowledged god-daughter should be in such +request.</p> + +<p>She found Daphne engaged in sewing the great pierced jewels in an +intricate pattern on the skirt of the royal robe.</p> + +<p>"Why, how's this?" exclaimed she. "At work! When they will be sitting +down to table directly! The Prince and our two noble guests have asked +me to come and see what is keeping you."</p> + +<p>"This," said Daphne, touching the skirt on her knee. "Her Majesty has +sent me up to finish it, and forbidden me to come down till it's done."</p> + +<p>"Then," said the Fairy, "she ought to be ashamed of herself!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I don't mind a bit, Court Godmother. They'll bring me something to +eat presently, and I'd much rather be here than have to meet that odious +Count Ruprecht! Court Godmother," she added, with a little anxious line +on her forehead, "I'd better tell you, though I dare say you'll think it +silly—but I'm rather worried by a conversation I overheard just now +between two pigeons on the roof."</p> + +<p>"You shouldn't pay any attention to anything pigeons say—it's generally +love-talk; and very foolish at that."</p> + +<p>"They weren't making love. They were talking about the Count. The first +pigeon said, 'The Count has come here again. I have just seen his big +coach in the courtyard,' and the second pigeon said, 'There is nothing +in that.'"</p> + +<p>"Well, <i>one</i> of them had some sense, anyway!" remarked the Fairy.</p> + +<p>"Ah, but wait. 'Indeed there is something,' said the other bird. 'There +is a big sack in the coach, and I know what is <i>inside</i> the sack, too.' +'And what may that be?' the second one asked. 'All I can tell you,' said +the first, 'is that, if the Princess only knew as much about it as I do, +there wouldn't be any marriage!' They flew away after that, but I've +been wondering ever since whether he mayn't have murdered somebody."</p> + +<p>"If he had," said the Fairy, "he wouldn't be very likely to bring the +body out to lunch with him. You shouldn't be so uncharitable, my child. +And, as for birds, I should have thought you knew what busy-bodies they +are, and what scandals they make out of nothing at all."</p> + +<p>"Then you think it's all right?" said Daphne, relieved. "But all the +same, I can't trust the Count."</p> + +<p>"Nobody asks you to. I don't trust him myself, if it comes to that. But, +whatever he may or may not be is no affair of yours or mine. Princess +Edna will find out in time what a mistake she has made."</p> + +<p>"If only she doesn't find it out too late!" said Daphne.</p> + +<p>"She'll have herself to thank, whatever happens. <i>I</i> shan't interfere +again. I'm tired of trying to help anyone. I never get anything but +ingratitude for it."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV</h2> + +<h3>BAG AND BAGGAGE</h3> + + +<p>The Court Godmother returned to the Throne-room. She had not attached +much importance to what Daphne had told her, but, even if she had, she +would have belittled it in her extreme desire to avoid any action that +might entail inconvenience to herself.</p> + +<p>In the Throne-room, Count Rubenfresser had just been announced.</p> + +<p>"Yes, Duchess," said Queen Selina, in answer to an astonished inquiry. +"That is dear Edna's fiancé. A fine young man, is he not?"</p> + +<p>"Heavens! I should think he <i>was</i>! I should call him a giant myself," +replied the Duchess bluntly.</p> + +<p>"I <i>told</i> you he was <i>rather</i> tall. I think he's grown since his +engagement. How do you do, my dear Ruprecht? Come and be introduced to +my old friend the Duchess of Gleneagles, who is <i>so</i> very anxious to +make your acquaintance."</p> + +<p>"I don't much care about knowing old women," said the Count, who had no +great love for his future mother-in-law, and had become much less +deferential of late.</p> + +<p>"But this one's a <i>Duchess</i>, Ruprecht!" whispered the agonised Queen. +"Edna, my love, perhaps <i>you</i> had better——" and eventually he +submitted with a slight scowl to be led up and presented by his fiancée.</p> + +<p>"I hear I am to congratulate you—er—Count Fresser," said the Duchess. +"You are certainly a fortunate man to have won a Princess."</p> + +<p>"Not more fortunate than she," he replied. "She wanted a Superman, as +she calls it. I am doing all I can to become one."</p> + +<p>"If she isn't satisfied with you as you are, she must be hard to +please."</p> + +<p>"<i>She</i> is satisfied enough," he said. "Now it is for her to <i>please</i> me. +She knows that by this time—don't you, Edna?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Ruprecht dear, yes," said Edna, hastily. "Of course I do. This is +how he's taken to bullying me, Duchess," she added lightly. "Don't you +think it's too bad of him?"</p> + +<p>"It seems a little early to begin. You shouldn't allow it."</p> + +<p>"Oh, but I <i>like</i> him to!" said Edna, pressing the Count's great arm.</p> + +<p>"In that case, my dear," said the Duchess, "you have every prospect of a +happy future!"</p> + +<p>A blast from the silver trumpets here proclaimed that luncheon was +served.</p> + +<p>"Lunch, at last, eh?" said King Sidney, bustling up to the Duchess. +"Permit me to offer your Grace my arm. Clarence, my boy, you take in her +ladyship here. Selina, my love, if you will lead the way with the +Marshal."</p> + +<p>The Count followed with Edna, and the Fairy Vogelflug arrived in time to +bring up the rear with Princess Ruby.</p> + +<p>"It's a most extraordinary thing," said the King, after they had sat +down to lunch in the hall with the malachite columns, "a most +extraordinary thing, that, when we have company like this, there should +be no more than six pages to wait on us! We generally have at least a +dozen. What's become of all the rest of you?" he asked a page.</p> + +<p>"I cannot say, sire," answered the boy. "They were waiting in the +courtyard to receive His Excellency the Count, but have not yet +returned."</p> + +<p>King Sidney told the Court Chamberlain to send for them at once, but the +messenger returned with the information that the missing pages were +nowhere to be seen.</p> + +<p>"Must have run off before I arrived," said the Count, laughing +boisterously. "Played truant, the young rascals!"</p> + +<p>The Fairy, however, recollected Daphne's story of the sack, and was +seized with suspicion. Was it possible that the royal pages—? If so, +she felt something ought to be done—though not by her. She was too +cautious an old person to take unnecessary risks, and decided to employ +a deputy.</p> + +<p>"Ruby, my child," she whispered to the little Princess, who was sitting +next to her, "I believe the Count has brought a present for you. It's in +a sack in his coach. Ask him what it is."</p> + +<p>"I don't want to know," objected Ruby, "I wouldn't take any present from +<i>him</i>—except Tützi, perhaps."</p> + +<p>"I may be wrong," said the Court Godmother, "perhaps it isn't for you +after all. But I'm sure it would make him very uncomfortable if you +asked him, before everybody, what he happens to have in that sack of +his."</p> + +<p>"If I was sure of that," said Ruby, "I'd ask him like a shot!"</p> + +<p>"You may depend on it. And more than that, Lady Daphne is particularly +anxious to know."</p> + +<p>"Oh, if <i>Miss Heritage</i> wants me to, all right!" said Ruby. "I say, +Count Rubenfresser," she called across the table, "I want to ask you +something."</p> + +<p>"If it's a riddle, little Princess," replied the Count, with his mouth +full, "I give it up beforehand."</p> + +<p>"It isn't a riddle. It's this: What have you got inside that sack?"</p> + +<p>"Sack?" said the Count blankly. "I don't understand. I have no sack +here."</p> + +<p>"I don't mean here. I mean the sack that's inside your coach."</p> + +<p>"Ruby, my dear," interposed her mother, "you mustn't be so inquisitive. +It's very rude."</p> + +<p>"I know he has got a sack there, Mummy," insisted Ruby, "and I do want +to know what he's got in it."</p> + +<p>"Hear me rag my precious brother-in-law," said Clarence aside to Lady +Muscombe. "A sack, eh?" he said aloud. "What do you bring a sack out to +lunch for—scraps?"</p> + +<p>"For shame, Clarence!" cried Edna.</p> + +<p>"It's not a sack, as it happens," said the Count sulkily. "It's a long +bag—and what I use it for is entirely my own business."</p> + +<p>"I don't know so much about that," retorted Clarence. "With such a lot +of plate in the Palace!"</p> + +<p>"Clarence!" cried Edna again. "This is too outrageous of you!"</p> + +<p>"Much!" put in Lady Muscombe. "As if the Count couldn't bring his clubs +with him if he's going on to golf somewhere!" she said to Clarence in an +undertone. "And of course he'd want a very long case for them! You +really <i>must</i> behave more decently!"</p> + +<p>"I mean having this out with the beggar," he replied. "Count, her +ladyship suggests that you may have golf clubs in that bag of yours. Is +that so?"</p> + +<p>"And if I have," said the Count. "Why shouldn't I?"</p> + +<p>"Because you don't play golf. No one does here—now, and I'll take my +oath you can't tell a brassey from a putter. You never owned a set of +clubs in your life!"</p> + +<p>"Really, my boy!" said King Sidney nervously. "A scene like this! Before +our guests! It won't <i>do</i>, you know. Drop it!"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Lady Muscombe, laying her pretty but slightly over-manicured +fingers on Clarence's sleeve. "You're only making everybody +uncomfortable. Talk to me instead!"</p> + +<p>"Presently," he said. "If you really have got golf clubs, Count, I +should like to have a look at them after lunch."</p> + +<p>"I never said I had got those things," replied the Count, with a +wonderful command over his temper. "And if you want to know what <i>is</i> in +the bag, I don't mind telling you—only a few pumpkins from my own +gardens."</p> + +<p>"You mean to say you make such pets of your bally pumpkins that you take +'em out driving with you? That's such a likely story!"</p> + +<p>"Clarence," said the Queen, "I will not have poor Ruprecht badgered like +this. If he chooses to carry pumpkins with him—as we do gold +sometimes—and distribute them to deserving persons, it is so much the +more to his credit."</p> + +<p>"He'd get 'em buzzed back at his head pretty soon, if he did!" replied +the impenitent Clarence. "He's not exactly the object of general +adoration in these parts, as he jolly well knows.... Anything upset you, +Marchioness?" he inquired of Lady Muscombe, who was giggling with a +quite un-peeress-like lack of restraint.</p> + +<p>"Nothing," she said faintly. "Only the—the pumpkins. You really are +<i>rather</i> a funny Royal Family, you know!"</p> + +<p>"I'm sorry to make myself unpleasant, Mater," said Clarence, returning +to the charge. "But I can't swallow those pumpkins. I want the sack +brought in so that we can satisfy ourselves what there <i>is</i> in it." The +Court Chamberlain, in the hope that the contents, whatever they might +be, would at least serve to compromise the Count, instantly despatched +one of the pages to fetch the bag.</p> + +<p>"Baron," said the Queen angrily, "it is for Us to give orders—not you!"</p> + +<p>"Your Majesty must pardon my presumption," he said, as the pages had +already obeyed him. "I was merely carrying out the wishes of His Royal +Highness the Crown Prince."</p> + +<p>"I shall die if this goes on much longer! I <i>know</i> I shall!" gasped Lady +Muscombe.</p> + +<p>"Ha!" cried Clarence, as the pages staggered in with a huge distended +sack. "Leave it alone, I'll open it myself."</p> + +<p>"Surely not without asking the owner's permission?" said the Duchess, +who had hitherto witnessed the scene in silent and dignified amazement.</p> + +<p>"You can open it if you like!" said the Count, with a confident smile. +"And then you will see what a fuss you have made about nothing."</p> + +<p>Clarence cut the cord, and opened the sack. The moment he did so his +jaw fell. "I own up," he said. "I was wrong. They <i>are</i> pumpkins!"</p> + +<p>"And if you are a gentleman, Clarence," cried Edna, "you will apologise +to Ruprecht at once!"</p> + +<p>"There may be something else underneath," he said, lifting a pumpkin +suspiciously in both hands. "Hullo! My hat! What's this I've got hold +of?" he exclaimed, as the vegetable suddenly developed, the moment it +was clear of the sack, into one of the chubbiest of the royal pages. +"Very odd!" he remarked, as he set the boy down. "Let's have the lot +out." He tilted the sack, and as each pumpkin rolled out upon the +sardonyx pavement, a bewildered page sprang up in its stead.</p> + +<p>"Quite a clever trick!" said Lady Muscombe. "Even Maskelyne and Devant +couldn't beat that!"</p> + +<p>"After all, it wasn't so very much of a change!" was Ruby's comment.</p> + +<p>"What do you boys mean by playing at being pumpkins in this way?" +demanded King Sidney. "I must have an explanation of this. Speak out, +one of you!"</p> + +<p>"If it please you, sire," said the first page, sinking on one knee, +"When His Excellency the Count arrived he invited us to get inside the +sack, at the bottom of which he told us we should find sweetmeats. And +we crawled in—and I don't remember any more till I fell out just now."</p> + +<p>"Just count these boys, Baron, will you?" said the King. "The whole +dozen correct? Good. And now, sir," he added, turning to the Count, "I +should like to hear what <i>you</i> have got to say."</p> + +<p>"Allow me, sire," interrupted Marshal Federhelm, as Count Ruprecht +seemed content to smile blandly. "His Excellency no doubt intended to +afford your Majesties a little harmless diversion."</p> + +<p>"That was all," said the Count. "This is a magic sack which has the +property of turning anything inside it into whatever its owner wishes. I +thought it might amuse you."</p> + +<p>"Liar!" struck in Clarence. "You wouldn't have said a word about it but +for Ruby! You meant to take those pumpkins—I mean <i>pages</i>—away with +you. You <i>know</i> you did! I don't know what the Guv'nor and Mater think +of it—but I consider myself it was a confounded liberty!"</p> + +<p>"Well, well," said the King, "it was a mistake no doubt. But there's +been no harm done, so perhaps we'd better leave it at that—for the +present, you know, for the present."</p> + +<p>But the Court Chamberlain could not allow such an opportunity to escape +him. "Forgive me, sire," he said eagerly, "but your Majesties are +evidently unacquainted with his Excellency's family history. The motive +for his indiscretion will perhaps be better understood when I mention +that his parents' title was formerly Bubenfresser, and that they were +executed by command of the late King as being notorious ogres."</p> + +<p>"So <i>that</i> was his game, was it?" cried Clarence. "Bagged our pages, +meaning to gobble 'em up when he got 'em home! Am I to have an Ogre for +a brother-in-law?"</p> + +<p>At this there was a general cry of horror.</p> + +<p>"Marshal," said the King, "you must have known all about this—and you +gave that fellow an excellent character!"</p> + +<p>"I had no reason to believe otherwise, sire," replied the ex-Regent +smoothly. "He had been brought up as a strict vegetarian, and I cannot +think that, if he had not acquired a taste for meat at your Majesty's +table, he would ever have developed these—er—hereditary proclivities."</p> + +<p>"He hasn't developed them!" declared Edna. "It's false! Ruprecht, deny +it! Tell them you are no Ogre!"</p> + +<p>"Really, ma'am," said the Duchess to Queen Selina, "I must ask your +permission to leave the table. I don't feel as if I ought to be present +at a family dispute of this intimate nature."</p> + +<p>"Pray don't go, my dear Duchess!" the Queen implored her. "Not till +you've heard what the Count has to say."</p> + +<p>The Count rose and folded his arms in proud defiance. "I'm not an Ogre," +he said sulkily.</p> + +<p>"I knew it—I knew it!" cried Edna. "Appearances were against him, +that's all!"</p> + +<p>"Not an Ogre yet," went on the Count. "But I hope to be one as soon as I +get the chance."</p> + +<p>"No, no, Ruprecht!" protested Edna. "You don't mean it—you <i>know</i> you +don't!"</p> + +<p>"What!" said the Count, scowling at her. "Are you going to turn round on +me like this, after encouraging me as you did?"</p> + +<p>"You will not find it easy to persuade me," said the Duchess, "that the +Princess would ever have urged you to become an Ogre."</p> + +<p>"<i>Urged</i> him, indeed!" cried Edna wildly. "I had no suspicion—I never +said a single word that could possibly——"</p> + +<p>"Didn't you say I was to follow the teachings of your great master with +the name I never can pronounce?" he demanded. "Didn't you tell me to +make my own morality and obey my own instincts, without caring what +people thought or what suffering I inflicted? You know you did! And +that's all I've done. My instincts told me that those pages were my +natural provender. I had a perfect right to take them if I could. The +only people who would condemn me would be just those average +conventional persons for whom you have such a contempt. I expected +better things from <i>you</i>!"</p> + +<p>"I cannot sit here another moment," declared the Duchess, rising. "It is +making me positively ill!"</p> + +<p>"And me!" added Lady Muscombe. "I've been on the point of fainting +several times. I must say," she told Clarence, "this is <i>quite</i> the +weirdest lunch I <i>ever</i> sat through!"</p> + +<p>"We will <i>all</i> leave, Duchess," said the Queen. "I assure you I entirely +share your sentiments, and perhaps by this time even Edna——"</p> + +<p>"I loathe him, Mother!" she said, shuddering; "I only hope I shall never +see his face again!"</p> + +<p>"You hear that, sir?" said King Sidney, with more firmness than he +usually showed. "And, as the Princess Edna—er—voices the general +feeling, perhaps you'll see the propriety of getting out of this at +once?"</p> + +<p>"It seems to me," said the Count, "that you are all making a great fuss +about nothing. If I'd eaten any of your pages I could understand it. But +I haven't—I never got the chance."</p> + +<p>"Thanks to Clarence!" put in Queen Selina. "He saved the poor boys!"</p> + +<p>"It was Miss Heritage, <i>really</i>, Mummy!" corrected Ruby jealously. +"<i>She</i> wanted to know about the sack, or I shouldn't have asked."</p> + +<p>"Miss Heritage!" muttered Edna. "Ah! I might have <i>known</i> it!"</p> + +<p>"Now just you be off to that castle of yours," said the King, addressing +the discomfited but quite unrepentant Ogre. "And mind you keep inside it +for the future. <i>You</i> will see that he does that, Marshal? I don't want +any scandal about this business, but if I have any <i>more</i> trouble from +you, I shall be forced—well, to take some very strong measures."</p> + +<p>"I'm just going," said the Ogre calmly. "May I have my bag?"</p> + +<p>"Confound your impudence, no!" returned the King, "I shall have the +beastly thing destroyed."</p> + +<p>"Then I think you ought to give me back some of the money I paid for +it," said the Ogre. "I bought it from Master Xuriel, and I know you get +two-thirds the price of any article he sells. He told me so."</p> + +<p>"You—you infamous scoundrel!" cried King Sidney, turning extremely red, +perhaps with anger. "Marshal, see this ruffian off the premises—and +look here, just send for that rascally astrologer, will you? I'll make +short work of <i>him</i>!"</p> + +<p>"Farewell, then, to your Majesties," said the Ogre, with a jaunty wave +of his big hand. "And farewell to <i>you</i>, Princess Edna. If I have not +been as much of a Superman as I could wish, you may still find that I +have profited by your teachings."</p> + +<p>The old Court Chamberlain's chest gave a loud crack as the Count +swaggered out.</p> + +<p>"Thank goodness he's gone!" said Queen Selina. "Really, my dear Duchess, +and you, dear Lady Muscombe, I simply can't <i>say</i> how distressed I am +that anything so unpleasant should have occurred while you were under +our roof. I do <i>hope</i> you won't blame <i>me</i>. I always disliked the Count +myself—but I should never have dreamed of asking him to meet you if I +had known the sort of person he really <i>was</i>!"</p> + +<p>"Indeed, Ma'am," said the Duchess, "I can quite believe <i>that</i>."</p> + +<p>"And, after all," said Lady Muscombe languidly, "I dare say there are +lots of people in town—in houses where they don't keep a page, I +mean—who'd be glad enough to get him to come and dine. Society is so +much less exclusive than it used to be."</p> + +<p>"That," remarked the Duchess, "entirely depends on what you mean by +'Society.' And now, Ma'am," she continued to her hostess, "as the +birds—I think you mentioned that they were storks—which brought us +here should be rested by this time, I shall be obliged if you will order +the car to take me back as soon as I have changed my dress."</p> + +<p>"And me, too, if you don't mind," said Lady Muscombe. "I <i>must</i> get home +before Nibbles does."</p> + +<p>"Oh, but you mustn't leave us so soon!" protested Queen Selina in +dismay. "To come all this way for such a miserable little visit!"</p> + +<p>"A flying visit, let us call it," said the Duchess. "But, candidly, this +country of yours doesn't suit me. I don't feel safe with characters such +as Ogres and Giants and Dragons about."</p> + +<p>"But I assure your Grace there are very very few—hardly any, in fact!"</p> + +<p>"There are more than my nerves can stand," said the Duchess, firmly, and +Queen Selina, though deeply mortified by her guests' eagerness to go, +found that she could no longer detain them.</p> + +<p>The Court Chamberlain and his attendants brought the stork car to the +palace door by the time the visitors had resumed their former costumes.</p> + +<p>"Good-bye, dear Duchess!" said the Queen. "So charmed to have seen you, +even for so short a time. I hope some day you will come again."</p> + +<p>"I think it improbable," was the grim reply. "And if you'll allow me to +say so, Ma'am, when I do stay anywhere, I prefer a house where I can be +sure of the sort of people I am likely to meet."</p> + +<p>"I say, Marchioness," cried Clarence, as he joined them on the steps, +"you're not really going, are you? I wish you'd stay on a bit. We were +getting on thundering well together, you and I!"</p> + +<p>"Very sad, isn't it?" she answered, with a charming but slightly mocking +grimace. "But Nibbles wouldn't like me to stop here philandering with +Fairy Princes—even if they <i>aren't</i> quite the real thing. Good-bye, +Ma'am," she added, with a gay little nod, as she stepped into the car, +where the Duchess was already seated. "Thanks so much for having me! +It's a wonderful house to stay in—and a most interesting experience."</p> + +<p>"I have an impression," said the Duchess drowsily, "that I shall wake up +presently and find all this has been a dream. I trust so, but, if not, +would you mind telling this elderly gentleman to set me down in some +unfrequented part—<i>not</i> Stratford Place, where I should attract more +attention than is at all desirable."</p> + +<p>"That's a good idea, Duchess!" said Lady Muscombe. "He can drop us on +Clapham Common, and we can share a taxi home."</p> + +<p>Queen Selina kissed her hand affectionately to them both as the storks +spread their great wings and the car slowly rose. But her salute was +not returned—principally for the reason that both ladies had already +closed their eyes in slumber.</p> + +<p>"And we might have made those two women our friends for life!" she +lamented, as she went indoors. "I hope, Edna, my love, you see <i>now</i> +what comes of getting your own way?"</p> + +<p>"If I have been mistaken for once," said Edna, in a spiritless tone, +"you needn't rub it in, Mother. I can't imagine now what I could ever +have seen in that detestable creature."</p> + +<p>"Nor I—especially as you could see nothing in Prince Mirliflor, who +really <i>was</i>—no, my dear, I'm only speaking for your good. If I was +sure you regretted your treatment of him, I might perhaps find some +way——"</p> + +<p>"I dare say I should act differently if he asked me again. But he won't. +This dreadful story is sure to get round to him somehow. Of course I'm +glad Ruprecht has been found out in time. But he need not have been +exposed so publicly! I <i>do</i> resent that. And you heard what Ruby said? +Miss Heritage was at the bottom of it. She deliberately planned this to +humiliate me! And if you have the smallest consideration for me, Mother, +you will forbid her to appear at Court after this."</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid she is a designing young person," admitted the Queen, "and I +have thought more than once lately of sending her home to England."</p> + +<p>"Then do it, Mother. If you don't, I shall simply refuse to appear in +public myself, sooner than meet her."</p> + +<p>"She shall go, my dear. I'll see the Court Godmother about it at once. +And don't let yourself get too downhearted over the other +affair—Prince Mirliflor, I mean. I've great hopes we can put that +right."</p> + +<p>"I've just left poor darling Edna," she began, as soon as she found the +Fairy alone; "all this has been a terrible shock to her, as you may +imagine. But it seems I was right in thinking she never really cared for +that unspeakable man. He <i>terrified</i> her into accepting him. And, +between ourselves, Godmother, I fancy that, if you <i>could</i> induce Prince +Mirliflor to come forward again, he would not be sent away a second +time."</p> + +<p>"So I should imagine, myself," said the Fairy drily. "But, as it +happens, owing to the result of my previous efforts, I have lost all +influence with Mirliflor. He and I have fallen out."</p> + +<p>"But you could easily make it up with him. You might say she was really +in love with him from the first, only she wished to put him to the +proof—something of that sort. Tell him how delighted we should all be +to see him again. There's <i>another</i> little matter I wished to speak to +you about. Edna has taken the strongest dislike to that Miss Heritage, +who I must say has acted most unwarrantably. I have made up my mind to +part with her, and I thought, if you would arrange to have her taken +back to England as soon as the car returns to-morrow——"</p> + +<p>"Stop," said the Fairy, "I must have time to think over that." She had, +it is true, renounced all further interference in anybody's affairs, but +habit was too strong for her. Her old brain was busying itself once more +with the scheme she had abandoned—a scheme that would certainly not be +assisted by Daphne's expulsion from Märchenland. So she temporised.</p> + +<p>"Yes," she said at last, "I quite see from what you tell me, that Lady +Daphne cannot remain at Court any longer. The difficulty is that I can't +send her back to England just yet. My storks will not be fit for so long +a flight again for a fortnight at the very least. I'm not going to have +them killed on her account. I could do <i>this</i> for you. I could establish +her in a little pavilion in a distant part of the palace grounds and +keep her there, under my own eyes, till the storks are ready for another +journey. It's a very secluded place—almost a wilderness—and none of +the Court ever go near it."</p> + +<p>"That seems an excellent plan," said the Queen. "But I shouldn't care +for them to know that she is a prisoner. They had better be told that +she has resigned her situation and left the Palace. And—you won't +forget my little hint—about Prince Mirliflor, you know?"</p> + +<p>"I will bear it in mind. In fact, if you can spare me for a day or two, +I thought of going over to Clairdelune in the dove-chariot to-morrow and +having a little chat with him."</p> + +<p>"Oh, by all means do!" said the Queen gratefully. "So kind of you to +take so much trouble!"</p> + +<p>"It's more on his account than yours," replied the Fairy, with a candour +that might have been intended as complimentary. "But I don't guarantee +that anything will come of it—at all events for a considerable time."</p> + +<p>"Indeed I quite understand that—that his wound can hardly be expected +to heal just yet."</p> + +<p>The Fairy lost no time in conveying Daphne to the secret pavilion +without the knowledge of any of the Court. It was quite fit for +occupation, and supplied with all that was necessary for comfort; the +Court Godmother provided her with an attendant, and even procured some +ancient volumes of Märchenland history with which Daphne could beguile +her solitude.</p> + +<p>That night the Court Godmother summoned up all her energies to send +Mirliflor another vision of Daphne. It was the best vision she had ever +transmitted, but it was terribly exhausting work, and she grumbled +bitterly to herself that the scheme she had in hand should demand these +excessive exertions.</p> + +<p>But it was one of the good old-fashioned schemes which have always been +beloved by romantic but didactic Fairy Godmothers. It would test the +characters of Mirliflor and Daphne, and be valuable moral discipline for +both, while, if they came through it triumphantly, they would be amply +compensated for any temporary inconvenience. She had not engaged in an +affair of this kind for at least a century and a quarter, and she was +looking forward to a highly interesting and enjoyable experience. First +she must regain her influence over Mirliflor, but she thought she would +not find much difficulty in doing that.</p> + +<p>The Astrologer Royal had been duly summoned before the King to explain +his dealings with the Ogre-Count. But he not unwisely preferred to +disappear instead, taking with him his books of spells and other +apparatus. It was reported that he had found refuge at Drachenstolz.</p> + +<p>"Gone there, has he?" said King Sidney to the Marshal. "Better send +someone to arrest him."</p> + +<p>"It would need an army, sire," said the Marshal, "and a long siege, to +enter the Castle."</p> + +<p>"Oh, is that so?" said the King. "Well, then, have guards posted all +round to see that they don't get out. After all, so long as we keep +them boxed up there, they can't do any mischief." And the guards were +posted accordingly.</p> + +<p>Poor Ruby was almost broken-hearted on hearing from her mother that her +beloved Miss Heritage had gone back to England without so much as a word +of farewell. The Court received the news with murmurs, and a strong +suspicion that she had not left of her own free will.</p> + +<p>Clarence was in the deepest dejection. It was true that he had made no +advance of late in his pursuit of her, but so long as she remained there +had always been hope. Now that she was gone for ever, even his riding +and hunting became uninteresting and purposeless. What was the use of +excelling in them when she was not there to hear of his prowess?</p> + +<p>Early that afternoon he returned from the forest, and, after spending a +few minutes in his own apartments, came down to his father's private +cabinet with a gloomy and slightly startled expression. He found King +Sidney alone and in better spirits than usual.</p> + +<p>"Back from your hunting already, my boy?" he said.</p> + +<p>"Had enough of it," said Clarence. "Felt a bit off it to-day, somehow."</p> + +<p>"Ah, your mother and I are just in from a drive. There's no doubt +this—er—rupture with that disgusting fellow has brought about an +enormous improvement in the public feeling. We were cheered, my boy, +actually <i>cheered</i>!"</p> + +<p>"It may be some time before you're cheered again, Guv'nor," said +Clarence. "I mean, you made a grand mistake in letting that little +perisher Xuriel sell those tables of his 'Under Royal patronage,' and +I'm afraid you'll hear of it before long."</p> + +<p>"Eh, why, what's <i>wrong</i> with them? They seemed to give perfect +satisfaction. Have there been any complaints?"</p> + +<p>"There'll be lots if they all go like mine has. When I came in just now +I was feeling a bit peckish, so I got out my table. It laid itself right +enough, only the wine was stiff with wriggly things like tadpoles—and, +when I lifted the dish-cover, I'm hanged if there weren't a couple of +great fat snakes under it, hissing like tea-kettles! And I paid the +beggar a sack and a half of ducats for that table!"</p> + +<p>"Most untradesmanlike!" said King Sidney indignantly. "Of course you can +make him return the money! No, you can't, though, I forgot—the fellow's +bolted!"</p> + +<p>"I wasn't thinking so much of that," said Clarence, "but suppose all the +<i>other</i> johnnies who've bought tables find they're wrong 'uns, and want +their money back—from <i>us</i>?"</p> + +<p>"They wouldn't have a leg to stand on, my boy. It's a clear case of +'Caveat emptor.' But, after all, there's no reason at present to suppose +the other tables are—hem—in a similar condition to yours."</p> + +<p>"It's to be hoped not," said Clarence. "There'll be the devil's own row +if they are."</p> + +<p>Unfortunately it soon appeared that they were, and the numerous persons +in Eswareinmal who had purchased them felt their grievance so strongly +that they sent a large and somewhat turbulent deputation to demand an +audience from His Majesty.</p> + +<p>King Sidney received them, indeed he could not very well avoid doing so, +as they forced their way to his presence. He did his best to reason +with them, pointing out the undeniable fact that no guarantee had been +given that the tables would last for ever, and that it was scarcely +surprising if, after being in constant use, they should begin to show +symptoms of wear and tear—a phrase which had the effect of infuriating +them almost to madness. Nor were they pacified when he quoted his maxim +of "Caveat emptor," and pointed out that, if people <i>would</i> invest in +magic tables, some degree of trickery was only to be expected. His +arguments were lost on them. They had discovered somehow that the +greater part of their purchase money had gone to swell the Royal +revenues, and they clamoured for instant restitution.</p> + +<p>So finally the King had recourse to his usual expedient. "Don't let us +have a row about this little matter, gentlemen," he said. "I'm anxious +to meet you if I can, and I tell you what I'll do. I'll have the Council +summoned at once. You can lay your claims before them, and if they can +see their way to granting you any compensation, we shall be as good +friends as ever again."</p> + +<p>King Sidney's idea had been that the Council, if they decreed any +compensation at all, would do so from funds belonging to the State. It +appeared, however, that they did not consider this to be within their +powers. They decided that, as the Sovereign had enjoyed the greater part +of the profit on the sales of the self-supplying tables, he was bound to +refund the money, proportionate deductions being made for the period +during which each table had been in proper order. This required +elaborate calculations, but the Lord Treasurer had a wonderful head for +figures, and worked them out to such effect that there was only +moderate grumbling on the part of the creditors, all of whom received +rather more than their due, while a good many had never bought a table +at all.</p> + +<p>So, on the whole, the decision satisfied all except the Royal Family.</p> + +<p>"It's easy to be generous with other people's money!" said the King. +"But this business has nearly cleared us out. That confounded Treasurer +hasn't left us more than a dozen sacks or so to go on with. He's +suggested that I might try to get a loan from the King of +Goldenbergenland. I'm told he's wealthy, so perhaps he'd be willing to +oblige a fellow-monarch, if I gave him the mine as security."</p> + +<p>"That mine?" said Clarence. "Why, it doesn't cover its working +expenses—and never will, with the wages we pay those miner-johnnies!"</p> + +<p>"Most exorbitant," said the King; "I've been thinking of—hem—bringing +back those yellow gnomes. They wouldn't want wages—and the mine would +be healthier for them than those marshes they're draining."</p> + +<p>"It might," agreed Clarence, "if there were any of the poor little +beggars left. But I believe the climate has been too much for 'em."</p> + +<p>"Has it, though? I'm afraid they must have neglected to take proper +precautions. Very ungrateful, after all I've done for them! But it's no +use trying to benefit <i>that</i> class of persons. I see that now."</p> + +<p>Clarence still wore his pendant, though he rode less and less +frequently. The Marshal told him that there was excellent carp-fishing +to be had on the Crystal Lake a few miles from Eswareinmal, and he took +up this sport, making solitary expeditions to the lake, from which he +returned in better spirits for a time. But even this occupation soon +palled, and the whole Court were struck by his increasing dejection, +which, rightly or wrongly, they attributed to the absence of Lady +Daphne.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV</h2> + +<h3>"RIVEN WITH VAIN ENDEAVOUR"</h3> + + +<p>After a few hours' flight the Fairy Vogelflug's team of doves had safely +deposited her at the entrance to the Palace of King Tournesol. She +ascertained that Prince Mirliflor was within and went at once to his +apartments. He received her with his usual respect, but there was a +reserve in his manner which showed that the memory of his late fiasco +was still rankling. His reserve increased perceptibly after she had +explained the purpose of her visit. He altogether declined to consider a +second matrimonial venture on her recommendation, hinting as politely as +possible that her idea of a suitable consort for him was too unlikely to +correspond with his own. "You mean with the ideal of your visions?" she +said. "And you saw her again last night. Now didn't you, Mirliflor?"</p> + +<p>"I did," he said; "but how did you know that?"</p> + +<p>"How did I know? Because I sent you the vision, of course. I sent you +the former one, too, though there were reasons why I couldn't tell you +so till now."</p> + +<p>"And why do you tantalise me by making me dream of an unattainable +perfection?" he asked hotly. "Can you suppose that anything short of it +will ever content me now? Since I cannot hope to find so sweet and fair +a Princess in all the world, I am only the more resolved to live and die +unmarried!"</p> + +<p>"She exists, or I could not have shown her to you in a vision. You have +only to do exactly as I tell you, Mirliflor, and you shall see her, and +win her, if you can."</p> + +<p>"You said all that about the other one, Godmother Voldoiseau," he +replied. "No, it's no good. I really can't trust you again."</p> + +<p>"Don't be obstinate, Mirliflor, or you'll put me in a passion, and +that's dangerous at my age. I grant you I was wrong about Princess Edna. +But I'm not wrong now. I assure you that, if you saw this girl, you +would own that she was no less fair than she appeared in your visions."</p> + +<p>"But if there indeed lives so lovely a Princess," he said, "how comes it +that I have never heard of her existence?"</p> + +<p>"She is no Princess, Mirliflor. Merely a poor friendless girl I have +chosen to protect."</p> + +<p>"So much the better," he said. "She is the less likely to refuse me."</p> + +<p>"Because you are a Prince? Just so—but I don't intend that she shall +accept you for any such reason. I shall not allow you to see her at all +unless you promise not to reveal your rank, or even your real name, to +her until I give you leave to do so."</p> + +<p>"You have my word, Godmother," he replied. "After all, it may be that, +even without rank or title, I shall succeed in obtaining favour in her +eyes."</p> + +<p>"You trust to your good looks—but those, too, you must consent to +sacrifice. Love that is based on mere outward appearance soon passes. I +have to be very careful now how I exercise any magic power +whatever—each time it takes more and more out of me, and even sending +you these visions taxed me most severely. Still, I will make another +effort and change you into a less comely form."</p> + +<p>"I suppose you are proposing to turn me into a beast of some kind?" he +said. "If so, I cry off. I know it succeeded with an ancestor of +ours—but that was centuries ago, and I'm not inclined to undertake the +risk myself."</p> + +<p>"I'm not asking you to undertake it. The form you would assume would be +human, and not in the least repulsive. In strict fairness I ought to +transform the girl as well, but as I know very well that, if I did, you +would never so much as look at her, I must leave her as she is. Only if +you don't consent to be transformed yourself, you will never see her at +all."</p> + +<p>"But what if I let myself be transformed and find out when I see her +that she doesn't resemble my vision?"</p> + +<p>"You need not fear that. But if, when you see her, you wish to withdraw, +I will bring you back here and restore you to your own shape again, and +thus you will be none the worse."</p> + +<p>"Well," he said, "on those terms I agree." Upon which the Fairy began +her incantations, and, after one or two failures, succeeded in +remembering the precise formula and accomplishing the metamorphosis.</p> + +<p>"I knew it would come back to me in time," she remarked, exhausted but +gratified. "I shall suffer for it later—but it's certainly a highly +successful piece of work—as you will see if you go and look at yourself +in that mirror."</p> + +<p>When he looked it was a complete stranger that he saw reflected. A young +man of his own height and figure, but with features that, without being +absolutely plain, were quite ordinary. His own curling brown locks were +replaced by short black hair, and his complexion had deepened from its +original slight bronze to a swarthy hue. Even his silk and velvet suit +had suffered a change and was now a coarse leather jerkin with hose and +sleeves of russet cloth.</p> + +<p>"You might just as well have made a beast of me outright!" he said +bitterly. "I should have been as likely to win the heart of any maiden +as I am now."</p> + +<p>"My dear Mirliflor," retorted the Fairy, "if, as you are now, you cannot +win this girl by your own worth, it will either be because she is not +worth winning or you have not sufficient worth to deserve her."</p> + +<p>"And how," he asked, "am I to set about winning her?"</p> + +<p>"You will start at once for Eswareinmal—on horseback if you like, +provided your horse and his trappings are not too fine. You will leave +him outside the City, and find your way to one of the side entrances of +the Palace, where you will ask an attendant to inform me that +'Giroflé'—as you will henceforth call yourself—has arrived in +obedience to my summons. I will arrange that you shall see this girl, +and it will then be for you to say whether you will go any further or +not in this enterprise. You had better leave the Palace without seeing +the King, your father, and I will explain to him that there were good +and sufficient reasons for your secret departure."</p> + +<p>However, when she did obtain an audience from King Tournesol, she saw +that he was not in a mood that promised a favourable reception to any +further matrimonial project on Mirliflor's behalf—at all events from +her. So she merely informed him that Mirliflor had left Clairdelune to +seek a bride for himself, and that he might be absent for some time. She +did not mention his transformation, and was disingenuous enough to +agree with the King that the Prince had behaved most unfilially in +departing without permission. But King Tournesol was too glad that his +son's thoughts had again turned to marriage to be very seriously angry, +and the Fairy left him in tolerable good humour, and got back to +Eswareinmal long before Mirliflor, who reached the Palace at last, after +a journey of entirely unfamiliar discomfort and a total lack of the +deference and attention he had always hitherto received as of right. He +made his way in an aggrieved and rather rebellious frame of mind to a +side entrance and, on inquiring for the Court Godmother, was taken at +once to her apartments. After hearing his tale of hardships, which she +merely said were extremely good for him, she led him down by a private +staircase to the gardens at the back of the Palace, and through them, by +a postern gate of which she had the key, to an uncultivated region of +glades and groves. Here she ordered him to conceal himself behind a +thicket at the edge of a clearing, and to remain there till she gave him +leave to come out. He waited for what seemed an interminable time—and +then his patience was rewarded. The Fairy returned with the very lady of +his visions. <i>This</i> time at least his Godmother had not deceived +him—the living reality was even more radiantly beautiful than his +dream! They passed and repassed him several times, and, if he had not +seen Daphne, the mere sound of her gay sweet voice would have been +enough to enslave him. But he could see her perfectly well, and note the +animation of her every gesture, the easy grace with which she moved, and +her pretty tenderness for the old woman who was leaning on her strong +young arm. When would the Fairy see fit to call him forth and present +him to this adorable being? And yet, inconsistently enough, he was +dreading the moment. How could he hope, changed as he was now, that +those bright eyes would regard him with any interest whatever? But, as +it happened, they did not regard him at all on this occasion, for, after +a few more turns up and down the clearing, the Fairy retired with her +<i>protégée</i>, and presently re-appeared alone.</p> + +<p>"Well," she said, as Mirliflor came forward at her summons, "now you +have seen her, what is your decision?"</p> + +<p>"I stay here," he replied, "and will submit to anything as long as there +is a chance of gaining her."</p> + +<p>"I expected as much," she said. "And I have arranged that you shall be +employed here as one of the Royal under-gardeners."</p> + +<p>"An under-gardener!" he exclaimed. "Really, Godmother, that is not +giving me a fair chance! And I've never done any gardening in my life!"</p> + +<p>"Then it is high time you began," she said calmly. "It will not only +give you a greater respect for manual labour, but subdue your pride."</p> + +<p>"You have left me nothing I can be proud of. And what opportunity shall +I have of even seeing her?"</p> + +<p>"You will be given the key which will admit you to the grounds, and the +pavilion in which she lives is not far from here. As to opportunities of +meeting her, you must make them for yourself. Those are my conditions," +said the despotic old Fairy, "and if you don't choose to accept them, +you may as well return to Clairdelune at once, for I shall take care +that you never see her again."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I accept," he said. "I can't help myself. Only, it does seem to me, +Godmother, that if you're really anxious that I should succeed, you +might make it easier for me than this!"</p> + +<p>"No doubt," she said. "But if it was easy there would be no merit in +success. I am putting <i>her</i> to the test, remember, as well as you, and +until I see how you both come through it, I cannot be certain that you +are really fitted for one another."</p> + +<p>She had, as a matter of fact, quite made up her mind that they should +marry, but she could not resist such an opening for one of the practical +moral lessons which, as a Fairy Godmother of the fine old didactic type, +she had often brought to an effectively instructive <i>dénoûment</i>.</p> + +<p>But if she was enjoying herself over the probation, it is more than can +be said for the unhappy Mirliflor. It is true that, owing to the Court +Godmother's protection, he was treated by the Head Gardener with some +indulgence, but, nevertheless, he had to work much harder and longer +than he liked. Sometimes, however, he was sent to the outlying part of +the gardens, where he was under no supervision, and then it was easy to +slip away to the postern gate, which his key enabled him to enter, and +he was not long in discovering the pavilion which sheltered his +divinity. He wore a big apron and carried a pair of garden shears with +which he lopped and trimmed a shrub now and then by way of accounting +for his intrusion, and sometimes he was rewarded by a glimpse of her. +But that was all, for, with a diffidence he had never known before, he +did not venture near enough to speak. The fact was that he was morbidly +self-conscious about his altered appearance. If the Fairy had only let +him retain his own form, he thought, he would not have hesitated a +moment, but her disdain was more than he could bring himself to face, +and so he watched from afar, and when she wandered out would follow at a +distance, keeping her in view, while remaining unseen himself. It was, +as he felt, not precisely the way to conduct a courtship, and he +despised himself for his want of courage. But he always hoped that +something might happen to bring them together, though it seemed less and +less likely that anything would.</p> + +<p>Daphne, meanwhile, was growing resigned to her exclusion from the +Palace, which she chiefly regretted because she could see nothing of +Ruby, the one member of the Royal Family for whom she could feel any +real affection. She expected to hear at any moment that the car was +ready to take her back to England, where she would have to find +employment if she could.</p> + +<p>The Queen had certainly furnished her with a character; "Miss Heritage," +the reference stated, "has been for some months in the service of Her +Majesty Queen Selina of Märchenland as Governess-companion to Her +Majesty's younger daughter, Princess Ruby. Her Majesty could not +conscientiously recommend Miss Heritage as a teacher for advanced +pupils, but has no doubt that she would be fairly competent to undertake +a situation as Nursery Governess."</p> + +<p>That was all—and Daphne did not think it would do much for her. And +besides, people might want to know who the Queen of Märchenland +was—which would be awkward to explain. But perhaps the Court Godmother +would see that she was not sent home without funds enough to support her +till she could get an engagement. She would be rather sorry to leave +Märchenland, which, queer country as it was in some ways, she had come +to look upon her home. However, she did not worry much about the future, +being content to enjoy her present restful life as long as she might.</p> + +<p>She was comfortable enough in the Pavilion, where she was well looked +after by an elderly taciturn attendant, one of the Court Godmother's own +waiting-women.</p> + +<p>The old Fairy herself came from time to time to inquire after Daphne's +health and bring her news of the Court, and her visits were welcome. +When alone Daphne spent much of her time over the ancient Chronicles, +which the Fairy had provided for her, and which she found strangely +fascinating. Or when she was disinclined to read or embroider, she would +explore the grounds about the Pavilion, which were wild and neglected +enough to impart a sense of adventure to her wanderings. Often, as she +walked and worked or read, her thoughts would drift into dreams—the +dreams that come to most girls—of a Prince Charming who would discover +her in her retreat, and be her champion and deliverer. In a country like +this, such a dream was less unlikely to come true than elsewhere, and +yet she always ended by laughing at herself for indulging it.</p> + +<p>The Prince (for of course he must be a Prince!) would have to make haste +if he was to find her still in Märchenland. But even if he came in time, +she thought, it would be useless—his arrival would be reported at once +to the Queen. For she had lately become aware that she was being watched +by someone who was obviously not the gardener he tried to appear, and +whom she had more than once detected in the act of following her in +secret. He must be either a spy, or a guard with orders to prevent her +escape—as if she were likely to attempt it when there was no place to +which she could escape! She had made no complaint to the Court +Godmother, being unwilling to trouble the old Fairy with a matter of so +little importance. But she took her revenge on the spy by making his +task as difficult as she could. If she detected him in time lying in +wait in the bushes by the front of the Pavilion, she would slip out at +the back, and reach her favourite haunts by a roundabout path screened +by yew hedges, while he imagined her to be still indoors. He was really +such an unsuspicious spy that there was hardly any fun in baffling him. +She had done so with the usual success one hot afternoon, and was making +for a tree under which she often sat. It had great glossy leaves, and +gorgeous flowers with a delicate but penetrating scent, and the thought +of the coolness beneath its spreading branches was particularly +attractive just then. After looking round and satisfying herself that +she had not been pursued, she sat down and opened the book she had +brought—a chronicle of the lives of the Sovereigns of Märchenland. She +had read most of it already, and instead of reading any more, she found +herself thinking of the contrast between their earlier Kings and Queens +and the present occupiers of the throne. The former Sovereigns had had +their failings; some of them had been arbitrary and wrong-headed, one or +two cruel and tyrannical. But none had ever been vulgar or ridiculous. +She could understand poor Mr. Wibberley-Stimpson's being so hopelessly +out of his element—but it seemed strange that Queen Selina, who was +the daughter of a Märchenland Prince, should not have inherited any +trace of royal dignity. They were quite incapable of governing the +people, who, as Daphne knew, regarded them with scarcely disguised +contempt. And it was such a pity, for the good Märchenlanders had been +so loyal at first! They would be loyal still, if only they had a +sovereign for whom they could feel a particle of—. She had got to this +point in her meditations when she was startled by a stealthy rustle in +the branches overhead. The spy had been too clever for her after all! +Well, she thought, with malicious amusement, if he chose to take the +trouble of climbing a tree to watch her, she would keep him employed up +there as long as possible and see which would tire first. He was +evidently getting cramped already, for the branches were cracking quite +loudly, but she would not look up or show that she was in the least +aware of him. And then suddenly a heavy body fell with a flop on the +open book in her lap—and she realised with terror that it was no spy +she had to deal with, but an infinitely more formidable enemy. It was a +huge serpent that had coiled itself swiftly on her knees, which quivered +under the intolerable weight, while its tail twisted round her ankles, +binding them fast, and it reared its evil flat head, crested like a +peacock's, to a level with her chin. Its markings, in alternate rings of +cream, vermilion, black and orange, were strangely beautiful, but she +was in no mood to admire them as she sat there—spell-bound under its +cold tawny eyes.</p> + +<p>Presently it spoke words which made her wish that its speech had been +unintelligible. "Yes," it said, "you are quite right to be afraid of me. +I am here to kill you."</p> + +<p>"Then don't talk about it!" said Daphne, her throat so parched that she +could scarcely speak; "if you must kill me, do it at once and get it +over."</p> + +<p>"Not yet," it said malignantly. "You have an agony of terror to go +through before that. When I see your eyes close I shall know that the +time has come, and I shall strike my fangs into that white throat of +yours, and you will recover just sense enough to feel what pain it is to +die!" Daphne would very possibly have closed her eyes at once and +received the death stroke rather than listen any longer to the +creature's threats, but she had just become aware that help was at hand. +The person she believed to be a spy was stealing up, treading +noiselessly over the velvet turf, his hands already outstretched with +the evident purpose of seizing the reptile from behind. If she could +only engage it in conversation for a minute or two, there was still a +chance for her.</p> + +<p>"I have done you no harm," she said, after moistening her dry lips. "Why +should you hate me like this?"</p> + +<p>"Ask Xuriel, my master," replied the serpent, "who called me into being +for no other purpose than to put you to death."</p> + +<p>"But I have done Xuriel no injury."</p> + +<p>"Then it may be you are an enemy of the Count, whose servant he is. I +know not—nor is it any matter. All I know is that I have been sent here +to—" and here it broke off in a dreadful strangled scream as a pair of +strong hands clutched it firmly by the throat and dragged it writhing +into the open. Daphne sat helplessly looking on as her rescuer struggled +with the thing, which had wound its coils round his waist and leg, and +was trying hard to free its head and strike. He held the venomous head +at arm's-length, gripping its throat tight, while the foam slavered from +its distended jaws, but it was stronger than he, and, as he recognised +this, he urged Daphne to save herself while there was time.</p> + +<p>She had already risen, as she had got over any tendency to faint, but +she had no intention of leaving him to his fate. She had just seen in a +pocket of his leather apron those big garden-shears which she had +noticed him plying with such marked incompetence, and it occurred to her +suddenly that they might be of some real service now. She ran up and, +watching her opportunity, succeeded in whipping them out. Then she +stepped behind the serpent, and forced the blades together just below +the part of its neck that was in her champion's grasp. There was a +highly unpleasant scrunch and jar as they closed, but she pressed with +all her strength, until the reptile's spine was cut through and its body +uncoiled itself from the young man and went writhing and rolling blindly +through the grass.</p> + +<p>Daphne dropped the shears and got out of its way in sudden panic. "It's +not dead! I'm sure it isn't!" she cried to the stranger, whom she had +somehow ceased to think of as a spy.</p> + +<p>"It is harmless enough now, fair lady," he said as he tossed its crested +head into the undergrowth, "thanks to your courage."</p> + +<p>"I never killed anything before," she said. "I hated doing it, and—it +seems such a silly way to kill a snake!"</p> + +<p>"It succeeded," he said, wondering how those small slim hands could have +had the strength. "I could not have held it much longer. You have saved +my life."</p> + +<p>"I couldn't have," she said, "if you hadn't saved mine first. I know now +that you have only been watching and following me about as you have to +see that I didn't get into any danger?"</p> + +<p>"So you were aware that I watched you?" he said.</p> + +<p>Daphne laughed. "How could I help being?" she replied. "And of course I +guessed at once that you weren't a real gardener."</p> + +<p>"What makes you suppose that?" he said.</p> + +<p>"Well," she said, laughing again, "I happen to have seen you at work, +you know."</p> + +<p>"I may have little skill," he said, "nevertheless, I have obtained +employment here as a gardener."</p> + +<p>"I mustn't ask you questions," she said, "but I'm quite sure that, +before you came here, you were in a very different position from any +labourer's." She had noticed a refinement in his speech and manner, and +also the shapeliness of his hands, which the Fairy had been considerate +or forgetful enough to leave unaltered.</p> + +<p>But Daphne's words gave him a sudden hope. Had she detected that he was +a Prince? If so, he was released from his promise of silence!</p> + +<p>"All I may tell you," he said, "is that there were reasons which obliged +me to leave my own country and live here where I am unknown. But I think +you have guessed more than that already!"</p> + +<p>"I will tell you what I think," she said. "I believe you are really a +student, and, whatever you had to leave your country for, it was nothing +you've any cause to be ashamed of. I expect you were accused of plotting +against your Government—and I don't care if you did, because you +wouldn't have if they'd governed properly. Anyway, you escaped, and +thought you'd be safe if you could get a post in the Royal Gardens. +There! it is only a guess, of course, and you needn't tell me whether +I'm right or not."</p> + +<p>He allowed her to think she was, as it was a far more creditable +explanation than any he could have invented for himself.</p> + +<p>"It was rather clever of me to guess all that," she said. "But it would +have been cleverer of you to choose something you knew a little more +about than gardening, wouldn't it? And we can't be strangers after this. +That thing there," and she indicated the headless serpent, which had now +ceased to writhe, and lay limp in the grass, with all its brilliant +colour faded to dingy grey, "introduced us, but it carelessly forgot to +mention our names."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps," he said, quite seriously, "it did not know them."</p> + +<p>"That <i>would</i> account for it, certainly," agreed Daphne, with equal +gravity, though her eyes danced. "Then I'd better explain that I was +Princess Ruby's governess before we came here. Since then I've been a +sort of lady-in-waiting—and now I'm nothing at all. I'm in disgrace, +like you. My name is Daphne Heritage. Now, tell me yours ... Giroflé?... +Well, I am going back to the Pavilion now. I don't feel safe anywhere +else.... Yes, you can see me out of this dreadful place—just in <i>case</i> +there should be another snake about," she conceded, for her nerves were +beginning to feel a reaction, and she was glad of his protection.</p> + +<p>So he walked humbly by her side, saying little for fear of saying too +much, till they came within sight of the Pavilion and then she +dismissed him. "We will say good-bye here," she said; "and you mustn't +keep at a distance any more—it would be too absurd, now—you must come +and speak to me, of course. Though I <i>may</i> be sent back to England at a +moment's notice, and then you won't see me again. But if you don't, I +shall never forget how bravely you risked your life for me."</p> + +<p>She gave him her hand; he held its cool silken softness for a moment and +would have raised it to his lips but for this new humility of his. Then, +with a friendly but almost careless little nod, she was gone, leaving +him with the conviction that it was indifferent to her whether they ever +met again or not.</p> + +<p>He felt that the Fates had not been as propitious as they might. They +had permitted him to rescue her—but then he had been rescued by her +immediately afterwards—a most humiliating anti-climax! There was one +service he could still do her, he thought, and, cutting himself a stout +stick, he made a thorough search of the groves, where however, rather to +his disappointment, he discovered no serpents of any kind. But, in his +anxiety for Daphne, he insisted on seeing the Court Godmother at once +and warning her of the dangers to which she was exposing her <i>protégée</i>.</p> + +<p>The old Fairy was secretly disconcerted, though she did not of course +admit that there had been any neglect on her part. "I am not at all +surprised, Mirliflor. In fact, I fully expected something of this sort +to happen," she said unblushingly. "But I knew very well that there was +no danger while you were there to look after her."</p> + +<p>"But it may happen again," he urged. "That accursed Xuriel may create +another serpent, and the next time I mayn't be at hand—unless you can +get me excused altogether from working in the gardens."</p> + +<p>"I shall not do that, Mirliflor," said the inflexible old Fairy. "And +what you fear will not happen again. To begin with, that serpent was +never created by Xuriel."</p> + +<p>"But I heard it say that he had called it into being!"</p> + +<p>"And have you ever known a serpent tell the truth? No, no, Mirliflor, +Master Xuriel is clever enough in his way, but he couldn't make a +serpent of that size. From what you tell me, it was evidently a Crested +Serpent which he had got hold of and trained, and I happen to know it +was the last existing.... But I will have a rope of fine silk, woven +with a certain spell, laid round the Pavilion, and no snake, magic or +otherwise, will be able to cross <i>that</i>. It's quite unnecessary, and +will be extremely exhausting to me, still I'll do it, just to set your +mind at ease. And I'll tell her not to go about alone in future.... But +I can't have you going in there whenever you choose in future. The Head +Gardener was complaining to me that you are neglecting your work, and it +won't do to excite his suspicion. You must not attempt to see her till +the close of the day, which will leave you ample time for your +lovemaking.... No, she is not going to be sent back to England. <i>I</i> +shall take care of that. So you can keep a good heart, Mirliflor. I +consider you have made an excellent beginning!"</p> + +<p>He was far from sure of it himself, but at least Daphne would be better +protected henceforth, and even if he could no longer look after her by +day, which he fully intended to do when he found an opportunity, he +could at least see her every evening. It was some comfort, too, to feel +that he could rely on her remaining in Märchenland.</p> + +<p>On her next visit to the Pavilion the Court Godmother heard Daphne's +version of the meeting with Giroflé. "I take an interest in the young +man," she said. "Indeed I got him his place here. He seems to have +behaved very creditably—for a mere gardener. Though I dare say you +think him beneath your notice."</p> + +<p>"After he had saved my life!" said Daphne indignantly. "As if I +<i>could</i>—whoever he was! But, as you take an interest in him, Court +Godmother, you must know as well as I do that he isn't really a gardener +at all."</p> + +<p>"Oh, indeed," said the Fairy suspiciously. "And how did you find <i>that</i> +out? From <i>him</i>?"</p> + +<p>"No, I guessed. And then he had to admit it."</p> + +<p>"And what did he admit?"</p> + +<p>"Well, that he is a student and has had to go into hiding because he was +suspected of being mixed up in some plot or other. He didn't tell me any +more than that."</p> + +<p>"Ah," said the Fairy, concealing her relief, "he told you more than was +prudent as it was. But I suppose he thought he could trust you with his +secret."</p> + +<p>"And don't <i>you</i>, Court Godmother?" flashed Daphne.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I don't think you would betray him. You mustn't go and lose your +heart to him, though. That would never do!"</p> + +<p>Daphne laughed. "Court Godmother!" she said, "you're not really afraid +of my falling in love with him, are you?"</p> + +<p>"Well, no, my dear. Fortunately he's not good-looking enough to make me +very uneasy about that. I should be much more afraid that he might fall +in love with you."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I hope he won't do <i>that</i>, poor fellow," said Daphne with a sudden +and uneasy recollection of how he had followed her in secret. "But I'm +going home so soon that I mayn't even see him again."</p> + +<p>"You may have to stay here some time longer," said the Fairy, "so it's +quite possible that he will try to see more of you. However, it will be +easy for you to tell him plainly that you don't want to have anything to +do with him."</p> + +<p>"But I don't mind his speaking to me," said Daphne. "I told him he +might. I should hate hurting him like that. And, after all, Court +Godmother, if he <i>should</i> show any signs of—of what you're afraid of, +he will soon see that it's no use, and be sensible about it."</p> + +<p>"I dare say you're right, my dear, I dare say you're right," agreed the +Court Godmother. "And anyhow, it will be time enough to trouble about +that when it happens—which very likely it never will."</p> + +<p>But in her heart she was more convinced than ever that Mirliflor had +made a very good beginning.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI</h2> + +<h3>"A CLOUD THAT'S DRAGONISH"</h3> + + +<p>At the first opportunity Mirliflor had returned to the pavilion groves, +where he need no longer worship from a distance. Daphne had received him +graciously enough, but somehow he went away with a feeling that he had +lost ground. He saw her every day after that, occasionally in the +daytime, whenever he could evade the Head Gardener's eye, and always in +the evening. She would talk to him from her window, or sometimes she +would consent to come out and stroll with him in the golden dusk along +grass-grown paths bordered with high and ragged walls of yew. And yet he +parted from her with a sorer heart every evening. She had been as +enchanting as ever, but quite as indifferent. It was useless to tell her +how he loved her; whenever he had tried she had made him understand +that, if he said any more, he would spoil the friendship between them. +So he said no more.</p> + +<p>Sometimes she had made him angry. Unfortunately he could never quite +forget his rank, and he resented the airy way in which she treated him +as a person of no particular importance. She would even laugh at his +efforts to assert his dignity—and he was unused to being laughed at, +especially as he often did not even understand why she laughed. For +Fairy Princes have never been noted for their sense of humour, and poor +Mirliflor was certainly no exception. Once, when she had innocently +permitted herself to remark that she thought Prince Mirliflor had shown +very little spirit or determination in his wooing of Princess Edna, he +lost his temper so completely as to tell her that she would be wiser not +to pass judgment on matters of which she knew so little. Daphne's +silence showed how deeply he had offended, but he was too proud to +conciliate her, and so his evening came to an abrupt end in mutual +coolness. On his way back he cursed himself for his folly. He had done +for himself now—she would never forgive him, never speak to him again! +How could he have been so mad when his only happiness was being near +her? But when he ventured back the next evening, prepared for final +dismissal, he found her as frank and friendly as ever; she seemed to +have forgotten that they had ever fallen out at all. Unfortunately this +was rather humiliating than gratifying, since it only showed how utterly +insignificant he was in her eyes.</p> + +<p>But Daphne did not actually consider him insignificant at all. She was +rather interested in this plain, ordinary-looking youth with a lofty +manner and an air of authority that seemed so incongruous, and yet, even +while she laughed at him for them, impressed her in spite of herself. He +was not quick at seeing a joke—especially against himself—and she +enjoyed teasing and provoking him as she would not have done in the case +of anyone she disliked.</p> + +<p>She knew he was absolutely devoted to her, and although she had made him +understand that he must avoid any approach to sentiment, she was touched +by his devotion, and sorry that she could make him no better return.</p> + +<p>"But it's no use," she thought remorsefully, "I simply couldn't care in +that way for any man who hadn't <i>some</i> good looks. I can't be more than +a friend to Giroflé—and, luckily, I believe he's beginning to see that +at last!"</p> + +<p>Mirliflor had certainly begun to see that he was too severely +handicapped to have a chance of success, and he paid a secret visit to +his Godmother's apartments to tell her so. But she was deaf to all his +protests, and declined to restore him to his own form until he had +either won Daphne or been refused by her. He came away furious, +regretting that he had ever been such a fool as to put himself at the +mercy of this obstinate old Fairy's whims. If he had not, he would not +have met Daphne—but better a thousand times that he had never seen her +if she was not to be his!</p> + +<p>His visit had one result. Old Baron von Eisenbänden happened to observe +him leaving the tower, and it struck him as suspicious that so august a +personage as the Court Godmother should have any dealings with an +under-gardener. She must be using the fellow as her agent in some +intrigue or other, he concluded, and, as she had not chosen to confide +in him, it was clearly his duty to his Sovereigns to discover what she +was about.</p> + +<p>His cap of darkness might be of service to him here, but since the +fiasco of the self-supplying tables he had been distrustful of any +article supplied by the Astrologer Royal. However, it seemed as though +the sudden decay of the tables had been due less to any malicious +revenge on Xuriel's part than to some imperfection in his magic—for the +cap proved to be as efficient as ever. So, after satisfying himself of +this, the worthy Baron put it on and prowled unseen about the Court +Godmother's tower. For some days his vigilance was unrewarded, but at +length he saw Giroflé hurrying down a gallery that led to the Fairy's +door, and immediately gave chase. Unfortunately he arrived too late to +slip in behind him, and the thickness of the door made it impossible to +overhear anything of the conversation till the very end of the +interview. Then, as the door was open and the Court Godmother had +accompanied Giroflé to the threshold, their parting words were perfectly +audible.</p> + +<p>"You are setting me an impossible task, Godmother Voldoiseau!" he heard +the mysterious young under-gardener declare. "I am no nearer her than +when I came. And I never shall be till you restore me to my proper +self!"</p> + +<p>"I shall do that when I see fit, Mirliflor," the Fairy replied, "and not +a moment before. You have only to be patient a little longer and all +will be well. I know her better than you can, remember, and, believe me, +you have no cause to despair."</p> + +<p>"So you have told me before!" he said bitterly. "But I can't and won't +endure this much longer, and if you refuse to make it easier for me, I +shall give up and go back to Clairdelune!"</p> + +<p>"My dear Mirliflor," she retorted, "you won't be such a fool!"</p> + +<p>He left her at that without another word, but the Court Chamberlain had +heard enough to surprise him considerably. So this young gardener, it +seemed, was really Prince Mirliflor transformed! The Baron knew that +such a transformation was within the Fairy's powers, so, in spite of the +total dissimilarity between the Prince and the Gardener, he never for a +moment doubted that they were one and the same.</p> + +<p>But why the Court Godmother should have chosen to act in this arbitrary +manner, and how she supposed it could promote Prince Mirliflor's object, +was incomprehensible.</p> + +<p>It was only natural that he should rebel against her, and the Court +Chamberlain felt so much sympathy for the ill-used young prince that he +resolved to follow him to the gardens and offer his advice and +assistance.</p> + +<p>Mirliflor had already begun to rake a flower-bed with vindictive energy, +when he heard himself addressed from behind, and turned to recognise the +elderly official he had good cause to remember.</p> + +<p>"Hard at work, I see," began the Baron, with a casual air intended for +any witnesses of the interview. "Work," he added, cautiously lowering +his voice, "which, if I may be allowed to say so, Sire, can hardly be +other than distasteful to his Royal Highness Prince Mirliflor of +Clairdelune."</p> + +<p>Mirliflor noticed the purple cap which was still in the other's hand, +and knew it would be useless to deny his identity. "So, Baron," he said, +"you have been eavesdropping <i>again</i>, have you? Well, if you were in the +Court Godmother's chamber just now, as I suppose you were, you know how +I come to be in this position."</p> + +<p>"I am aware, Sire," he said, "that your Royal Highness has been induced +to accept it in the hope of obtaining the hand of—of a certain person +whom it would perhaps be inadvisable to name."</p> + +<p>"Certainly we will not name her," said Mirliflor, "nor need we discuss a +matter that so entirely concerns myself."</p> + +<p>"I should not permit myself the indiscretion, Sire, if I did not so +ardently desire that your Royal Highness's suit may prosper. But, so +long as you remain in—in the form you have deigned to assume, I cannot +think you will approach your Princess with the least chance of success!"</p> + +<p>"I agree, Baron, but as the Court Godmother happens to think otherwise, +I'm powerless, you see."</p> + +<p>"She is a most gracious and venerable lady," said the Baron; "but, +though her will is as strong as ever, her mind is evidently weakening. +If your Royal Highness would be guided by me, I will venture to say that +you would find it more to your advantage."</p> + +<p>"Well, Baron, and what is your suggestion?"</p> + +<p>"I have but to inform her Majesty of the facts," he said, "and she will +at once order the Court Godmother Vogelflug to restore your Royal +Highness to your own form, in which, believe me, Sire, you need have no +fear of refusal."</p> + +<p>"Listen to me, Baron!" said Mirliflor, who knew very well how his old +Godmother would treat such an order. "You will say nothing whatever to +her Majesty of my being here—and I'll tell you <i>why</i> you will not. If +you do, she will necessarily have to hear of your method of acquiring +the information. And it's not a very creditable method, Baron!"</p> + +<p>"I have done nothing I am ashamed of," he said doggedly; "her Majesty +will recognise that I have acted solely from devotion to her interests."</p> + +<p>"Possibly—but I fancy she will also recognise that a Court Chamberlain +who uses a cap of darkness to overhear private conversations is an +official whose devotion might be occasionally inconvenient. I really +don't think I should mention it, Baron, if I were you."</p> + +<p>Even he appeared to see the force of this. "Since your Royal Highness +desires your presence here to remain unknown, I will observe the +greatest discretion," he said stiffly; "I have the honour to leave your +Royal Highness to pursue his occupation." And with this he withdrew, +with very obvious affront. He left Mirliflor even more disturbed than +before. The Baron, having been present unseen at his interview with his +Godmother, evidently knew all about his hopes with regard to Daphne, and +seemed—for some reason that Mirliflor could not fathom—anxious for his +success. But, though the Court Chamberlain had promised discretion, +Mirliflor doubted whether he would be able to keep such a secret long. +He was quite capable of thinking that, in Mirliflor's own interests, he +was justified in disclosing it. And then—Mirliflor pictured himself +summoned in his present form before the whole Court—where he had last +appeared as Princess Edna's suitor, the difficulty of explaining his +recent behaviour—the general indignity and humiliation he would be +exposed to—even if the Fairy did not repudiate all knowledge of him, +which she was quite capable of doing! No, he could not stay to face all +that—he must leave the Palace that very night, and without a word to +his Godmother. Why should he see her when nothing he could urge would +have the slightest effect? Perhaps, when she heard he was back at +Clairdelune, it would bring her to her senses.</p> + +<p>Nor would he go through any parting scene with Daphne—what was it to +her whether he went or stayed? If he saw her, he might be tempted to +tell her how passionately and hopelessly he loved her—and she would +only laugh at him. In self-respect he would spare himself that.</p> + +<p>He adhered to this resolution till long past their usual hour for +meeting, and he had made all his preparations for departure, when he was +suddenly seized with an uncontrollable longing to see her once +more—whatever pain it might cost him afterwards. So, with some scorn of +his own weakness, he let himself through the postern gate and went in +search of her. At the end of one of the yew walks was a rusty astrolabe +on a moss-grown marble pedestal, and by this he found her. Her back was +towards him as she faced the western horizon, where clouds of rose and +gold were sailing in a sky of warm apple-green which toned above them to +a luminous silvery blue. On the edge of the slope in the foreground some +cypresses were silhouetted in purplish bronze. She turned as she heard +his footsteps, her face so wondrously fair in the half light that his +heart ached afresh at the sight of her. "I'd quite given up expecting +you, Giroflé," she said, with a nonchalance that concealed her <i>pique</i> +at his unusual tardiness—for it must be owned that she had become a +trifle exacting of late. "It's so late now that I shall have to go in +very soon."</p> + +<p>"I shall not keep you long, Daphne," he replied, determined to show +himself no less indifferent than was she. "I had to prepare for my +journey, as I am leaving Eswareinmal to-night, and I have only come to +say good-bye."</p> + +<p>She was not only startled but deeply hurt. If he had really been so +devoted as he had seemed, she thought, he could never have spoken of +leaving her in this casual tone—but she would not let him see how he +had wounded her. "To-night," she repeated, "I'd no idea you meant to go +so soon as this. But I dare say you are only too glad to get away."</p> + +<p>"Is one ever sorry," he said, in spite of himself, "to get away from a +place where one has suffered?" She had turned to the astrolabe again, +and was idly tracing out the incisions in one of its hoops with her +supple forefinger, when she next spoke. "Of course I know it must have +been hard for you, Giroflé," she said, "still, I hoped—it was very +foolish and conceited of me, I know—but I hoped that perhaps <i>my</i> being +here made it more bearable."</p> + +<p>"If you had not been here, I should never have come at all," he said; +"you did not know that, Daphne, but I may tell you now. And at first, it +is true, that just to see and be near you now and then, was happiness +enough—but of late the hours I have spent here have brought me little +but the misery of longing for what must ever be denied!"</p> + +<p>She could no longer misunderstand. So far from his devotion having +abated, it was stronger than she had ever imagined, and the discovery +made her sorrier for him than ever. "Giroflé!" she cried remorsefully, +"I never knew you felt it like that—I thought you understood, and were +content with—with all that I could give you. Oh, why <i>can't</i> you be?"</p> + +<p>"And what have you given me, Daphne? What am I to you? Nothing! +Nothing!"</p> + +<p>"You are my friend—the dearest friend I have ever had. Is <i>that</i> +nothing, Giroflé?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing compared with what I once hoped to be! Hoped—while, even then, +I knew how impossible any hope was. And yet—and yet—what adds to my +torment is that I know—yes, Daphne, I <i>know</i>—that—if—if by an evil +fate I had not been what I am, I could have made you love me. I am very +sure of <i>that</i>!"</p> + +<p>She was looking at him as she spoke—and somehow she ceased to think him +plain. And suddenly she knew that he had become necessary to her—so +necessary that the thought of losing him was unendurable.</p> + +<p>"And why," she said, "are you so sure that it is impossible now, +Giroflé?"</p> + +<p>"Daphne," he cried incredulously, "do you mean that you can love +me—even as I am?"</p> + +<p>She did not reply in words, but her face as she raised it to his was +answer enough; and then he held her in his arms, into which she nestled +with a little sigh of perfect content. He could not understand how so +marvellous and unlooked for a thing could have happened to him, and +Daphne herself might have been at some loss to account for her sudden +surrender. But she did not try—she only knew that she had been quite +powerless to help it, and did not regret it.</p> + +<p>"And you will not go away from Eswareinmal now, Giroflé?" she said a +little later, when they were sitting on a stone seat under an ilex, and +the gold and silver stars were beginning to come out in the deep violet +sky.</p> + +<p>"Not alone, dearest," he replied. "But it will not be wise to stay here +long. I was recognised this afternoon by that meddling old imbecile of a +Court Chamberlain."</p> + +<p>"Giroflé!" she exclaimed, clinging to him in terror, "will he give you +up—can they do anything to you? If there's danger, let us escape at +once—for of course I shan't let you go alone!"</p> + +<p>"There's no danger," he said. "If he lets out that I am here, it would +be—inconvenient, but no worse. And I think my—the Court Godmother will +see me through it now. I will tell her our news to-morrow morning."</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid," said Daphne, "she won't at all approve of my marrying +you—she may even try to prevent it, but she won't succeed!"</p> + +<p>"She is more likely to be on our side," he said. He refrained, even +then, from telling her why; he might be already released from his +promise of silence, but he no longer rebelled against it, nor had he any +impatience now to regain his own form. And so they talked on far into +the night, discussing their future life together, which Daphne +cheerfully assumed would be humble enough for a time—and he said +nothing to disabuse her. Why should he not enjoy as long as he could the +sensation—denied to most princes and millionaires—of being beloved +"for himself alone?"</p> + +<p>At an early hour the next morning, after carefully ascertaining that the +Baron had not yet risen, he waited on the Fairy, who heard what he had +to tell with high good-humour and complacency. "Most satisfactory, my +dear Mirliflor!" she said. "And everything has turned out exactly as I +always told you it would. I shall visit her this morning and prepare her +for the future in store for her. As for you, you must get to your work +as usual, and at noon you will find us at the end of the yew walk behind +the Pavilion. I shall have to change you back to yourself again, and I'm +thankful to say it will be the last time I shall ever be called upon to +do anything of that sort. Then I shall take you both in the stork-car to +Clairdelune, and we shall hear what your Royal father thinks of the +bride you have chosen. He <i>may</i> consider that an ex-lady-in-waiting is +not——"</p> + +<p>"He has only to see her," declared Mirliflor. "But object as he may, no +thing and no one shall separate us now."</p> + +<p>"Well, well, if it comes to that, I dare say I shall manage to overcome +his objections," she said. She might have been more explicit if she had +not decided to reserve the surprise of Daphne's royal descent until the +final scene at Clairdelune—which would be far more effective, as well +as safer.</p> + +<p>"And don't worry yourself about that foolish old Baron," she concluded. +"We shall be gone before <i>he</i> can give any trouble. Now be off with +you—I shan't want you till noon, and a few more hours' gardening won't +hurt you!"</p> + +<p>There was no need to hurry, so she did not leave her tower till it was +nearly half an hour to mid-day, when she went slowly and by unfrequented +paths through the gardens and thence to the Pavilion. Daphne, who had +been anxiously expecting her, saw her from the Pavilion and came to meet +her, feeling and looking rather guilty.</p> + +<p>"Have you heard?" she asked. "But I can see you have.... <i>Well</i>, Court +Godmother?"</p> + +<p>"Well," said the Fairy, bent on prolonging the test to the last moment, +"this is a pretty thing you have done, upon my word! <i>You</i> to fall in +love with a penniless student! If you had only had the patience to +wait," she continued, as she led her towards the yew walk, "I'd have +found a handsome young Prince for you. It's not too late, even now."</p> + +<p>"I used to think I would only marry a Prince, I don't now," said Daphne. +"I wouldn't change Giroflé for any Prince in the world. And what am <i>I</i>, +after all? Just a Governess!"</p> + +<p>"And when you have married your student, what do you suppose you are +going to live on?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, we shall manage somehow," said Daphne tranquilly. "We shall be +poor, of course, but what does that matter so long as we're together?"</p> + +<p>"Ah," said the Fairy, "but I can't understand what a beautiful girl like +you can see in such an ugly young fellow!"</p> + +<p>"He <i>isn't</i> ugly!" Daphne declared. "And I shouldn't mind a bit if he +<i>was</i>! He'd still be Giroflé!"</p> + +<p>"All the same," pursued the Fairy, "you wouldn't object to his being +handsomer?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know," replied Daphne, contracting her pretty brows, "I can't +imagine him any different." And then she laughed. "It's not a bit of use +trying to put me out of conceit with him, Court Godmother—so you may as +well give it up!"</p> + +<p>The Fairy was satisfied at last; Daphne had stood the test triumphantly, +and the time had come for her to be told of the reward that awaited her. +"I am far from wishing to lower him in your eyes, my child," she said. +"On the contrary, I may now tell you that he possesses advantages you +little dream of. And though true love may be inspired without the aid of +wealth, rank, or good looks, there was never a maiden yet who—but I +perceive," she broke off with offended dignity, "that I am not so +fortunate as to have secured your attention!"</p> + +<p>They had left the yew walk by this time and entered an avenue of ilexes, +beyond which lay the valley and distant hills. "I'm so sorry, Court +Godmother," said Daphne, whose eyes were fixed on the view, "but—but +doesn't Drachenstolz lie over there?"</p> + +<p>"It does," said the Fairy drily, "though I fail to see why that should +interest you just now."</p> + +<p>"I—I can see something flying," explained Daphne. "It <i>may</i> be only a +vulture—a <i>large</i> vulture."</p> + +<p>"A vulture—where?" cried the old Fairy. "Nonsense. It's your fancy, +child. <i>I</i> see nothing."</p> + +<p>"It <i>is</i> a dragon!" faltered Daphne. "Can't you see it now? It's coming +towards us! And oh, I'm afraid the Count has sent it—like that +snake—to—to kill me!"</p> + +<p>A dragon was a danger which the Fairy, with all her precautions, had +somehow omitted to foresee, and for a time she exhibited about as much +calmness and self-possession as a hen at a fox-raid. "Heaven preserve +us!" she wailed. "If we were but safe at Clairdelune! What can we do?"</p> + +<p>"Hide," said Daphne, trembling. "Quick! In the undergrowth!"</p> + +<p>"It would spy us out from above," groaned the Fairy. "No, we must run +for the Pavilion and shelter there."</p> + +<p>Daphne seized her hand and they ran together, but they had not gone far +before the Court Godmother suddenly collapsed. "My old legs fail me!" +she said, "I can go no further! Run on, child, while you can!"</p> + +<p>"And leave you!" cried Daphne. "No, I shan't do that! But oh, can't you +do <i>anything</i> to save us! Think!"</p> + +<p>The Fairy rose to her feet, shaking all over. "I knew a spell once," she +mumbled. "I never tried it—but if I could only remember it now, it +might—But I can't—I'm too old—too old! That all my plans should have +come to <i>this</i>!"</p> + +<p>The dragon was forging along at a tremendous pace. It would soon be near +enough to single out its prey—and still the old Fairy stood there, +racking her memory in vain.</p> + +<p>Close upon noon Mirliflor had thrown away his hoe and torn off his apron +for ever. In a few minutes more he would be with his love—and yet his +heart was oppressed by a certain fear that had been haunting him all the +morning. The Fairy would re-transform him—but could he be sure of the +effect on Daphne? What if he lost, as Mirliflor, the love that Giroflé +had won? He was so absorbed in these disquieting reflections, as he +alternately hastened and checked his pace down the broad walks, that he +scarcely noticed a faint outcry, and sounds as though firearms were +being discharged, which seemed to come from the Palace behind him. +Perhaps, he thought, a revolt had broken out, but, if so, it did not +concern <i>him</i>. His Daphne was in no danger in those grounds beyond the +wall. He passed through the gate, and presently came to the astrolabe, +and then the stone bench, both hallowed now by the sweetest +associations. And yet it might be that those associations would be his +last with her! It was almost a relief, on reaching the yew walk, to find +it deserted. He went to the Pavilion, and there he elicited from +Daphne's elderly duenna, who was rather hard of hearing, that, as her +young mistress was certainly not indoors, he would probably find her in +the grounds.</p> + +<p>He searched all the yew walks in vain, and then, with a new and growing +uneasiness, turned towards the avenue, but he had got no farther than a +small pool in a marble basin when he heard a strange and dreadful noise +above him. He glanced upwards, and saw the bulk of a huge dragon sailing +high above the tree-tops. It was making swiftly for the valley; one of +its claws held a pendent form in fluttering drapery, and he knew too +well that the captive could only be she for whom he had been searching. +He had saved her once from the malice of her enemies—this time he was +powerless! He raved and cursed in impotent rage and despair while a +sudden gust swept the pool and sent it surging over the brim, and a +slender cypress that stood hard by rustled and shivered as though in +terror. And as he stood there, he suddenly saw the old Court Chamberlain +before him, holding in one hand his silken cap and in the other a sword +and belt.</p> + +<p>"Sire, Sire!" he stammered, "that accursed beast! It is bearing her off +to Drachenstolz! But you may save her yet!"</p> + +<p>"Show me how to get there!" said Mirliflor fiercely. "If I can't save +her I can at least die with her. But those two devils shall pay for it +first!"</p> + +<p>"Follow me," said the Baron, giving him the sword and, followed by +Mirliflor, he ran at a very creditable speed for his years in the +direction of the Palace.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>A little before noon that morning the Royal Family had collected on one +of the terraces. King Sidney was pacing up and down engaged in private +and apparently important conversation with the Crown Prince. The Court +as usual kept a respectful distance and chattered and gossiped in +whispers. The Princess Royal and Princess Ruby were sitting at a jade +table playing the game that resembled Halma, while the Queen was +confiding her maternal anxieties to the Court Chamberlain's sympathetic +ear.</p> + +<p>"To tell you the truth, Baron," she confessed, "I've not been at all +happy lately about Princess Edna. She <i>says</i> nothing, but I can see +she's fretting over Prince Mirliflor's silence. I hear he hasn't been +seen at Clairdelune lately—taken his dismissal so much to heart that +he can't appear in public, I suppose. But surely if he meant to try +again he would have done so before this!"</p> + +<p>The worthy Baron was too faithful a servant to refrain from saying +something to reassure his Royal mistress, though a salutary recollection +of Mirliflor's warning made him careful not to say too much.</p> + +<p>"I can assure your Majesty from my own personal knowledge," he replied, +"that his Royal Highness has by no means given up his intention of +renewing his addresses to the Princess Edna."</p> + +<p>"Then why <i>doesn't</i> he? There's nothing to prevent him—now."</p> + +<p>"That, Madam," said the Baron importantly, "I am not at liberty to +explain" (as a matter of fact he had no idea why Mirliflor was +conducting his courtship in so eccentric a manner), "but I may say I +have reason to know that at this very moment he may be nearer the Palace +than is generally supposed."</p> + +<p>"Really?" cried the Queen. "I must go and tell dear Edna that. It will +cheer her up."</p> + +<p>"I must beg of your Majesty to treat it as strictly confidential for the +present," said the Baron hastily. "His Royal Highness prefers to take +the Princess by surprise."</p> + +<p>"What a dear romantic person he is!" said Queen Selina. "Then, of +course, he must be humoured and I'll say nothing. But I'm so glad you +told me, Baron. It's taken <i>such</i> a load off my mind!"</p> + +<p>"Well," the King was telling Clarence, "those are old Goldenbergenland's +terms. If you'll marry his daughter, Princess Popanza, he'll let us have +all the gold we want; if you refuse, he won't even advance us a ducat. +Couldn't you see your way to—to meeting him, my boy?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing doing!" said Clarence very decidedly. "Why, Hansmeinigel was +telling me the other day she's humpbacked, with a squint or something. I +couldn't take it on—even if," he added gloomily, "there weren't <i>other</i> +reasons to prevent me."</p> + +<p>"Then," said his father, "I don't know how we're to get a fresh supply +of gold—the mine's stopped working, and the confounded Council won't do +anything for us."</p> + +<p>"What's the matter with selling a few jewels?" suggested Clarence, as +his eye fell on the Halma board in passing, "they must be worth a lot."</p> + +<p>"Not here. Too common. The people think they're of no value except to +kings and queens. Nothing but gold will go down in these parts. So you +see, my boy, that unless you can bring yourself to——"</p> + +<p>"I say, Guv'nor," interrupted Clarence, who seemed to welcome a +distraction just then. "Look over there. That beggar Rubenfresser has +let loose that poisonous dragon of his! Infernal cheek!"</p> + +<p>"He was expressly told to keep it under control," said the King. "Most +irregular!"</p> + +<p>"It's not only loose," said Clarence, "but it's coming straight over +here."</p> + +<p>Ruby had seen it too, and sprang up delighted. "Look!" she cried, +"there's darling Tützi! He's got away from his horrid master—and now +he's coming to live with <i>us</i>! I <i>must</i> get some cake for him!" and she +darted into the Palace.</p> + +<p>"I'll go and tell those sentry-johnnies to take a pot at it," said +Clarence, as he went down to a lower terrace, where the Palace sentinels +were on duty. By the time he returned with them Tützi was almost +overhead, his great wings beating with a resonant leathery clang as he +flew round in ever descending circles, stretching his scaled neck and +horny head in deliberate quest, until he was so low that the sunlit +chalcedony slabs shed a reflected glare on his great burnished belly. +"Now blaze away at it, can't you!" shouted Clarence to the sentinels, +who appeared to have some difficulty in loading their antiquated pieces. +"You mustn't shoot Tützi!" cried Ruby, running out at that moment with a +heavily gilded slice of gingerhead, "he's only come for some cake!"</p> + +<p>"Don't encourage the thing!" said the King, dragging her back. "Get +away, you brute! Go home, Sir!"</p> + +<p>As he spoke the monster made a sudden downward swoop at Edna, and, with +a deftness that was quite extraordinary, hooked one of its steely claws +in her girdle and soared rapidly aloft with her. It was fortunate that +the belt, which was of stout jewel-studded leather, was able to sustain +her weight.</p> + +<p>"Stop firing, you fools!" yelled Clarence, as the sentinels opened a +wild fusillade. "You'll only hit <i>her</i>!"</p> + +<p>And, even if their bullets could have pierced the dragon's plated hide, +it was soon out of range.</p> + +<p>"It's carrying her off to that wretch!" screamed the distracted Queen. +"Is there <i>nothing</i> we can do?"</p> + +<p>"One thing, your Majesty," said the Baron eagerly. "Offer the Princess +in marriage to anyone who will rescue her. It's the usual course!"</p> + +<p>"To—to <i>anyone</i>?" repeated Queen Selina in despair. "Oh, Baron—<i>must</i> +we?"</p> + +<p>"You can safely do so, Madam," he whispered. "Mirliflor will be the +man—and I know where to find him." And with this he rushed off first to +his own chamber, then to the Crown Prince's apartments, and finally to +the gardens in search of Giroflé.</p> + +<p>"Sidney," said the Queen, "tell the heralds to proclaim that we will +give our poor darling to anyone who succeeds in delivering her.... Don't +argue about it—do as I tell you!" which King Sidney did.</p> + +<p>As for the Court, they were too paralysed by so unexpected a calamity to +be of the least assistance. The ladies-in-waiting were all in floods of +tears, distressed, not only by the awful fate that had overtaken +"Princess Four-eyes," but by the painful reflection that any one of them +might be the dragon's next victim.</p> + +<p>"This couldn't have happened except in a place like this!" declared the +Queen, now on the verge of hysteria. "And why it should have been +permitted to happen to US!—It <i>wouldn't</i> have, Sidney, if you had only +had the sense to insist on that thing being destroyed! But you +didn't—and this is the result!"</p> + +<p>"My love," said the King, "you forget. The poor girl herself insisted on +its being spared. It—it's most unfortunate!"</p> + +<p>And it certainly was.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a>CHAPTER XVII</h2> + +<h3>THE REWARD OF VALOUR</h3> + + +<p>If the Fairy Vogelflug could only have known that it was Edna and not +Daphne who was really in danger from the dragon, she would have been +comparatively calm. But since she did not know this, she was, as has +been already stated, entirely unnerved for a time.</p> + +<p>Fortunately—or at least she thought it fortunate then,—just before the +creature was near enough to detect them, the long-forgotten words that +formed the spell recurred to her memory. It was a spell that was +admirably adapted to enable any fugitive to escape discovery, but she +had never had occasion to use it before, and to perform it required an +amount of mental concentration from which, in ordinary circumstances, +she would have shrunk. Now she must act at once or they would both +perish, and so she gabbled the necessary incantations, till, though the +effort took a great deal out of her, she eventually succeeded in +changing Daphne into a tall and slender cypress, and herself into a +circular pool in a marble basin—a double transformation which was +calculated to deceive the most observant and intelligent dragon. But, +changed as she was, Daphne remained perfectly conscious of her own +identity and aware of all that was happening. At first she was much +impressed by the Court Godmother's ingenuity and presence of mind, but +as time went on, and the dragon, instead of searching for them, seemed +to have swerved away towards the Palace, she began to wonder whether +there had been any real need for such excessive precautions.</p> + +<p>And then Giroflé appeared, and she gathered from his despair what must +have happened to the ill-fated Edna, and that he was under the erroneous +impression that she herself was the victim. Surely now the moment had +come for the Fairy to reverse the spell—but, except that the surface of +the pool was becoming violently disturbed, she made no sign. Daphne +tried by rustling all her branches to attract his attention and assure +him of her safety, but naturally failed. Even when the Court Chamberlain +arrived and Giroflé had rushed away with him, she was forced to stay +behind as an apparent cypress, while the Fairy still retained the +semblance of a more and more agitated pool. Daphne's uneasiness and +anxiety would have been even greater, but for the fact that the reason +for this agitation was mercifully hidden from her. The truth was that +one of those accidents had happened which are not infrequent with +persons who only occasionally practise the Magic Art. The Fairy had +impulsively pronounced the spell that accomplished the transformation +without waiting to recall the precise formula that was needed to regain +her normal appearance, and for several agonising minutes the vitally +important words persisted in evading her. To Daphne it seemed an age +before the marble rim began to contract and the pool dry up, and +presently, to her unspeakable relief, all trace of pool and basin +disappeared, and in their place stood the Fairy Godmother in a sadly +shaken and exhausted condition. She had strength enough, however, to +restore Daphne, which she did with many groans. "I've been trying to do +this for the last quarter of an hour, child," she panted. "I was +beginning to think I'd forgotten the spell altogether. And now he's gone +off on a fool's errand to rescue <i>you</i>! But I may still be in time to +stop him!"</p> + +<p>"You won't stop Giroflé!" declared Daphne. "He will try to rescue Edna, +just as he would me. And if it can be done he'll do it. I can't bear his +going, Godmother—and yet I hope I shouldn't prevent him, even if I +could!"</p> + +<p>"He can't do anything!" said the Fairy. "He couldn't even get into the +Castle, and he won't be so mad as to attempt it. Go you to the Pavilion, +and stay there till I can find out what that old fool of a Baron is +about with him."</p> + +<p>Daphne obeyed. She would not deter Giroflé, but to encourage him in his +desperate errand was more than she was equal to just then. The Court +Godmother hitched up her quilted skirts, and went off at a hobbling run +in the direction of the Palace Gardens.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>The Baron had led Mirliflor through the Gardens, and then round to a +Courtyard at the back of the Palace in which stood a massive round tower +pierced with many pigeon-holes. Here he brought out a small shell-shaped +car on two wheels, and at his whistle a flock of white doves fluttered +down from the tower, and permitted him to attach them by collars and +traces to the car. "The most gracious the Court Godmother is nowhere to +be found," he explained as he did so, "but assuredly she would not +grudge lending her car for such a purpose as yours, since by no other +means could you hope to get over the walls of Drachenstolz. Once within +them you will find the sword of inestimable service, and I doubt not +that you will wield it to better effect than would its owner. I would +willingly lend you this," he added, fingering the cap, "only maybe your +Royal Highness would not deign to employ means which I understood you +are pleased to consider discreditable?"</p> + +<p>"Don't be an ass, Baron!" said Mirliflor, seizing the cap and stepping +into the car. "Where <i>her</i> life is at stake I have no scruples in using +anything whatever. But I've no experience in driving doves—how do I +guide them?"</p> + +<p>"They need no guidance, Sire. You have but to utter the words 'To +Drachenstolz,' and they will carry you straight to the Castle and set +you down within its walls. God speed you!" cried the Court Chamberlain, +as the Prince gave the direction, and the birds ascended with the car. +"Heaven grant you bring back your Princess unharmed!"</p> + +<p>"Heaven grant I reach her in time!" came the answer from the +dove-chariot, which, after making a few preliminary circles, flew away, +to all appearances unoccupied.</p> + +<p>It had scarcely disappeared when the Court Godmother arrived on the +scene. "Where is Giroflé?" she demanded breathlessly.</p> + +<p>"His Royal Highness Prince Mirliflor of Clairdelune," replied the Baron, +"has just departed for Drachenstolz in the dove-car, which I knew you +would wish to be at his disposal."</p> + +<p>"And pray," said the old Fairy, "what made you think I should wish him +to throw away his life for Princess Edna?"</p> + +<p>"He will not fail to rescue her, never fear, Madam. No Prince ever +<i>does</i> fail in these enterprises. And if he succeeds—he need no longer +hesitate to disclose himself, for you will be gratified to hear that +his Majesty has promised the Princess's hand to the person who may +accomplish her rescue. At," added the Baron proudly, "my own +suggestion."</p> + +<p>"Oh, indeed?" retorted the Fairy. "Then it is high time you knew +what kind of a Royal Family you have given to Märchenland!" And in +a few sharp sentences she let him know the truth about the pendant +which he had so rashly accepted as all-sufficient proof of Mrs. +Wibberley-Stimpson's title to the throne.</p> + +<p>The poor Baron was aghast at the information, and still more when he +heard who was really entitled to the crown. "The Lady Daphne!" he cried. +"But she has been sent away to that far country—and who knows where she +may be now!"</p> + +<p>"She is here still, and under my protection," said the Court Godmother. +"In her own interests I had determined to keep silent as to her claims, +and planned that Mirliflor should win her under the form I made him +assume. All had fallen out as I expected—I had just arranged to carry +them both off to Clairdelune, and leave these usurpers in possession for +as long as the Country would endure them—when you blunder in, like the +meddlesome idiot you are, Baron, and upset everything!"</p> + +<p>"I have been blind indeed!" he confessed. "A traitor when I thought +myself most loyal! Tell me, most Gracious Court Godmother, how I may +best repair my error?"</p> + +<p>"You <i>can't</i> repair it without making more mischief," she said. "The +only thing you can do <i>now</i> is to hold your tongue about it, as I shall +do myself unless I am obliged to speak out. And now we had better go +and see what this precious King and Queen of yours are doing, and +remember, Baron, your own safety will depend on your preserving absolute +secrecy as to all the matters I have found it necessary to acquaint you +with."</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>On the terrace meanwhile Queen Selina had implored the Marshal to do +something—anything—towards the rescue of her elder daughter. He was +not sanguine; "We could raise a force, your Majesty," he said, "to ride +to Drachenstolz and assault the Castle walls,—but it would be quite +impossible to take it by storm, even if that dragon were not among its +defenders."</p> + +<p>"We'll have a try anyway," said Clarence gallantly. "Come on, you +chaps—get into your fighting kit," he cried to the Courtiers. "And two +of you boys," he added to the pages, "just run and fetch me a helmet and +breastplate and things—and bring me down a sword you'll find in my room +somewhere. I shouldn't mind tackling even a dragon with that sword," he +added to his mother, as the Courtiers and pages ran into the Palace. "It +goes clean through anything."</p> + +<p>But the pages, when they returned with the breastplate and helmet and +riding-boots, reported that the sword was nowhere to be found, so +Clarence had to content himself with a more ordinary weapon. At the last +moment the Queen tried to detain him. "No, Clarence!" she cried, "you +mustn't go. Your life is too valuable to be risked—there are enough +going without <i>you</i>! Stay here—if only to protect us!"</p> + +<p>"Hang it all, Mater!" he said, "you can't expect me to stay here and +have them saying I shirked!" And he went off to the stables with the +Marshal and other members of the Court.</p> + +<p>"It'll be no good!" groaned King Sidney. "It's as likely as not that +beast has eaten the poor girl by this time!"</p> + +<p>"I can't believe anything quite so horrible as that has happened, +Sidney," cried the Queen. "It has only delivered her into that wretch's +power—which is quite horrible enough! But there's hope still. The Baron +says Prince Mirliflor is quite near here—and he's sending him to rescue +her. And a real prince like dear Mirliflor <i>ought</i> to be a match for +that miserable Rubenfresser and his dragon too!"</p> + +<p>"If he could get at them he might be," said the King lugubriously; "but +that's just what he can't do!"</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>On finding herself borne swiftly through the air by a dragon, Edna had +done what was the correct thing to do in the circumstances—she had +promptly fainted. She opened her eyes to find that she had been +deposited uninjured, on a truss of straw in a Courtyard. On her right +was the massive front of Castle Drachenstolz; before her were its lofty +walls and the grim towers that flanked its heavy gate; to the left were +the stables, from the windows of which some of the black carriage horses +looked out, their wrinkled lips exposing their long yellow teeth in +ghastly grins. Some distance away the owner of the Castle was caressing +the dragon, which lay with its huge wings compactly folded, giving its +unconscious imitation of a tremendously powerful dynamo. On perceiving +that she had returned to consciousness the Count came towards her, +followed by the ex-Astrologer Royal, who was smirking and rubbing his +hands.</p> + +<p>"I couldn't do without you," began the Count by way of explanation, "so +as I couldn't come myself I sent Tützi for you."</p> + +<p>Edna resolved to bear herself with all the dignity of a Queen's +daughter. She sat up and felt for her <i>pince-nez</i>, and, discovering that +it was intact, she adjusted it on her nose. "Considering," she said, +"that all is at an end between us, you had no right whatever to send +your dragon to bring me here. It was a thing that no <i>gentleman</i> would +have done!"</p> + +<p>"Wouldn't that great and learned gentleman you told me of—the one whose +name I always forget—have done it?" he inquired.</p> + +<p>"Nietzsche," said Edna, instructively superior even in such a crisis; +"most certainly not. Even if he had <i>owned</i> a dragon!"</p> + +<p>"You told me he did," he insisted; "a great meta-something dragon that +talked and said, 'Thou shalt not.' But if he wouldn't send <i>his</i> dragon +for anybody, he would approve of my sending mine for <i>you</i>, because I +was doing as he advised, and acting exactly as I thought fit."</p> + +<p>She realised the hopelessness of reasoning with him. "You thought fit to +act most improperly," she said severely, "and you will gain nothing <i>by</i> +it, you know!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes I shall," he said, "or I shouldn't have done it."</p> + +<p>"You are quite mistaken," she assured him, "if you are imagining I shall +ever consent to renew our engagement now I know what you <i>are</i>."</p> + +<p>"I'm what you wanted me to be," he said, "a Superman."</p> + +<p>"You're not, you're an—an Ogre. I couldn't possibly bring myself to +become an Ogress!"</p> + +<p>"You wouldn't make much of an Ogress," he said dispassionately. "You +haven't the build for it. But I'm not an Ogre even yet. It's not <i>my</i> +fault. I meant to begin with those pages of yours—but you all seemed to +have some ridiculous objections. Then I've sent Tützi out to forage and +pick up a small child or two, but the peasants round here are so selfish +and unneighbourly that they never give him the chance—actually shutting +all the children up indoors!"</p> + +<p>"What else can you <i>expect</i>?" she demanded indignantly. "Surely +your—your better self must see that even to <i>attempt</i> to devour poor +helpless children is—is too perfectly disgusting for words!"</p> + +<p>"It's disgusting when one doesn't succeed," he admitted; "I see nothing +in it to object to myself. Of course the average man may, but you've +taught me what to think of <i>his</i> opinions."</p> + +<p>"You entirely misunderstand me," said Edna. "But I've no wish to discuss +such subjects with you now—I insist on your allowing me to go home at +once."</p> + +<p>"Before I do that," he said, "you must write a letter on my behalf to +your parents."</p> + +<p>"I don't mind asking them to overlook the way you have treated me, and +assuring them that you regret it and will behave yourself properly for +the future," conceded Edna, "if you mean <i>that</i>."</p> + +<p>"I <i>don't</i> mean that," he said; "I don't <i>want</i> to behave properly—what +<i>they</i> would call properly. I want to lead a fuller life than I can +while I'm cooped up in my own Castle. You see, it's no good having the +Will to Power if you're not allowed any opportunities of exercising it. +And I'm not, with guards stationed all round my walk to see that I don't +get out. I might set Tützi at them, it's true, but he is the only dragon +I've got, and it would be very annoying if they hurt the poor thing. So +you must get the King to send me free permission to go wherever I choose +and do whatever I like. Then I can make a start as an Ogre. At present +I'm hampered at every turn!"</p> + +<p>"Father and Mother," said Edna, "wouldn't hear of setting you free for +such wickedness as that. It would be contrary to all their principles."</p> + +<p>"What I think you called 'Slave-morality,' eh?" he said. "But you +needn't tell them <i>why</i> I want to get out. Besides, I've <i>other</i> +reasons. My carriage horses want airing, and I should like to drop in to +lunch at the Palace now and then, as I used to. Not as your betrothed, +you know—that's all over—but just as a friend of the family. I always +enjoyed my meals at the Palace."</p> + +<p>"Oh!" gasped Edna, "I'm sure, quite sure, they would never consent to +receive you again. How <i>could</i> they?"</p> + +<p>"They would," he said, "if you told them what would be the consequences +if they didn't."</p> + +<p>"And—and—what <i>will</i> the consequences be?" inquired Edna.</p> + +<p>"Well," he replied darkly, "poor Tützi will never reach his full growth +on his present diet. I fancy he would rather relish a change."</p> + +<p>"You <i>couldn't</i> see me—me you were once engaged to—devoured by your +horrible dragon!" she cried.</p> + +<p>"Why not?" he asked cheerfully. "I am great enough now to be able to +bear the sight of others' pain, as your learned What's-his-name said I +ought to be."</p> + +<p>"Listen," said the unhappy Edna. "If—if I write this letter will you +promise me, on your sacred word of honour, to become a vegetarian at +<i>once</i>?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly," he said. "It won't <i>bind</i> me, you know. You might put in +the letter that I've promised to. Rather a good touch! Now go and write +it at once, and I'll send Tützi over with it. You can say, 'Please send +answer by bearer!' Xuriel, show the Princess to a chamber and provide +her with writing materials."</p> + +<p>"If your Royal Highness will graciously come this way," said the +despicable Xuriel, bowing low. Poor Edna had to follow him up a steep +outside staircase to a gloomy room where deep-set windows commanded a +view of the Courtyard below. He found some sheets of parchment and a +reed pen, and lent her the inkhorn from his own girdle. As he was +depositing these on a great oaken table, he glanced out of the window +and gave a high cackling laugh.</p> + +<p>"I fear my venerable and respected friend the worthy Court Godmother +must have met with some mishap," he sniggered. "For see, Princess, her +dove-chariot has just descended, <i>without</i> its Gracious occupant, on the +roof of the bastion! Hee-hee! I trust—I sincerely trust that Tützi may +not so far forget himself as to snap up any of those dear little doves!"</p> + +<p>And, so saying, he hurried to the Courtyard. Edna was naturally +concerned at any possible accident to the Court Godmother or her doves, +but her letter had to be written, and it was not at all an easy letter +to write. She got as far as: "Dear Father and Mother,—You will be +relieved to hear that I am, so far, unhurt. But"—and there she stuck. +It was really <i>very</i> difficult to find any plausible wording for the +Ogre's preposterous terms.</p> + +<p>Xuriel had rejoined his patron, and both were watching Tützi with +interest. He had already become aware of the doves and reared his head +above the level of the bastion roof, where they were strutting about +unsuspicious of danger. His hideous lidless eyes regarded them intently, +with a view to selecting the plumpest bird.</p> + +<p>"Those pigeons will be quite a treat for poor Tützi," remarked Count +Rubenfresser. "But what is that thing flashing there on the roof? There +it is again! Can't you see it?"</p> + +<p>Xuriel looked, and saw a thin scintillating ray of light which shifted +capriciously from place to place. "It is the blade of a sword!" he said. +"More—it is the blade of the enchanted sword I sold to Prince +Clarence."</p> + +<p>"Fool!" said the Count, "how can any sword be there with no hand to +wield it?"</p> + +<p>"The Crown Prince is wielding it," replied Xuriel. "He is rendered +invisible by the magic cap I made for the Court Chamberlain!"</p> + +<p>"You had no business to make such things," returned the Count, "they +were very properly forbidden. But Tützi will very soon——"</p> + +<p>Before he could say more there was another flash—a sweeping circle of +light—and Tützi's head flew from his neck, which sent up a column of +blood.</p> + +<p>"The wretch!" shrieked the Count, "the cruel, cold-blooded wretch, he's +killed my Tützi!"</p> + +<p>"It will be <i>our</i> turn next!" cried the little Astrologer Royal, too +terrified to stir.</p> + +<p>"Help!" the Count bawled, "we are attacked! Where <i>are</i> you all?" A few +retainers had run out to various doorways at his summons, but when they +saw the dragon's great body rolling convulsively round the Courtyard, +its hooked wings thrashing up the cobblestones, while its head bounded +independently about, barking and snapping like a mad dog, they very +prudently withdrew.</p> + +<p>Xuriel had recovered strength to run, but he had not gone far before the +head, probably quite automatically, seized his right calf and brought +him down. There was another sharp glint of light—and his body was +headless, like the dragon's. What with the endeavour to avoid Tützi's +head, and Tützi's body, and the terrible sword flashes, all at once, the +Count was kept pretty busy for the next minute or so. He rushed, leaping +and yelling, roaring and dodging, from side to side and corner to +corner, and then made a frantic bolt for the outer staircase, but he had +only got half-way up when his head fell with a splash into a water-butt +below, while his body slid down to the bottom of the steps, where it lay +in a limp crumpled heap.</p> + +<p>The noise of all these proceedings was not exactly conducive to literary +composition, and Princess Edna had already been obliged to abandon her +letter. In fact she had begun to realise that it would no longer be +necessary to finish it. Her brother, she thought, had come to her +deliverance with a promptness and energy which she would really have +hardly expected of him. She put on her <i>pince-nez</i> again, and went out +to the head of the staircase. "Clarence!" she called, "where <i>are</i> you?"</p> + +<p>She was immensely surprised to encounter a plain young man in homely +costume whom she had certainly never seen before. Mirliflor, who had +just removed his cap and was springing up the steps in search of Daphne, +was at least equally surprised at finding Edna.</p> + +<p>"<i>You</i> here, Princess!" he cried breathlessly, "Tell me! Is—is Daphne +safe?"</p> + +<p>"If you refer to Miss Heritage," replied Edna, "I have not seen her for +weeks, but I have no reason for believing that she is <i>not</i> safe—in +England."</p> + +<p>"Then," he said blankly, "the dragon carried off <i>you</i>—not <i>her</i>?"</p> + +<p>"I should have thought that fairly obvious," said Edna frigidly. "You +have evidently rescued me under a misapprehension, though, of course, I +am just as much indebted to you. And I shall be glad to know who you +are. In answering, kindly address me as 'Your Royal Highness.' It is +more correct."</p> + +<p>This was highly embarrassing, he thought, though he felt thankful that +his Godmother had not had time to make him recognisable. "My name, your +Royal Highness," he replied, "is Giroflé. I have the honour to be one of +his Majesty's under-gardeners."</p> + +<p>"Oh," said Edna, "one of <i>them</i>? Really. Well, you have behaved most +creditably—very creditably indeed. I really don't know <i>what</i> mightn't +have happened if you hadn't arrived just then. I have never been in such +a trying situation before. And, even as it is," she added, "there +doesn't seem to be any means of getting <i>out</i> of this odious place."</p> + +<p>By this time Tützi's death-throes were over; his body lay extended half +across the Courtyard, while the head, after having bitten one or two of +the carriage horses rather severely, had also ceased from troubling. +"Perhaps," said Mirliflor, "your Royal Highness will condescend to make +use of the dove-car which brought me here? It will carry you back in +safety to the Palace."</p> + +<p>"It looks rather tit-uppy," said Edna, as the doves flew down with it at +his call. "And it only holds one. How are you going to get away +yourself?"</p> + +<p>"I shall order some of those varlets to open the gate," he said, "and +they will be wise to obey."</p> + +<p>"Clarence's sword <i>is</i> a great help!" said Edna. "Then—<i>you</i> will be +all right. And you may be sure that his Majesty will pay you a suitable +reward."</p> + +<p>"The satisfaction of having been of any service to your Royal Highness," +he said, "is reward enough in itself."</p> + +<p>"Oh, but that's such a <i>pose</i>!" said Edna. "Of <i>course</i> you expect to be +paid for it!... And you will be. Must I tell these birds where to take +me?... I <i>see</i>. Then—Home, please!"</p> + +<p>And the doves, glad to escape from such uncongenial surroundings, +whirred upwards with the car and, after a few tentative circles, took it +clear over the battlements.</p> + +<p>As for the retainers, they waited for no order to unbar the gate for +Mirliflor, being all eagerness to facilitate his departure. He strode +unconcernedly out, and, finding a party of the Royal guard outside, he +informed them that they would find one or two severed heads within if +they cared to collect them, and then, borrowing a charger, he galloped +off to Eswareinmal, impatient to know what had befallen Daphne.</p> + +<p>On the Palace terrace there had been a period of painful surprise. The +Crown Prince was the first of the rescue party to return. He would have +much preferred to do so by a back way, but, perceiving that he had been +observed, took the manlier course. "Clarence!" shrieked the Queen as he +limped up with his breastplate and hose covered with mire, a bent sword +and badly dinted helmet, "is she saved?"</p> + +<p>"Couldn't tell you, Mater," he replied heavily. "I've done all I could, +and so—and so I came back."</p> + +<p>"He's wounded!" cried Ruby tearfully. "Oh, Clarence, was it that horrid +Tützi?" for she was effectually disillusioned at last.</p> + +<p>"No, Kiddie, no," he said, "<i>I'm</i> all right. Took a bit of a toss, +that's all."</p> + +<p>"My poor boy," said his mother, "was it at the Castle? Did the thing +attack you?"</p> + +<p>"I never <i>got</i> to the Castle," he replied, "only about half-way. It was +like this. That bally pendant you made me wear, Mater, got unfastened +somehow, slipped down inside my breastplate and was hurting like the +very deuce. So I got off and unbuckled a bit and pitched it away. When I +got on again the horse was all over the shop with me in a jiffy. +Couldn't hold him for toffee! And, before I knew it, I was over the +brute's head. I tried to mount again, but he wouldn't let me. I tried +some other gees, and none of <i>them</i> would. Somehow I seemed to have lost +the knack all at once. So, after I'd come off once or twice more and was +getting a trifle lame, I thought the best thing I could do was to leg it +home."</p> + +<p>"Hem!" said his Father. "Rather unfortunate thing to happen just <i>now</i>, +my boy!"</p> + +<p>"Well, Guv'nor," he replied, "I should never have got there in time, +walking."</p> + +<p>"You were quite right to come back, Clarence," said his Mother, +"And—oh, look, look!" she cried suddenly, "our darling is safe after +all! She's coming back in the dove-car!"</p> + +<p>The car landed shortly after on the terrace, and Edna was frantically +embraced and plied with questions. "I am <i>quite</i> all right, thank you," +she said as soon as she had an opportunity of speaking. "Of course it +was a most disagreeable thing to happen to one, and I don't feel equal +to talking about it just yet—but I am very little the worse for it +now."</p> + +<p>"But how did you get that awful man to let you go?" inquired the Queen.</p> + +<p>"He couldn't very well help himself—his head had been cut off. So had +the dragon's, and that abominable little wretch Xuriel's too."</p> + +<p>By this time not only the Marshal but the Court Godmother and the +Chamberlain had joined the party.</p> + +<p>"But who was brave enough to do all this?" asked the Queen. "Though I +think I can <i>guess</i>!"</p> + +<p>"I fancy he said he was one of the under-gardeners here. Of course he +couldn't have done it without Clarence's sword, but still——"</p> + +<p>"I never lent him it," said Clarence. "If <i>I'd</i> had it—however, perhaps +it's as well he <i>did</i> borrow it. Jolly plucky of the beggar, I call it!"</p> + +<p>"He behaved extremely well," Edna admitted. "You will have to reward him +or something, Father."</p> + +<p>"His Majesty," said the Marshal, with a certain gusto, "has already +offered your Royal Highness's hand in marriage to whomsoever should be +so fortunate as to effect your deliverance."</p> + +<p>"Without consulting Me!" cried Edna. "<i>Really</i>, Father, these things +aren't done nowadays! It's too absurd!"</p> + +<p>"My love," said the Queen with a glance of secret intelligence at the +embarrassed Baron, who looked another way, "the circumstances were +exceptional. And a King can't go back on his <i>word</i>! Besides, this +ex-gardener may be not such a common person as he <i>seems</i>—may he not, +Baron?"</p> + +<p>"But, dash it, Mater!" said Clarence, while the Baron could only blink, +"an under-gardener—what!"</p> + +<p>"I'm bound to say—" began the King, when the Queen interrupted:</p> + +<p>"You are bound to say that you'll keep your promise, Sidney, and that is +enough till the dear fellow comes to claim his reward."</p> + +<p>It was the Marshal whose superfluous zeal led him to order Giroflé to be +stopped and brought into the Royal presence as soon as he arrived at the +Palace.</p> + +<p>The Royal Family, with the Court Godmother, the Baron, and other members +of the Household, had assembled in the Throne Room when the Marshal +entered, leading the reluctant Giroflé, acutely conscious of looking his +very worst. After him came some men-at-arms, who carried the dragon's +still terrific head, with those of the Count and Xuriel, as trophies of +the hero's exploit.</p> + +<p>They caused a general but by no means unpleasant shudder to run through +the beholders.</p> + +<p>"Your Majesties," said the ex-Regent, "I have the honour to present the +gallant youth who has nobly earned even such a prize as the hand of her +Royal Highness."</p> + +<p>"But—but," stammered Queen Selina, "this isn't—there's not the least +<i>resemblance</i>! Baron, Baron, what did you mean by telling me that the +Prince——?"</p> + +<p>"I—I must have been misinformed, your Majesty," said the Court +Chamberlain, having no better explanation to offer.</p> + +<p>"You should be more careful about what you tell <i>Us</i>, Baron," said the +Queen. "And, really, there was no need to bring those dreadful heads +into our Throne Room, making all that horrible mess! It's a piece of bad +taste which, perhaps—in an under gardener—please have them removed +directly. Well, young man," she continued to the indignant Mirliflor, +who, it need not be said, had nothing to do with the gruesome +introduction of the heads, "I'm sure we are all very much obliged to +you—very much obliged indeed. If you hadn't come forward as you did, +it's dreadful to think what might have happened. And, though it seems +you <i>did</i> take the liberty of borrowing the Crown Prince's sword without +permission, we are the last to blame you for that. We think you are +entitled to be very handsomely rewarded. But if you're expecting our +daughter, the Princess Edna's hand, I think your own good sense——"</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes," said the King; "mustn't open your mouth <i>too</i> wide, you +know. There's a limit to all things! And a round sum of money with which +you could start in business and marry some nice little woman in your own +class of life would be far more <i>useful</i> to you."</p> + +<p>"I ask for no reward," said Giroflé. "And the hand of a Princess is an +honour to which I do not aspire, since I am already affianced!"</p> + +<p>"That," replied the Queen, "is very satisfactory. We shall certainly +send the young person a wedding-present. Who <i>is</i> she? One of the Royal +kitchen-maids, I presume?"</p> + +<p>"She was in your Majesty's service as a lady-in-waiting," he said, "and +her name is Daphne."</p> + +<p>"Oh," said Queen Selina. "Really? Miss Heritage? Well, you are to be +congratulated, I'm sure."</p> + +<p>"But, Mater," said Clarence, "it can't be <i>her</i>! I thought you'd had her +sent home?"</p> + +<p>"I had made arrangements for her return, Clarence, but it seems to have +been postponed for some reason—luckily, as things have turned out. She +has been given rooms in a pavilion behind the Palace Gardens, where no +doubt she managed to become acquainted with this young man."</p> + +<p>"And he may take it," said the Fairy, "that the Lady Daphne is at +liberty to depart with him at once?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly," said the Queen. "It is hardly, perhaps—but Miss Heritage +is no doubt right in accepting the first offer she receives."</p> + +<p>"Quite," said Princess Edna, "though it seems odd—even for a +Governess—to think of marrying a gardener! But I'm sure I wish her +<i>every</i> happiness."</p> + +<p>There is no doubt that the Court Godmother should have been content with +this, but her anger and disgust were too much for her discretion. She +could not resist the temptation to humiliate and confound these upstarts +by a sensational stroke, whatever it cost her.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps," she said, "the Lady Daphne has made a wiser choice than any +of you may imagine." With this, after muttering an incantation, she +touched Giroflé with her crutch-handled staff, and in his stead Prince +Mirliflor stood revealed in rich and splendid attire before them all.</p> + +<p>The Queen was electrified for a moment, as were Edna and most present. +But as soon as the shock had passed she cried: "This <i>is</i> a surprise! +But, my <i>dear</i> Prince Mirliflor, why—<i>why</i> didn't you tell us who you +were before? You see, we couldn't possibly——!"</p> + +<p>"It was really too naughty of you to play us such a trick, Prince!" said +Edna, "when, as you might have known——!"</p> + +<p>"Never mind!" purred the Queen, "we'll forgive him—won't we, Edna?"</p> + +<p>"Of course you only said that about Miss Heritage to tease us?" said +Edna, who really believed it was so.</p> + +<p>"I said but the truth, Princess," he replied. "She has promised to be my +wife."</p> + +<p>"And the match," put in the triumphant Fairy, addressing Queen Selina, +"already has your sanction!"</p> + +<p>"Oh," said the Queen, "but that was before—I think," she went on with a +forced smile of much sweetness—"I think you and I, my dear Court +Godmother, must have a little talk over this in private before I can +make up my mind <i>what</i> I ought to do. Perhaps you will be kind enough to +follow me to my Cabinet? Excuse my deserting you for a little while, my +dear Mirliflor. I shall leave you to Edna, who, I know, is dying to +express all the gratitude and admiration she feels."</p> + +<p>And she swept with great stateliness out of the Throne Room towards her +Cabinet, the Court Godmother following with a presentiment that her pet +scheme was about to encounter some opposition, and no very definite idea +how to meet it.</p> + +<p>But that it must and should be overcome somehow she was thoroughly +determined.</p> + +<p>It should be mentioned here that, shortly after his transformation, +Mirliflor found inside his rich doublet something which proved to be the +Chamberlain's cap. He was about to return it, but the Baron showed so +little desire to receive his property in public that the Prince decided +to keep it until a better opportunity presented itself. And then he +forgot all about it, for which, as things turned out, both had reason to +be thankful afterwards.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a>CHAPTER XVIII</h2> + +<h3>A PREVIOUS ENGAGEMENT</h3> + + +<p>"Well, my dear Court Godmother," began the Queen, as she sank on an +ivory and cloth-of-gold settee in her private Cabinet, and cooled her +somewhat heated face with a jewelled ostrich-feathered fan, "I had +better tell you frankly that I think both you and that designing little +adventuress have behaved in a very underhand way in this business—a way +that I naturally resent. Mirliflor, as you very well know, came here on +darling Edna's account, and you deliberately threw that Miss Heritage in +his way—I haven't the least doubt you told her who he really was!"</p> + +<p>"That," said the Fairy, "is just what I did <i>not</i> do. It was part of the +test I put to her. She still has no idea that he is more than a +student."</p> + +<p>"Well, you egged her on to set her cap at him, and if he cares for her +at all it can be no more than a passing fancy. I cannot be a party to +letting the poor, dear young fellow be entrapped into a <i>mésalliance</i> to +please you, and I shall see that she is sent back to England at once, +as, but for you, she would have been long before this."</p> + +<p>"I don't want to lose my temper with you if I can help it," said the +Fairy, with an ominous flush on her peaked old nose, "because I've been +through a good deal as it is this morning, and I'm feeling very far +from well in consequence. But you had better understand that Lady Daphne +is not going to be sent back to England—she is going with Mirliflor and +me to Clairdelune, and we shall start immediately."</p> + +<p>"<i>You</i> are at liberty to go where you please, but Miss Heritage will +certainly not leave the Palace except to return to her own country."</p> + +<p>"And I tell you I intend to take her to Clairdelune with me, and you are +powerless to prevent it."</p> + +<p>"Indeed?" said the Queen, in high wrath. "Answer me this: Am I Queen of +Märchenland, or am I not?"</p> + +<p>"You are <i>not</i>!" retorted the Fairy, before she could prevent herself, +for the opening was really too tempting. She had not meant to go so far, +but, having started, she proceeded to enlighten the Queen as to her +title, and the very slender evidence on which it was based.</p> + +<p>"I don't believe a single word of it!" declared Queen Selina, as +defiantly as if this were the fact. "It's a wicked plot to set up my own +governess as a pretender, but there's a very short way of settling +<i>that</i>! I shall send for the Marshal"—and she made a movement towards a +handbell of exquisitely engraved crystal with a sapphire tongue. "I +shall tell him what you have dared to say, and have you and that +wretched girl arrested as traitors!"</p> + +<p>The Fairy shook with mingled fury and fear, for she saw too late that +she had made a wrong move. "Before you do that, listen to me," she said. +"All I have said is true, and you know it is true, but it was you who +forced me to say it, and I am willing to be silent so long as you permit +me to convey Lady Daphne to Clairdelune. As she has no suspicion of her +claims to the throne, you need have no fear that she will assert them."</p> + +<p>"I can't trust either of you—you are much too dangerous," said the +Queen, and she rang the bell.</p> + +<p>"You had better take my warning," said the Fairy, her wrinkled mouth +working with passion. "Old as I am, I have some powers left that you +little suspect. Scarce an hour ago I changed myself into a pool and Lady +Daphne into a cypress" (she naturally omitted to add how narrowly they +had escaped having to remain so indefinitely), "and by aid of the same +spell I could transform you to a shape which—which you will discover +after I have caused you to assume it. And it is a shape that you will +not <i>like</i>!"</p> + +<p>"Pooh!" said the Queen, on whom the re-integration of the under-gardener +into Mirliflor seemed to have left little impression. "Either you're +trying to frighten me or you're crazy. Whichever it is, you ought to be +put under restraint—and I shall see to it that you are!"</p> + +<p>"After that I'll do what I threatened!" snarled the Court Godmother. "It +may kill me—but I don't care—I'll do it!" And she mouthed words of +mystic sound and import, though her jaw trembled so violently that she +could scarcely pronounce them. "Now," she concluded, pointing her crutch +at the Queen's breast, "become—become a——!"</p> + +<p>But what the Queen was to become never transpired, for before the +infuriated Fairy could manage to name it her features suddenly became +contorted, the stick fell from her hand, and she sank down in a heap +just as the attendants entered in answer to the Royal summons.</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid," said Queen Selina, "that the Court Godmother has fainted. +I daresay it's nothing serious, still one of you had better bring the +Royal Apothecary at once. Be careful to keep it from the Court, as I +wish to avoid unnecessary alarm." The others endeavoured to restore the +afflicted Fairy, but, though still alive, she was in some kind of +cataleptic condition which was beyond the ordinary remedies. The Court +Apothecary arrived and applied blisters without result, and finally gave +it as his opinion that, while she might survive for some time, she would +in all probability never speak again.</p> + +<p>So Queen Selina ordered her to be removed to her apartments, and the +fact that she was indisposed to be suppressed for the present, after +which she left her Cabinet, feeling that Providence had been more than +usually judicious. Her next step was to send for the Marshal and +instruct him to remove Daphne from the Pavilion to a chamber in one of +the Palace towers, where she was to remain a prisoner under his +guardianship. "It's only for a short time, Marshal," she said. "And of +course you will see that Miss Heritage is made thoroughly comfortable."</p> + +<p>And then, the ground having been thus cleared, she returned to the +Throne Room. "Just a moment or two, my dear Mirliflor," she said +suavely, "if Edna can spare you," and she drew him aside. "Well," she +began, "I've been telling the dear old Court Godmother the difficulty I +am in. You see, I would willingly recognise this engagement of +yours—whatever I may <i>think</i> about it—if I only <i>could</i>. But really, +you know, I can't <i>possibly</i> allow you to take Miss Heritage away until +I am satisfied that your dear Father approves of her as a +daughter-in-law. As her employer I feel responsible for the poor girl. +And, besides, he <i>might</i> think I had <i>encouraged</i> this match, and I +can't afford to put myself in such a false position as <i>that</i>!"</p> + +<p>"But," he objected, "my Godmother is going with us to Clairdelune, and +she will explain all."</p> + +<p>"She has altered her plans," said the Queen, who was developing a quite +unsuspected talent for diplomacy. "To tell you the truth, I fancy she is +getting a little nervous about how King Tournesol may take what she has +done. She feels—as I am afraid <i>I</i> do—that it is wiser to keep dear +Miss Heritage here under her own care till you have broken the news to +your Father and obtained his consent."</p> + +<p>"My Father is certain to consent," said the Prince, "and if he did +not——"</p> + +<p>"Oh, quite so—quite so—but both your Godmother and I consider that we +ought to wait till he <i>does</i> consent. Of course, if you can bring us a +letter from him stating that he approves, all will be well. I'm sure you +must quite understand that that is really as far as I <i>can</i> go under the +circumstances. And, if you start at once, you will be back here again in +a very few days, bringing, I hope, a favourable answer. We shall be most +pleased to lend you any horse you like in the Royal Stables."</p> + +<p>She was so plausible that poor Mirliflor, who, like most Fairy princes, +was not very deeply versed in feminine wiles, was quite taken in. He +thought her lacking in distinction for a Queen, but well meaning. And it +was so like his Godmother to impose one more test on him.</p> + +<p>"I will set forth, then," he said, "as soon as I have seen my Daphne and +assured her of my speedy return."</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid, my dear Mirliflor," said Queen Selina, "I'm <i>afraid</i> you +can't see her before you go."</p> + +<p>"And why not?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Well, you see, the dear Court Godmother—mistakenly, <i>I</i> think—has +told her what a great person you really are, and Miss Heritage feels +that she has not the right to see you again unless and until she can +hear that she will be welcomed at your Father's Court. I said all I +could to show her that she need not be so over scrupulous as that, but +she is such an extremely sensitive girl, and feels her social +inferiority so acutely that nothing would persuade her to alter her +resolution. You will only be distressing her by attempting it."</p> + +<p>He pleaded and argued as long as he could, but eventually he was +convinced that it was in vain. And so, as he knew that Daphne would be +safe under the Fairy's protection, he took his leave, and, choosing the +best horse in the Royal stud, set out on his journey to Clairdelune. By +so doing, he was only—little as he suspected it—giving his hostess +time to consider how she could best deal with the girl who, she no +longer doubted, was the rightful possessor of the throne. But then Miss +Heritage was not aware of her birthright, which seemed to suggest more +than one way of coping with the situation.</p> + +<p>After Queen Selina and her Royal Consort, with the Crown Prince and the +Princess Edna and Ruby, had waved their last adieus to the departing +Mirliflor, the Marshal approached Clarence. "Allow me, Sire," he said, +"to restore this jewel, which was picked up close to the spot where your +Royal Highness's steed became so suddenly and unaccountably +unmanageable."</p> + +<p>Clarence reddened—for there was a covert sneer in the ex-Regent's tone +which he did not like, while he was angrily conscious that it was quite +undeserved. "Oh thanks, Marshal," he said as he took the pendant. "I +say, Mater, no wonder the bally thing slipped down—the clasp's worn +out. Whoever you bought it from ought to have put it in proper repair +before he sold it. Pity you can't send it back and make him mend it!"</p> + +<p>"Do I understand," inquired the Marshal of the Queen, "that your Majesty +<i>bought</i> this pendant?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly not," replied the Queen, flushing in her turn. "You're +mistaken, Clarence—it—it has been in the family for years!"</p> + +<p>"You're mixing it up with something else, Mater," he said. "Don't you +remember? You wore it for the first time that evening the Baron came to +fetch us. And you told us you'd bought it out of old Uncle Wibberley's +legacy. I'm <i>sure</i> I'm right!"</p> + +<p>"That was a different ornament altogether," said his mother; "but it's +not worth discussing." Accordingly the subject was dropped, for the +time, at all events, though the Marshal did not forget it. His was not a +brilliant intellect—brilliant intellects being rare in Märchenland—but +he had the faculty of putting two and two together, and inferring that +the total was more likely to be about four than any other number. The +Astrologer Royal had predicted that the Queen would be discovered in a +certain spot in England, and would be identified by being the possessor +of Prince Chrysopras's jewel. But the Marshal was now satisfied that she +was the possessor by purchase only. The original owner—if Xuriel had +read the stars correctly—was in the same locality. Was it not possible +that Lady Daphne might be that owner? If so, it would explain the +Queen's motive for placing her under arrest. Marshal Federhelm resolved +to play a bold stroke. When in the course of his office he had next to +visit his prisoner, whom he made a point of treating with all courtesy, +she begged him to tell her what fresh offence she had given that she +should have been condemned to solitary imprisonment.</p> + +<p>"I know but this," said the Marshal, "her Majesty is displeased at +finding that a certain jewel she purchased from you is of less value +than she had been led to believe."</p> + +<p>"But, Marshal!" protested poor Daphne, naturally imagining that the +Queen had been complaining to him of the transaction, "surely it's worth +at <i>least</i> thirty pounds! If it isn't, I'd willingly take it back and +return the money. Only I can't—because I used it all to pay my bill. +But I always thought that pendant was valuable, and, as it belonged to +my father, I would never have sold it at all if I hadn't been obliged. +What do you think I ought to do?"</p> + +<p>"You can do nothing, Lady Daphne," he replied, "save trust that her +Majesty's anger will pass away. For whatever price she may have paid for +such a jewel, it is assuredly of far greater value than she is pleased +to assert."</p> + +<p>"I'm <i>so</i> glad to hear you say that!" said Daphne. "It would be hateful +to think I had cheated her Majesty—even though I never meant to."</p> + +<p>That was all that passed between them—but the Marshal had learnt all +that he wanted to know, though he made no immediate use of his +knowledge. It was enough for him to feel that he had a card which he +might play to his own advantage when the opportunity came. The Court +Godmother was now generally known to be <i>hors de combat</i>, and as for the +old Baron, he could be left for the present in ignorance of his blunder.</p> + +<p>Queen Selina meanwhile had already formed her plans. She was not a +positively wicked woman, and even still thought herself irreproachable. +If she had managed to separate Mirliflor and Daphne by some hard +fibbing, it was only what her duty as a Queen and as a Mother demanded +of her. She had never liked this Miss Heritage, and firmly believed that +Daphne had alienated Mirliflor's affection from Edna to herself. And +now, it seemed, she was the lawful Queen of the country, and Queen +Selina had grown too habituated to power and grandeur to give them up to +this inexperienced girl. Her first idea had been to carry out her +original intention and have Daphne sent home to England without further +delay. But this, she began to see, would expose her to considerable +criticism at Court, and it occurred to her that there might be a simpler +and more satisfactory way out of her difficulties.</p> + +<p>So, full of her latest project, she went in search of Clarence, whom she +found lounging with a very moody and disconsolate air in one of the +balconies. Clarence was in low spirits just then, and not without +reason. He had entirely lost his nerve for horsemanship, as his mounts +had become as refractory as ever; he could not help perceiving that the +courtiers had lost all respect for him, and received his overtures with +hardly veiled impertinence; and, besides all this, there was another +matter that had been weighing on his mind for some time past.</p> + +<p>"Why, Clarence, dear boy," she began, "what are you keeping away from +everybody like this for?"</p> + +<p>"I wasn't 'keeping away' that I know of," he said. "There are times when +a fellow's glad to get a quiet moment to himself, that's all."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps," she said, "I know the <i>real</i> reason why you've been so mopy +lately."</p> + +<p>"What do you mean, Mater?" he asked. "You haven't——?"</p> + +<p>"My dear Clarence, do you think I can't see that you've never got over +your fondness for little Miss Heritage? I can't bear to see you looking +so unhappy, and I've come to think that I may have been wrong in keeping +her out of your way. So—and this is what I came to tell you—if you +feel that she is necessary to your happiness, I shall not oppose you any +longer—and I will see that your father doesn't."</p> + +<p>"I wish you'd said so before, Mater!" he replied. "The Governor's been +at me to propose to old Goldenenbergenland's daughter, but I had to tell +him I couldn't take it on."</p> + +<p>"Of course not, dear, I'm told she's hideous. While Miss Heritage, at +all events——"</p> + +<p>"But she's engaged to Mirliflor! Lucky chap he is to get her, too. <i>I</i> +might have once, perhaps—if I'd had the pluck!"</p> + +<p>"You may get her <i>still</i>, dear boy," said his fond Mother. "You see, she +doesn't know who Mirliflor <i>is</i> yet—she thinks he's a student or +something, pretending to be a gardener. Well, she's much too clever a +little person not to get out of such an engagement as that if she knew +she could be the Crown Princess." Which was no more than Queen Selina +actually believed. "Trust me, Clarence," she concluded, "you've only to +ask."</p> + +<p>"I dare say you're right, Mater," he said, "only the worst of it is I'm +not <i>free</i> to ask her."</p> + +<p>"Not free? What do you mean?"</p> + +<p>"I didn't like to tell you before," he said, "but—well, I—I've gone +and got engaged to someone else."</p> + +<p>"Engaged! Who to?" demanded the Queen, in her own English. "If it's +anyone in my Court——!"</p> + +<p>"It's no one <i>you</i> know, Mater. But she's all <i>right</i>, you know. At +least, she's a King's daughter of sorts. Her Father's King of the +Crystal Lake."</p> + +<p>"The Crystal Lake!" cried Queen Selina. "You—you wretched boy! Don't +tell me you're engaged to—to a <i>Water-nixie</i>!"</p> + +<p>"Well, I suppose that's what it <i>amounts</i> to," he said. "I never +<i>wanted</i> to be. I met her when I was fishing there. She came up out of +the water, and we got talking and that, and I told her who I was. And +after that, whenever I got to the lake, she was always popping up. I +thought she was rather a jolly sort of girl if she <i>was</i> a trifle on the +damp side, and it amused me to talk to her, but I never said a word to +her that could—till her old Dad suddenly turned up and insisted on our +being regularly engaged."</p> + +<p>"And you gave way? Oh, Clarence, how <i>could</i> you be so weak?"</p> + +<p>"I told him I'd see him blowed before I said yes, and he pulled me in +and threatened to hold my head under water till I promised," said +Clarence. "I didn't see any point in being drowned—and so—and so, +sooner than have a row about it, I <i>did</i> say yes. What else <i>could</i> I +say?"</p> + +<p>"Well," said the Queen, "no engagement made under such circumstances can +be binding, and you must break it off at once. Go and tell him that +your Father and I refuse to hear of your engagement."</p> + +<p>"It'll make him most awful ratty if I do," objected Clarence.</p> + +<p>"What if it does? Clarence, you <i>must</i> get free. I'm extremely anxious +that you should marry Miss Heritage before Mirliflor returns (if he +<i>does</i> return) for her. It's most important, for your Sister's sake. +Because, when he finds himself forsaken, he is sure to turn to Edna +again. <i>Now</i> do you see?"</p> + +<p>"I see," he replied lugubriously, "and I don't mind going to the Lake +and trying to get the old boy to let me off—but I bet you he won't."</p> + +<p>"Don't ask him anything. Simply inform him that your parents decline to +allow such a match, and refer him to <i>us</i>."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps that <i>would</i> be the neatest way out of it," he agreed. "Yes, +I'll just tell him <i>that</i>—from a safe distance—and he can do what he +jolly well pleases. But it won't be a pleasant job. What?"</p> + +<p>It was some miles to the Crystal Lake, but he went on foot without any +member of his suite in attendance, and in a plain cloak and slouched +hat, which prevented him from being recognised as he passed through the +streets of the Capital.</p> + +<p>During his absence his Mother was engaged in long and anxious +consultation with the King and Edna. "I'm surprised at Clarence," King +Sidney had observed, "thought he knew his way about too well to be drawn +into an entanglement of this kind!"</p> + +<p>"He never would have been," said his mother, "if he hadn't had to choose +between that and being held under water. And you can trust Clarence to +make it clear that he would not be allowed to keep such a promise, even +if he wanted to."</p> + +<p>"If he marries any one," said the King, "it ought to be this Princess of +Goldenenbergenland—he'll get money with <i>her</i>, and we want some rather +badly."</p> + +<p>"Pardon me, Sidney," said the Queen, "but I intend him to marry Miss +Heritage."</p> + +<p>"Mother!" exclaimed Edna, "Miss Heritage! What <i>can</i> you be thinking +of?"</p> + +<p>"I know what I am doing, my love. The poor boy is devoted to her and +always has been, and, in short, I've decided that he shall have his way. +It will be to your advantage that he should."</p> + +<p>On reflection Edna saw this. Mirliflor might feel mortified for a time, +but there was at least a chance of catching him on the rebound.</p> + +<p>When Clarence returned later his entrance was hailed with an +interrogatory "Well?" from his family. "Well," he replied, "I +interviewed the old King. Told him you couldn't stick my marrying his +daughter. He took it very quietly—better than I expected. All he said +was that, if you would come to the big fountain in the Palace gardens +(it's supplied from the Crystal lake, you know) at sunset, he'd be there +and let you know his terms."</p> + +<p>"Wants to blackmail us, does he?" said the King. "He won't get a +farthing out of <i>me</i>!"</p> + +<p>"It is like his impudence," added the Queen. "Still, it may be as well +to see him."</p> + +<p>And just before the sun's final disappearance, the four stood on the +margin of a small artificial lake, from the centre of which a great +column of water shot up to a colossal height against the crimson and +orange sky.</p> + +<p>"He doesn't seem to have kept his appointment," said the King. "Thought +better of it, hey?" As he spoke, the tall column sank and resolved +itself into a solid grey-green figure of little above the average +stature, a long-bearded elderly personage in a flowing mantle which only +partially covered his suit of glittering iridescent scales.</p> + +<p>"There <i>is</i> the old blighter!" whispered Clarence. "This is my Father +and Mother, Sir," he added aloud, "and anything you've got to propose +must be settled with <i>them</i>."</p> + +<p>"O King and Queen of Märchenland!" said the Lake King, in a voice like +the roar of a cataract, "is it true that ye consider a daughter of mine +unworthy to wed your son?"</p> + +<p>"Without entering into personalities," replied King Sidney, "which are +better avoided at all times, I may say that an alliance with a family +whose nature is so—er—amphibious could not be seriously entertained by +any civilised monarch."</p> + +<p>"It would be <i>too</i> grotesque!" said Queen Selina, "even in a country +like <i>this</i>!"</p> + +<p>"I have set my heart on becoming the Father-in-law of a Prince of the +Royal blood," said the Lake King, "and I will not be denied."</p> + +<p>"Now—now—now," protested King Sidney, "what <i>is</i> the good of taking +that tone? If we were in England I should say this was a matter that +could be settled in few minutes by our respective solicitors. As it is, +you had better tell us how much you'll take to compromise it. I don't +admit that your daughter has suffered any material damage—still, if +you're reasonable in your ideas of compensation, you'll find us disposed +to meet you—as far as we can, you know, as far as we <i>can</i>," he added +hastily, as he remembered his shrunken gold sacks.</p> + +<p>"My terms are these," the Lake King answered. "Unless the betrothal of +Prince Clarence to my daughter Forelle be proclaimed throughout the City +before nightfall, the waters of the Crystal Lake shall overflow and +submerge the whole land to the tops of the highest houses. It is for ye +to choose."</p> + +<p>"That would be an outrageous thing to do, if you could do it," said the +Queen, "but you know very well you can't!"</p> + +<p>"Can I not?" retorted the Lake King. "Behold if I have boasted vainly or +not!" And he waved his sceptre, which was surmounted by a crystal fish. +Instantly the artificial lake came pouring over its marble border, and +the Royal Family were ankle-deep in water. "It's no good!" said King +Sidney, as the flood spread and threatened to rise higher still, "we've +<i>got</i> to give in."</p> + +<p>"Nothing but the safety of our poor subjects would make me consent," +declared the Queen, "but as it is, I must. Stop this horrid flood, and +we'll agree to everything!"</p> + +<p>The water flowed back into the basin at a motion of the Lake King's +sceptre. "It is agreed, then," he said, smiling for the first time, +"that the betrothal is to be proclaimed before nightfall, and that the +nuptials shall take place within eight days?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, very well," said Queen Selina pettishly, "I can't think your +daughter will ever settle down or be really <i>happy</i> with us—but that is +<i>her</i> affair, and—and I will try my <i>best</i> to be a Mother to her."</p> + +<p>"It is enough," said the King of the Crystal Lake, "I have your word. +Should ye retract now, what follows will be upon your own heads!" And, +with these parting words, he merged into a column of water which towered +up as before, its spray falling like fine bronze dust against the now +purple sky.</p> + +<p>"I don't much think I shall ever get on with <i>him</i>," was all Clarence +could find to say, as they walked back with wet feet. "But +Forelle—well, she really isn't at all bad-looking—in her way."</p> + +<p>"Has she got the same coloured hair as her father?" inquired Edna.</p> + +<p>"It's green," he confessed, "but a much prettier <i>shade</i> of green—<i>Eau +de nil</i>, I should call it."</p> + +<p>"And I suppose all the furniture will have to be covered in oilskin?" +went on Edna. "One of the delights of having a Nixie for a +sister-in-law."</p> + +<p>"<i>You</i> needn't talk!" he said angrily. "You came jolly near giving me a +bally ogre for a brother-in-law—what?"</p> + +<p>"There is just this difference, Clarence," replied his sister, "<i>I</i> was +able to break it off—which you are <i>not</i>."</p> + +<p>"Well, if I'm not, it's not my fault, so you needn't nag," he said +savagely, for the thought that all hope of Daphne was now irretrievably +lost had just begun to gall him.</p> + +<p>"We shall all have to change our shoes when we get in," was her answer. +"And it is lucky if we escape a bad cold in the head. But I dare say," +she added sweetly, "that when dear Forelle is one of us we shall <i>soon</i> +grow inured to damp."</p> + +<p>"What <i>I'm</i> thinking of," said the King sombrely, "is how the Court and +the populace will take this business. It's to be hoped that the Lake +King is—er—<i>liked</i> in these parts."</p> + +<p>"Who could <i>help</i> loving him?" jeered Edna. "No doubt the wedding will +excite the greatest enthusiasm—especially if the bride goes through the +ceremony in a tank!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, shut <i>up</i>, can't you!" cried the worried Clarence. "Don't make it +out more rotten than it is!"</p> + +<p>Queen Selina was too occupied with her own reflections to interfere. Her +plan for securing the succession to the throne by a union between +Clarence and Daphne was clearly no longer practicable. She had been +anxious to treat the girl with consideration, and even indulgence—but +events had made this impossible. It was absolutely necessary now to get +Miss Heritage safely out of the way as soon as it could be managed. "I +must speak to the Marshal about it," she was thinking, "and have her +sent back to England in that stork-car. The poor dear Court Godmother is +much too ill to be consulted just now. I have just <i>that</i> much to be +truly thankful for!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX"></a>CHAPTER XIX</h2> + +<h3>SERVANTS OF THE QUEEN</h3> + + +<p>If breaking the news of Edna's engagement to Count von Rubenfresser had +been a matter of some delicacy, to inform the Court and Public of +Clarence's betrothal to a Water-nixie was, as his parents felt, +infinitely more so. Queen Selina told the Baron first, but, rather to +her surprise, he took it calmly and almost apathetically. "I'm afraid, +Baron," she said, "you will think it very weak of us to allow it, but, +between ourselves, there are—er—State reasons which left us no +choice." To which he replied that he would much prefer to be excused +from offering any opinion as to the policy their Majesties had chosen to +pursue.</p> + +<p>The Marshal, on the other hand, expressed cordial satisfaction. His +lizard-like eyes sparkled as he assured his Sovereigns that he would see +that the heralds proclaimed the betrothal in the City before nightfall, +and that he expected it would excite heartfelt enthusiasm.</p> + +<p>It certainly had not that effect on the Court. The ladies-in-waiting +resented the prospect of having to acknowledge a new Royalty the greater +part of whose existence had been spent under water. The Courtiers +shrugged their shoulders with sardonic resignation. In vain the Crown +Prince attempted to carry off his secret uneasiness by clapping them on +the back and saying, "You haven't seen Princess Forelle yet, you know, +dear boy. When you do, you'll agree that she's a regular little +ripper—what?" They made it sufficiently clear that they had no wish to +see the future Crown Princess. In fact, if he had not already lost all +the prestige he had ever had, he would have lost it now, and his +feelings were not to be envied.</p> + +<p>Marshal Federhelm requested a private audience from the Queen, who +received him in her Cabinet. He began by asking permission to absent +himself for a few days on a hunting expedition in the Forest, which +permission was graciously accorded.</p> + +<p>"If the Crown Prince had not—er—ties to keep him at home," she added, +"I'm sure he would be delighted to join you."</p> + +<p>"I doubt it, your Majesty," said the Marshal. "His Royal Highness's +ardour for such pursuits has languished much of late. However, he is +better employed. And, ere I leave, I must ask your Majesty's wishes in +regard to my prisoner, the Lady Daphne."</p> + +<p>"Ah, I was going to talk to you about that, Marshal," said Queen Selina. +"There are many reasons why it is undesirable that Miss Heritage should +remain here any longer. After the underhand and ungrateful manner in +which she has tried to pervert Prince Mirliflor from his attachment to +Princess Edna, I feel it my duty to have her removed."</p> + +<p>"I understand, your Majesty," he said, "and it shall be done. But I +would recommend, in your Majesty's interests, that the execution should +take place in private, and that the Lady Daphne's decease should be +supposed to be due to sudden illness. Otherwise there may be trouble +with the Court."</p> + +<p>"<i>Execution!</i>" cried Queen Selina, genuinely horrified. "Good gracious +me, Marshal, you don't suppose I want the poor girl put to death, do +you? What do you take me for?"</p> + +<p>"It would be a prudent course," he said with meaning, "for any Sovereign +to adopt in your Majesty's situation."</p> + +<p>"For a Märchenland Sovereign, perhaps! But <i>I</i> have been brought up with +very different ideas. I should consider it most wicked to give orders +for anybody to be killed. That is not at <i>all</i> what I meant in saying +that I want Miss Heritage removed."</p> + +<p>"Then I fail to understand your Majesty."</p> + +<p>"It's perfectly simple. I merely wish to have her sent back to England. +The Baron can take her in the Court Godmother's stork-car. She'll never +be well enough to know of it now, poor old soul! And the dear old +Baron's so devoted to Us, and has always been so anxious that Edna +should marry Mirliflor, that I know I can depend on him."</p> + +<p>"If it should be known," said the Marshal, "that your Majesty had +banished Prince Mirliflor's chosen bride, there would be such an outcry +that it might cost you your Kingdom."</p> + +<p>"Oh, do you really think that, Marshal? But it <i>is</i> so essential that +she should be sent to England! Surely it can be managed somehow without +any scandal?"</p> + +<p>"There <i>is</i> a way, Madam, if your Majesty is prepared to take it."</p> + +<p>"I am prepared to do anything, Marshal—that is, <i>almost</i> anything. What +do you advise?"</p> + +<p>"Your Majesty should inform the Baron that, the Court Godmother being +unhappily too indisposed to act as guardian to Lady Daphne, you desire +him to convey her in the stork-car to Clairdelune and place her under +the care of Prince Mirliflor."</p> + +<p>"But, my dear good Marshal, that's the very <i>last</i> thing I desire!"</p> + +<p>"I know, Madam, I know. But it is what he should represent to the Court +and Lady Daphne, and he is more likely to do so if he believes it to be +the fact. I will give him sealed instructions which he is not to open +till after he is started, directing him to take her—not to Clairdelune, +but to the land of her birth. Your Majesty will be good enough to write +such instructions at once."</p> + +<p>"It seems simple, and yet, Marshal, I'm not quite sure," demurred the +Queen. "The Baron is an old dear, but just a bit of a chatterbox. He +might let the whole thing out when he gets back!"</p> + +<p>"He will not get back," said the Marshal. "I know a certain drug that I +will administer to the storks before the journey. It is slow to act, and +will not affect them until after they have reached the country that you +call England. But they will never leave it again. And then it will +merely be supposed that he has acted treacherously."</p> + +<p>"I see," said Queen Selina. "Yes, I should be perfectly safe <i>then</i>. If +there was any <i>other</i> way, or I didn't feel so strongly that it was +really a kindness to Miss Heritage to save her from occupying a position +she is so unsuited to, I really don't think I <i>could</i>. But I suppose I +must do as you suggest."</p> + +<p>She wrote the order, which she signed and sealed and handed to him. "I +shouldn't like her to be left stranded in England without any means of +support, Marshal," she said. "<i>That</i> would be a thing I could <i>not</i> +reconcile to my conscience. So you will kindly see that she is supplied +with a sack of gold."</p> + +<p>"That will be a truly royal act of generosity," he said, "especially as +I understand the number of sacks in your Majesty's treasury is by no +means large just now."</p> + +<p>"I was forgetting. On second thoughts, perhaps you had better make it a +<i>purse</i> instead," she amended. "It will keep her while she is looking +out for another situation."</p> + +<p>"No doubt. And it would be wise, I think, if your Majesty would speed +her departure with your good wishes in presence of the Court."</p> + +<p>But even Queen Selina shrank from such duplicity as that. "I—I don't +think I'll see her again myself," she said. "I—I'd rather not. It's +most distasteful to me to have to deceive her at all, Marshal, and I +shouldn't if it wasn't absolutely necessary in self-defence."</p> + +<p>"Your Majesty has no need to assure me of that. I entirely understand," +he said. "I would recommend that you send for the Baron at once, and +direct him to convey Lady Daphne to Clairdelune to-morrow. Then, after I +have given him the secret order, my part will be done and I shall be +free to enjoy my hunting." And with that he bowed himself out.</p> + +<p>Queen Selina followed his counsel so well that the old Court Chamberlain +was completely deceived. Usurper as he now knew her to be, she was, he +thought, still unaware of it, and such magnanimity to her daughter's +successful rival gave him a better opinion of her. After all, he could +bring himself to continue in her service, now that the Court Godmother's +main object was attained. Like her, he had no wish to confess that he +had been so mistaken as to saddle the Kingdom with a bogus Sovereign. So +he spread the news of Lady Daphne's approaching departure with great +satisfaction and the warmest eulogies of the gracious consideration +Queen Selina had displayed. But even this could only partially check +their disaffection, for they could not forgive her for subjecting them +to the indignity of accepting a Water-nixie as their Crown Princess.</p> + +<p>After dismissing the Baron, the Queen had felt somewhat shocked at her +own talent for dissimulation. "I little thought at Gablehurst that I +should ever fib like this!" she reflected. "But I wasn't a Queen <i>then</i>! +And I can't afford to be too particular, when it's a question of keeping +the Crown in the family!"</p> + +<p>The Marshal waited until the Baron had concluded his interview with the +Queen, and then visited him in his own quarters. The Court Chamberlain +mentioned the instructions he had just received, and spoke in the +highest terms of his Royal mistress's benevolence.</p> + +<p>"As you say, Baron," said the Marshal, "such conduct does honour to her +Majesty. She has, however, given me further instructions for you with +which it is well you should be acquainted at once." And he drew out the +secret order, and, after breaking the seal, presented the parchment to +the Baron, who read it with honest amazement and indignation.</p> + +<p>"I cannot believe her Majesty can have devised such wickedness!" he +said. "What can be her reason—unless—unless—" and here he checked +himself.</p> + +<p>"You were about to say: Unless she knows—as you and I, my dear Baron, +know beyond all doubt—that the Lady Daphne is the real Queen of +Märchenland?"</p> + +<p>"So <i>you</i> know that, too!" cried the Baron, recoiling in terror. "I +swear to you, my lord, that I myself had no suspicion of it until it was +revealed to me by the Court Godmother but two days since!"</p> + +<p>"I accept your word for it—though whether <i>others</i> will do so is +another matter," said the Marshal as he picked up and thrust in his +doublet the document which the other had let fall. "But what I should +like to know is, which of your orders you intend to execute?"</p> + +<p>"The first, of course," exclaimed the Baron indignantly. "Lady Daphne +has a higher claim to my fealty than this interloper. I shall do my duty +and carry her to Clairdelune."</p> + +<p>"You forget that Prince Mirliflor will not be there as yet to receive +her. Nor is it seemly that she should quit her Kingdom without making +any assertion of her claim. My plan is better than yours, Baron. +Hearken: I leave the Palace to-night on the pretext of hunting in the +Forest of Schlangenzweigen. I take with me a company of my own—all +tried soldiers on whom I can rely. To-morrow you will set out in the +car, as though to Clairdelune, and Queen Selina will naturally believe +that her secret order will be obeyed. But, after having gone a certain +distance, you will head your storks for the chapel of St. Morosius in +the forest. There we shall be waiting to swear allegiance to our young +Queen and escort her in triumph to Eswareinmal. I shall have taken +measures beforehand to proclaim her title, and it is certain that the +populace will rise in her favour. You cannot fail to see, my dear Baron, +that your best—in fact, your only way of escaping the penalty of your +folly—to call it by no harsher name—is to aid us in undoing it."</p> + +<p>"Enough, Marshal," said the Baron, "you can count upon me."</p> + +<p>"I am sure of it, Baron, and, as I am leaving the Palace, I will deliver +the Lady Daphne into your custody. See that you say nothing to her of +our scheme till the fitting moment. For the present she must be told +that she is to be taken to Clairdelune. And now I must quit you, for I +have much to attend to before I start, which should be within an hour. +To-morrow at mid-day we shall expect you at the Chapel in the forest, +and have a care for your own sake that you fail us not."</p> + +<p>An hour later, having disposed of the business he had attended to and +left everything in train for his project, he set out with a chosen band +on his alleged hunting expedition. "Whether this will fall out as I +calculate, or in some other way, I know not," he told himself, as they +clattered out of one of the City gates and took the road to the forest +of Schlangenzweigen. "But this I know—whatever happens, I shall shortly +be King of Märchenland."</p> + +<p>After he was gone the Baron began to reflect on what he had undertaken, +and to feel that he would be glad of an excuse to get out of it, if he +could find one. It was hardly credible that Queen Selina could have +devised so treacherous a plot; it seemed far more likely that the +Marshal had deceived him. After all, the secret order he had been shown +might not be genuine. If it were not, the Queen was innocent, and the +Baron was only too willing to leave her in peaceful permission of the +throne. Before he committed himself any further he must satisfy himself +on this point. His difficulty was that he could not ask her directly +whether the secret order had indeed been given by her, as he might +betray the Marshal, which might entail unpleasant consequences for +himself. After some thought he hit upon a stratagem that was rather +brilliant—for him. He obtained a private interview with the Queen, and +begged her to consider whether it was altogether judicious to restore +Lady Daphne to a Prince who might otherwise come forward once more as a +suitor for Princess Edna. "Would it not be safer, Madam," he suggested, +"to send Lady Daphne to her own country, where he would never be able to +find her?"</p> + +<p>Queen Selina was so convinced of his honesty and loyalty that she fell +into his little trap without a moment's suspicion. "Now, it's really +very curious you should have thought of that, my dear Baron!" she said, +"very curious indeed! Because—I suppose the Marshal gave you a sealed +letter from me before he left?... I thought so, and of course it isn't +to be opened till after you've started. Still, I may tell you <i>now</i> that +it contains instructions for the very identical course you suggest! I +needn't say you must be careful not to mention it—but it may be a +satisfaction to you to know that I've already decided on it."</p> + +<p>"A great satisfaction indeed, your Majesty," he said, "for now my duty +lies clear before me."</p> + +<p>"And nobody, I'm sure, my dear Baron, will do it more faithfully!" was +her gracious response. He proceeded to Daphne, who had heard that her +Giroflé had succeeded in his attempt to rescue Edna, but knew nothing of +what had happened to him afterwards. He relieved her anxiety by +informing her, not only that she was to rejoin Giroflé at Clairdelune +next day, but who he actually was, which last piece of information +turned all her joy to dismay. Prince or no Prince, she knew that Giroflé +would be true to her—but what if the King, his father, forbade him to +marry anyone so far below his rank? She would have to undergo the ordeal +of being presented to King Tournesol, and the thought made her heart +sink with terror.</p> + +<p>"But the Court Godmother will come with me, Baron?" she asked anxiously, +only to hear why this was impossible. "Too ill even to see me!" said +Daphne sadly. "And that is why her Majesty is letting me be sent to +Gir—I mean, Mirliflor? It's really very good of her. I suppose, Baron, +I shall be able to see her and thank her before I go?"</p> + +<p>"Undoubtedly," he said, and, having said as much as he thought prudent, +he left his prisoner to her own reflections.</p> + +<p>Most of the Court gathered to see her off the next morning, but the only +Royalty present was little Princess Ruby, who held her former Governess +in close and tearful embraces. "<i>Darling!</i>" she said, through her sobs, +"it's perfectly beastly to think you've been here all this time and I +never knew it! And now you really <i>are</i> going and I mayn't see you for +ever so long! It will be so dull, for of course I wouldn't play with the +Gnomes now—even if they weren't all down with mumps. And Edna's so +snappy, and Clarence is going to marry a nasty wet Water-nixie—and I +wish we'd all stayed at Inglegarth, that I do!" Daphne had not heard +before of Clarence's engagement and, though she naturally made no +comment, she could not think he was to be congratulated on his choice. +She did her best to comfort Ruby, and after taking leave of her nearly +as inconsolable friends in the Household, she at length found herself +seated in the car with the Baron, who had dispensed with the usual +attendants. And then the Courtyard, with the mass of upturned faces and +waving hands, slowly sank to the rhythmical beating of the storks' wings +as they obeyed the order, "To the Palace of Clairdelune."</p> + +<p>Clarence saw the car pass overhead from the grove in the Palace Gardens, +to which he had betaken himself in his dull misery. He knew that Daphne +must be on her way to rejoin her lover, and tried to console himself by +the reflection that it didn't matter to him. <i>He</i> was done for, anyhow, +whether she went or stayed. But again came the bitter thought that there +had been a time when, if he had only gone the right way about it, he +might have—"I thought she wasn't good enough to marry," he said to +himself. "Not <i>good</i> enough! a girl like her! Now I'm booked to marry a +Lord-knows-what with green hair. Serves me damned well right too!"</p> + +<p>Edna also saw the car as she walked with the Queen on the terrace that +commanded the City. "There goes Miss Heritage!" she said. "Delighted to +recapture her Mirliflor, no doubt! I don't wish to reproach you in <i>any</i> +way, Mother, but I <i>can't</i> think you've shown much consideration for +<i>my</i> interests in packing her off to him like this!"</p> + +<p>It was painful to Queen Selina to be so misunderstood, but she decided +that the injustice must be borne for the present. "My love," she said, +"I could not possibly keep her <i>here</i>. And perhaps," she could could not +help adding, "perhaps <i>some</i> day you will see that I have been a better +mother to you than you imagine!"</p> + +<p>To which pathetic appeal Princess Edna merely responded by a short +sniff, expressive rather of incredulity than any softer emotion.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XX" id="CHAPTER_XX"></a>CHAPTER XX</h2> + +<h3>AT THE END OF HER TETHER</h3> + + +<p>Both the Queen and Edna that morning had observed an unwonted stir in +the usually quiet and sleepy streets of Eswareinmal as they looked down +on them from the Terrace parapet.</p> + +<p>The great square was black with citizens, and from it rose a faint but +angry drone that was unpleasantly suggestive of the results of pitching +a large stone into a hornets' nest.</p> + +<p>"I expect," remarked Queen Selina, "they're all busy discussing this +engagement of Clarence's. If we drive out this afternoon we mustn't +forget to take at <i>least</i> two sacks of gold with us."</p> + +<p>"I doubt if we can afford to drive out at <i>all</i> just now," said Edna.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps," agreed her mother, "it <i>would</i> be wiser to wait till things +have settled down a little. Why they should get so excited about it I +can't think. It's <i>most</i> inconsiderate and troublesome of them—at a +time, too, when, goodness knows, I've enough to worry about!"</p> + +<p>Just then she was chiefly harassed by a doubt whether she had been +wholly wise in accepting the Marshal as a confederate, and especially in +committing her secret instructions to writing. What if he knew or +guessed her real reasons for getting rid of Miss Heritage? But, even if +that were so, he had probably acted as he had out of goodwill and +desire to maintain the dynasty. He had never shown the slightest +jealousy or chagrin at having been deprived of the Regency. No, on the +whole, she thought he could be trusted to be silent—if only because he +could not betray her without admitting his own complicity. Still, there +was a danger that he might presume on his knowledge—which would be +disagreeable enough. If their Majesties were reluctant to show +themselves just then to the populace, the populace on the other hand +were determined to be both seen and heard. The proclamation of +Clarence's betrothal had served as the breaking strain to the attenuated +links that still attached them to the Throne. They had murmured against +the enfranchisement of the Yellow Gnomes; their deception in the matter +of the self-supplying tables had weakened their loyalty seriously for a +time; the projected alliance of the Princess Edna with the surviving +member of a race whose scutcheon bore the taint of Ogreism had aroused +their bitter resentment. But all these grievances had been redressed, +and the amiable easygoing Märchenlanders were willing to forgive and +forget them. Now they were called upon to put up with a humiliation +beyond all endurance. The prospect of seeing the throne occupied in days +to come by a creature who was not only of dubious extraction, but +probably did not possess so much as the rudiments of a soul, infuriated +them to madness.</p> + +<p>So much so that the Royal Family had scarcely finished lunch when they +were startled by news that the people were once more advancing <i>en +masse</i> up the road to the Palace, and would soon be battering at the +gates for admittance.</p> + +<p>"I can't see 'em," said King Sidney peevishly, plucking at his auburn +moustache. "What am I to say to them about this engagement? There's +nothing <i>to</i> say except that it's most——"</p> + +<p>"If you say that again, Sidney," said the Queen, "I shall throw +something at you! Tell them the truth."</p> + +<p>"I—I'd rather the Council explained it to them, my dear," he said.</p> + +<p>"The Council have been sitting tight with closed doors all the morning," +said Clarence, "like a bally lot of broody hens. I don't know, of +course, but I've a notion they're discussing a Republic or something."</p> + +<p>"If <i>you</i> won't speak to the people, Sidney," declared the Queen, with +the courage of despair, "I must order the guards to close the Courtyard +gates, and tell the mob that, if they promise to be quiet and behave +themselves, I'll come out and talk to them myself."</p> + +<p>"Good egg, Mater!" cried Clarence, "I'll come with you. It's really <i>my</i> +show!"</p> + +<p>"You'll only make them worse! Much better keep indoors and take no +notice. More dignified," said the King. But as his wife and son paid no +attention to him, he followed them out for very shame.</p> + +<p>As they came down the front steps and advanced to within hearing +distance of the crowd, which had not attempted as yet to break through +the closed gates, they were received with yells and howls of execration, +frantic shaking of fists and brandishing of improvised weapons. The +strength of the gates and the presence of the guards gave the Queen more +confidence than she might otherwise have felt.</p> + +<p>"Now, good people!" she said in rather a tremulous voice, "it's quite +impossible to speak while you're making all this noise!"</p> + +<p>She had sent up for her crown, and perhaps this impressed them +unconsciously, though she had been too nervous to put it on straight. +Gradually silence was obtained.</p> + +<p>"I know why you've come," she began, "and we <i>quite</i> understand your +feelings about our son's engagement. In fact we <i>share</i> them." This +provoked a renewal of the uproar and a vehement desire to know why, if +that were so, the union had ever been contracted.</p> + +<p>"If you'll only listen, I'll tell you," said the Queen. "We shouldn't +have consented to it at all but for the sake of our beloved people." At +this the beloved people very nearly had the gates down. "You don't +understand," she shouted. "Even now, if you insist on the marriage being +broken off, we are quite willing—indeed we shall be only too happy—to +put a stop to it."</p> + +<p>Here there were shouts of "We do! We do insist! Stop it! No marriage!"</p> + +<p>"Very well then," said Queen Selina with more assurance, "only I am +bound to tell you what the consequences will be. The Crystal Lake will +overflow till the whole of Märchenland is under water. At least that's +what the Lake King threatens. <i>You</i> know best whether he can do it or +not."</p> + +<p>Her hearers knew too well, and the cries and murmurs took an altered +tone at once, though some voices cursed the Prince whose weakness and +folly had brought them to such a dilemma.</p> + +<p>"Weakness and folly!" cried the Queen indignantly. "How can you be so +wretchedly ungrateful? When my poor, noble, unselfish boy is +sacrificing himself—for you don't suppose he can have any affection for +a Water-nixie?—sacrificing himself on—on the altar of his country!"</p> + +<p>"Mater!" whispered Clarence in admiration, "you're the limit!"</p> + +<p>"And all the reward he gets," the Queen went on, pressing her advantage, +"all the reward <i>we</i> get—for providing that you can sleep safe and warm +in your beds—instead of being drowned in them—is violence and rude +remarks! Really, if you have any consciences left you ought to be +thoroughly ashamed of yourselves!"</p> + +<p>They undoubtedly were. For a moment or two there was a hush, and then +the whole mob broke into tumultuous cheers—for the Queen, the King, and +more particularly the Crown Prince. Never since their accession had the +Royal Family been so popular.</p> + +<p>"There now," said the Queen, when she and her family were weary of +bowing their acknowledgments, "that will do. Now go quietly away, like +respectable loyal persons, and tell all the other citizens what we're +doing for them."</p> + +<p>"I must say, my love," observed the King, after the crowd had melted +away in a vastly different mood from that in which they had come, "you +showed wonderful presence of mind. I quite thought myself we should have +been massacred."</p> + +<p>"And so we <i>should</i> have been, Sidney," she replied, "if I'd left it to +<i>you</i>!"</p> + +<p>On re-entering the Palace they heard that the Council was still sitting. +"<i>Let</i> 'em sit!" cried Clarence. "This'll be a bit of a suck for them. +What price a Republic <i>now</i>, eh?"</p> + +<p>"They simply <i>daren't</i> depose us!" said the Queen, "now the dear people +are with us heart and soul!"</p> + +<p>Some time later, while they were sitting in the lapis-lazuli Chamber, a +page entered to announce that a messenger had just arrived with tidings +which he wished to communicate to their Majesties in private. "Tell him +to come in," said the Queen. "I do hope it isn't some fresh trouble!"</p> + +<p>The messenger brought grave news. The Marshal, it appeared, had been +killed while hunting in the Forest. Particulars were wanting, but there +was no doubt that he was dead.</p> + +<p>"How very very sad!" exclaimed the Queen. "The poor dear Marshal! To be +cut off like this in the prime of life! It must have been a wild boar, I +suppose—<i>or</i> a bear. But, whichever it was, it is a terrible loss. I +don't know exactly how long the Court ought to go into mourning for an +ex-Regent—but at <i>least</i> a month!"</p> + +<p>She was shocked, of course, by the suddenness of it. At the same time +she could not help a renewed sense of gratitude to Providence, which had +once more gone out of its way to smooth her path. "I've always said +hunting these wild animals is a very dangerous sport," said King Sidney. +"Glad you've given it up, my boy!"</p> + +<p>"Fed up with it, Guv'nor. But I dare say I shall go in for it +again—some day or other," Clarence replied, while he was thinking that +it would have to be a day when he discovered what had become of his +irresistible sword, and when he could find a horse among his numerous +stud that would permit him to get on its back.</p> + +<p>They were still discussing the Marshal's untimely end when an usher +came from the Hall of Council with a message that the Councillors had +ended their deliberations, and requested their Majesties to honour them +by attending to hear their decision.</p> + +<p>"I like their nerve!" remarked Clarence. "Of course, Guv'nor, you'll +tell 'em they've jolly well got to come to <i>us</i>, what?"</p> + +<p>"No, Sidney," said Queen Selina, flushed with her recent victory, "you +will say that we are coming in presently to preside over the Council and +give them our advice. I shall know how to put them in their proper +places. I shall wear my crown again, and you had better put on yours, +and—yes, I should certainly take your sceptre too."</p> + +<p>She kept them waiting as long as her own dignity demanded, and then +sailed into the Council Chamber, the King and Crown Prince following in +her wake. The whole Council rose and remained standing until the Royal +Family had taken their seats under a canopy.</p> + +<p>The President then informed them that the Councillors had resolved to +use every means to prevent a union which, if contracted, would +infallibly cover the entire Kingdom with contempt.</p> + +<p>"Oh, very <i>well</i>, gentlemen," said the Queen. "<i>I</i> should have thought +even that was better than having it covered with water—but if you in +your wisdom think otherwise, we bow to your superior judgment." And she +explained the situation much as she had done to the mob at the gates, +though with less effect, for the President's answer was that, if such +were the alternatives, their Majesties would best show their anxiety for +their subjects' welfare by abdicating immediately.</p> + +<p>"I don't see that at all," she retorted. "Why in the world <i>should</i> we?"</p> + +<p>"Because," was the reply, "when this so-called King of the Crystal Lake +learns that your son is no longer a Prince, he will cease to desire him +for his daughter."</p> + +<p>"And may I ask, supposing we did abdicate, whom do you propose to put in +our place?" inquired the Queen.</p> + +<p>"We should appoint Marshal Federhelm as Regent once more—or even elect +him Sovereign."</p> + +<p>"A very pretty plan!" replied Queen Selina, "only there's one objection +to it, as you would know if you hadn't shut yourselves up here all day. +You will be sorry to hear that the poor Marshal was killed this very +afternoon while hunting. So you can't get <i>him</i>. And, as there's no one +else available, and as my husband and I feel that it would be very wrong +to desert our dear people when they've just assured us of their perfect +loyalty and affection—(<i>another</i> fact you seem to be ignorant of!)—I'm +afraid, gentlemen, that, whether you like it or not, you will have to +put up with us."</p> + +<p>"It is true, O Queen!" the President admitted with a deep groan. "We can +do naught except pray that Heaven may yet save this most unhappy Country +from so deep a degradation!" And all the other Members of the Council +groaned too, while several beat their breasts or tore their long white +beards in senile wrath and despair.</p> + +<p>"They <i>are</i> a cheery complimentary lot of old devils!" commented +Clarence. "If I were you, Mater, I'd—what d'ye call it?—prorogue 'em."</p> + +<p>The Queen was inclined to accept this suggestion, but at that moment a +loud rapping was heard at the closed doors. "Go and see who it is, +somebody," she commanded, "it may be important news." She thought it +probable that an attendant had come to announce the decease of the Fairy +Vogelflug, which was hourly expected.</p> + +<p>The doors were partly opened, and then a voice she had never thought to +hear again cried in weak and quavering accents: "Let me pass. I claim my +right of admission as Court Godmother."</p> + +<p>The Queen changed colour, but felt that, inopportune as the demand was, +she could not refuse it without laying herself open to suspicion, and +perhaps worse. "Oh, let her come in, poor old soul," she said, "and find +a seat for her. I'd really no idea she was well enough to get up."</p> + +<p>The Fairy hobbled feebly in, looking incredibly old and shrunken, and +like a grim ghost of her former self in her clinging grey night-rail. +Her hollow eyes glowed like live coals as she faced the Queen, and stood +labouring for breath before she could speak.</p> + +<p>"So glad to see you looking so much better, dear Court Godmother!" said +Queen Selina. "But was it <i>wise</i> of you to come downstairs so soon?"</p> + +<p>"I have visited the pavilion and found it untenanted," said the Fairy, +without troubling to explain how she had contrived to elude her +attendants and get there. "Now, answer me, what have you done with Lady +Daphne?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, haven't they <i>told</i> you?" replied the Queen. "I should have +consulted you, of course, if I had known you were conscious; but, as it +was, I did what I thought you would wish and sent her off with the Baron +in the stork-car this morning—to Clairdelune."</p> + +<p>"Is this the truth—or are you trying to deceive me by lies?"</p> + +<p>"Really!" cried the Queen, "this is most uncalled for! I don't know what +you suppose I've done with the girl?"</p> + +<p>"You may have imprisoned—murdered her, for all I can tell. It is more +likely than that you would permit her to depart so easily."</p> + +<p>"Well," said the Queen, "if you don't believe me, you have only to make +inquiries. I was not in time to see her off myself, but I believe there +are members of the Court who were more fortunate."</p> + +<p>Several Councillors corroborated this by affirming that they themselves +had not only been present but had heard the Baron give the order, "To +Clairdelune."</p> + +<p>"I daresay you don't think much of us, Ma'am," said Clarence, "but after +all we're <i>English</i>, you know, and you might give us credit for playing +the game, what?"</p> + +<p>He spoke with a resentment which convinced his Mother of her wisdom in +having played her own game without seeking any co-operation from him.</p> + +<p>The old Fairy's suspicions had been completely quelled. "I perceive," +she confessed, "that I have been over ready to think evil, and can but +crave your forgiveness, Madam, for having done you so great an +injustice."</p> + +<p>"Pray don't mention it!" returned the Queen. "There was some excuse for +it, and we willingly forgive you, if there's anything to forgive. And +now," she added, after ordering the attendants to be fetched, "you +really <i>must</i> take more care of yourself and get back to bed at once."</p> + +<p>"I will return to it," was the reply, "for now that my mind is at ease I +am well content to die."</p> + +<p>"Oh, but you mustn't talk like that!" protested Queen Selina, "when +you've just made such a marvellous recovery! Why, you're looking <i>ever</i> +so much brighter than any of us could have hoped. All you really need +now is a good long sleep."</p> + +<p>"That is all, and I shall have it ere long. You may rest assured," she +added, with a significance which the Queen alone understood, "that +henceforth your peace shall not be disturbed by any word or deed of +mine."</p> + +<p>The attendants entered and she suffered them to lead her away, while +King Sidney graciously extended his sceptre for her to kiss in passing, +but drew it back shamefacedly on finding this civility ignored.</p> + +<p>"It's evidently the last flicker, poor old thing!" said the Queen, after +the Fairy had retired. "I don't at all expect we shall ever see her +alive again!"</p> + +<p>If she had so expected, her conscience might have troubled her more than +it did. As it was, it did not reproach her too severely. It was not nice +to deceive a dying person, but it was much nicer than confessing and +losing a Kingdom for it. It would have been too ridiculous to begin to +be squeamish now. And, after all, it was her misfortune rather than her +fault if the family interests had necessitated a slight temporary lapse +from principles she still held as rigidly as ever.</p> + +<p>She dismissed her Council, which broke up in a chastened spirit, and the +Royal Family, after a light meal which was the nearest approach to +afternoon tea that Märchenland afforded, went out for an airing on their +favourite promenade—the terrace that overlooked Eswareinmal.</p> + +<p>The market-place was still thronged, but such sounds as reached them +were no longer menacing. "I do believe they haven't done cheering for us +yet!" said the Queen. "And some of them seem to be waving flags! I +shouldn't be the least surprised, Clarence, if your wedding next week +goes off quite well after all!"</p> + +<p>"I wish it <i>would</i> go off," he said, "but there's no chance of that +now!"</p> + +<p>"Well, it's no good being gloomy about it. Er—Forelle may turn out to +be charming when we come to know her. Which reminds me, dear boy, you +might tell her we should be delighted if she can come to tea here some +afternoon before the ceremony."</p> + +<p>"She could easily slip up through the fountain," suggested Edna. "I +shall be anxious to see how she does her hair. Let me see—didn't you +say it was green, Clarence?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, give her hair a rest!" he replied.</p> + +<p>"I saw before we left England," said the Queen tactfully, "that green +hair was going to be quite the fashion this season. But, however strange +she may be to society, we should remember, Edna, my love, that she will +shortly become one of ourselves and treat her with every civility. We +must avoid anything that might offend her Father."</p> + +<p>Queen Selina was inclined that afternoon to take a more roseate view of +the future. She felt herself once more secure on the throne now that all +the dangers which had threatened to overturn it had been averted. The +rival Queen would soon be landed in England, where, even if she ever +heard of her rights, she would be powerless to claim them. Of the three +persons who knew or might discover the truth, the Marshal was dead, the +Court Godmother might just as well be so for all the harm she could do, +and the Baron was on his way to a land from which he would never return.</p> + +<p>As for Mirliflor, it would not be difficult to persuade him that some +blunder of the Baron's must have caused the stork-car to go astray, and +it was quite possible that when the Prince had abandoned all hope of +recovering Miss Heritage he would return to Edna.</p> + +<p>"Look at the dear people now!" she cried, as she looked down on the +square, "they're actually forming a procession to march up to the Palace +and thank us again!... Yes, they really are! It's quite wonderful the +effect Clarence's self-sacrifice has had—it seems to have rallied them +<i>all</i> round the Throne. But I <i>knew</i> it would, if it was put to them in +the right way.... Did you hear that?" she asked later, when the +procession had reached an angle of the zigzag incline which was directly +below. "They're shouting for Me! I distinctly heard 'We want our Queen!' +So nice and warm-hearted of them!"</p> + +<p>The shouts had ceased, but the tramp of thousands of feet grew louder, +until the sound was deadened as the demonstrators passed under the wing +of the Palace on their way to the central entrance.</p> + +<p>"Sidney, we must go in and show ourselves to them," said the Queen. "If +they <i>insist</i> on a speech <i>I</i> will make it—you always manage to say the +wrong thing!"</p> + +<p>As they entered the Palace they heard a clamour which appeared to +proceed from the great Entrance Hall. "<i>Quite</i> right to have asked them +in," remarked the Queen with approval. "I shall order some refreshments +for them, and then we can go up by a back way and appear at the top of +the Grand Staircase." But this part of the programme was not destined +to be carried out.</p> + +<p>On attempting to pass through they were stopped, to the Queen's +indignant amazement, in an inner hall by the Captain of her own Guards. +"Really!" she cried, "I never <i>heard</i> of such a thing! What do you +<i>mean</i> by it?"</p> + +<p>He either could not or would not give any other explanation than that he +had instructions to detain them. "Prince Hansmeinigel!" said the Queen, +as she saw him approaching, "can <i>you</i> inform us why his Majesty and I +are prevented from addressing our faithful subjects?"</p> + +<p>"I think, Madam," he replied smoothly, "that you would find none here to +address."</p> + +<p>"How dare you tell me that, when you can hear them calling for 'their +Queen' at this very moment!"</p> + +<p>"But not for <i>you</i>, Madam. The Queen they are demanding is the Lady +Daphne."</p> + +<p>"Miss Heritage!" gasped Queen Selina. "Why should they want <i>her</i>?"</p> + +<p>"It seems," he said, "that certain information has reached the +Burgomaster and chief citizens which has convinced them of her title to +the throne, and they are now in conference with the Council on the +matter."</p> + +<p>"So that treacherous old vixen of a Court Godmother had betrayed the +secret after all, in spite of her promise!" concluded Queen Selina. But +the battle was not lost yet by any means. She was not going to give in, +when she had so many chances in her favour.</p> + +<p>"They might have had the decency to invite us to be present," she said. +"Surely we have <i>some</i> right to be consulted!"</p> + +<p>"They will summon you before them presently, no doubt," he said, and +almost as he spoke an official came towards them and whispered to the +Captain of the Guard, who turned to the Queen:</p> + +<p>"My orders are to bring you before the Council," he said, "if you will +be good enough to follow me. We will go round by the outer corridor, so +that you will be in no danger from the mob."</p> + +<p>"What's all this about, my dear?" whispered King Sidney, as he walked +with his wife and son between a strong guard. "I thought things had +quieted down again."</p> + +<p>"Oh, don't ask <i>me</i>, Sidney!" she returned, "you will know quite soon +enough. But you needn't be uneasy. I've brought you through much worse +things than this." She entered the Council Hall endeavouring to look as +much like Marie Antoinette as she could. That her own Council should +arraign her like this was, as she protested, most unconstitutional—they +had no right whatever to do it. But, however that might be, they <i>were</i> +doing it—a fact which even she was compelled to recognise.</p> + +<p>The President began the proceedings by reciting the evidence of Daphne's +title, which it now appeared had been put into the hands of the +Burgomaster and other notables of Eswareinmal by the Marshal, just +before he had gone to meet his sudden end. He then asked, in the name of +the whole Tribunal, what the present occupants of the throne had to urge +in their own defence.</p> + +<p>If the Queen had possessed the legal mind she would have perceived at +once that the evidence was merely hearsay—inferences that the Marshal +had drawn from what Daphne had told him, and as proofs quite worthless. +But she had not a legal mind; and besides she knew that the proofs were +quite good enough for Märchenland—also that the allegations happened to +be true.</p> + +<p>So she did not attempt to deny them. "All I can say is," she declared, +"that this is quite new to <i>me</i>. When we were brought here I was given +to understand that the Kingdom had descended to me, and of course I +accepted the responsibility. If there has been any silly mistake about +it, you can't blame me or my husband either. We've tried to do our +duty—even so far as consenting to our son's making a marriage we could +not approve of—for the sake of saving our Country from inundation. It's +not every King and Queen who would have done <i>that</i>."</p> + +<p>"That peril," replied the Burgomaster, "is no longer to be feared, since +the King of the Crystal Lake, on being notified of the facts in our +possession, has withdrawn his demands, saying he desires no union with a +family of ignoble and beggarly pretenders."</p> + +<p>"That's a let-off!" said Clarence, "though he might have put it a bit +more pleasantly, what?"</p> + +<p>Queen Selina felt that this repudiation had put one of her heaviest guns +out of action, but she was still undaunted. "I'm sure," she said, "<i>We</i> +have no wish to be associated with such a person. And, as for being +pretenders, I can only say that if the Marshal had come to me and told +me what I now know, I should have been quite ready to resign in Miss +Heritage's favour. But how <i>could</i> I, when he never breathed a word to +me about it?"</p> + +<p>"I should like to add," put in King Sidney, "that it has come as a +complete surprise to <i>me</i>. I'm anxious to do whatever is right and +proper, and if any reasonable arrangement can be come to, I won't stand +in the way."</p> + +<p>This attitude produced an immediate reaction in their favour, as was +visible from the expressions on the faces of the whole Tribunal.</p> + +<p>"Then," the President asked, "is the Council to understand that you are +prepared to resign at once?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly," said the King. "Only too pleased!"</p> + +<p>"Not at once," said Queen Selina. "We cannot leave the Kingdom without a +ruler—that would be very wrong. But as soon as Miss Heritage—or Queen +Daphne, if you like to call her so—chooses to come forward to claim the +crown we shall be delighted to give it up. Till then we are merely +holding it in trust for her."</p> + +<p>"And where is Queen Daphne at present?" asked the Burgomaster.</p> + +<p>"Well," said Queen Selina, "she <i>ought</i> to be at Clairdelune by this +time."</p> + +<p>"She must be sent for without delay," said the President, and the order +was given that messengers on swift steeds should be despatched to +Clairdelune at once.</p> + +<p>"Well, gentlemen," said the Queen, after this business had been +concluded, "I hope you see that you owe us an apology for daring to put +us under arrest and treat us like criminals. Until Lady Daphne arrives +we are still the King and Queen of Märchenland, and you will be good +enough to regard us as such."</p> + +<p>"The Council wishes to express its deepest regret," said the President, +"for having exposed your Majesties' persons to undeserved indignity."</p> + +<p>"And now, perhaps," said Queen Selina triumphantly, "we may consider +ourselves free to resume our thrones, if only to dissolve the Council?"</p> + +<p>The guards fell back instinctively, and she and the King were proceeding +to their usual seats under the canopy without any protest from the +President, who was engaged at the time in deciphering the contents of a +packet which had just been brought to him.</p> + +<p>Before they had reached the steps of the dais, he looked up, and ordered +them to halt in so peremptory a tone that even Queen Selina obeyed +involuntarily.</p> + +<p>"What's up <i>now</i>?" inquired Clarence in an undertone.</p> + +<p>"This packet directed to myself," said the President, "was found on the +body of the late Marshal. It contains an order under the Royal seal and +signature, which I will now read to the Council." And he read the +Queen's secret order to the Baron to convey Daphne to England, which +provoked general horror and execration.</p> + +<p>The Queen was thunderstruck as she heard this fresh proof of the +Marshal's duplicity—she felt more than ever that she had been a fool to +trust him—she might have known that he would take some dishonourable +advantage of her confidence!</p> + +<p>"What have you to answer to this?" the President was saying to her, and +she could see that both her husband and son were waiting anxiously for +her reply.</p> + +<p>"Is it necessary for me to deny that I ever gave such an order?" she +said, with a virtuous indignation that was really very well done. "Of +course it was forged by that wicked Marshal!" (so fortunate, she +thought, that he was dead!) "It is easy to see with what motive."</p> + +<p>Clarence and his father breathed again. For a few dreadful minutes they +had been haunted by an ugly fear—lest—but they ought to have felt +assured that no member of the Wibberley-Stimpson family could be so +unworthy of the name.</p> + +<p>"It is possible," said the venerable President doubtfully, "that the +handwriting may be but an imitation."</p> + +<p>"Nay," struck in the sturdy Burgomaster, "it is hers, sure enough. There +can be no doubt to my mind that both our unlawful sovereigns and their +son have plotted to deport our true Queen, the Lady Daphne, and that +their vile design has succeeded but too well!"</p> + +<p>"You're quite out of it, old cock!" shouted Clarence, through the roar +of assent that greeted the Burgomaster's speech. "Why should we plot +against her, when we hadn't an idea she had a right to the throne?"</p> + +<p>"So you allege," said the Burgomaster. "But this order speaks for +itself, and if the Council will take my advice it will order all three +of the prisoners to be executed at once in the City Square, in sight of +the people they have wronged and deceived."</p> + +<p>This suggestion evidently commended itself to the majority, but the +President demurred. "We must not act too hastily," he said, "lest we +find too late that we have been misled by appearances. It may be that +Queen Daphne has reached Clairdelune in safety, but of that we cannot +have sure knowledge until our messengers return. In the meantime our +prisoners must not be regarded as though they were proved guilty. I +shall order that they be removed to apartments in the North Tower, where +they are to be given honourable treatment and every indulgence save +their liberty. Should it be found that they are innocent, due reparation +shall be made them."</p> + +<p>"And what if we hear that our Queen is not at Clairdelune?" asked the +Burgomaster.</p> + +<p>"Then they shall receive no mercy," replied the President. "Their heads +shall be struck off that same day, in the great square of the Capital."</p> + +<p>"Good!" said the Burgomaster. "I will have the scaffold put up the +moment I return."</p> + +<p>"I just want to say this, Gentlemen," said Clarence before he was led +away: "if we were really guilty of trying to get rid of poor little Lady +Daphne, we should be such a set of rotters that we should jolly well +deserve losing our heads for it. But you'll find we're not."</p> + +<p>"I can answer for my poor wife as for myself," said King Sidney. "She is +far too much of a lady to dream of doing anything that isn't strictly +correct."</p> + +<p>Queen Selina said nothing—she was not feeling well enough just then.</p> + +<p>"Not half bad!" remarked Clarence, as he went through the suites of +rooms that were to form their prison. "Pleasant look-out from all the +windows, and the rooms jolly comfortable, considering. We shall do very +well here for a day or two."</p> + +<p>"Don't talk in that light way, Clarence," said his mother, "or you'll +drive me mad!"</p> + +<p>"Why, there's nothing to be down in the mouth about, Mater. We may have +to stick this longer, of course—depends how long those chaps take +getting back from Clairdelune. But as soon as they do get back we shall +be let out, and I shouldn't wonder if the Country gave us a thundering +good pension. It's no more than it ought to."</p> + +<p>"You—you mustn't count on that. You—we must all of us prepare for the +worst, the <i>very</i> worst."</p> + +<p>"What skittles, Mater! What can they do to us, unless, of course, Daphne +wasn't sent to Clairdelune. But I saw her in the car myself."</p> + +<p>"It—it doesn't follow that—that she got there, Clarence."</p> + +<p>"Why on earth shouldn't she?"</p> + +<p>"The Baron might—might have missed the way somehow."</p> + +<p>"Not he! He may be an old foozle, but the storks know their job, +anyhow."</p> + +<p>"We mustn't make too sure—of anything," said his mother, who had the +best reasons for knowing that Miss Heritage would never be found either +in Clairdelune or Märchenland, and that a shameful and probably +exceedingly painful death on the scaffold was their inevitable fate.</p> + +<p>It was terrible to think that she, the acknowledged head and master-mind +of the family, had brought them to such an end as this—more terrible +still to see both her son and husband so utterly unprepared for it. Her +nerves were jarred and fretted by King Sidney's apathy and Clarence's +light-hearted optimism, and the impossibility of arousing them to a +proper sense of their position. She could only do that by confessing +what she had done—and she shuddered at the mere thought. If it would +save them—but nothing would do that now! No, she could not lower +herself so immeasurably in their esteem; she would carry her secret with +her to the block itself!</p> + +<p>"Now, Mater," said Clarence, "you mustn't give way to the blues like +this. You can take it from me that we're as right as rain. So cheer up, +and let's see you smiling again."</p> + +<p>The unhappy Queen made a heroic attempt at a smile, but the result was +so extraordinarily ghastly that it disheartened even Clarence.</p> + +<p>"Oh, very well, Mater," he said, "you needn't—if it hurts you as much +as all <i>that</i>. But you've been so plucky up to now, I never thought +you'd come out as a wet blanket!"</p> + +<p>Even Marie Antoinette herself, thought Queen Selina bitterly, had never +had to bear being called a wet blanket!</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXI" id="CHAPTER_XXI"></a>CHAPTER XXI</h2> + +<h3>"WHOSE LIGHTS ARE FLED, WHOSE GARLANDS DEAD"</h3> + + +<p>Daphne had taken her seat in the car with somewhat conflicting feelings. +She was going to Clairdelune, where she would be reunited to Giroflé—an +altogether joyous prospect, if she could hope to find the Giroflé with +whom she had last parted. But he was now the magnificent young Prince +Mirliflor, and it was quite uncertain whether she would even be able to +recognise him. It would be dreadful if she discovered that she did not +care for him any longer! Perhaps it was anxiety, but still more probably +the fact of her Fairy blood that prevented her from being overcome by +the somnolence that none of purely British birth seemed able to resist +for long after entering that magic car.</p> + +<p>Daphne was not in the least drowsy, and thus was startled, after the +Palace and Eswareinmal had vanished out of sight, by hearing the Baron +suddenly order the storks to go to the Chapel in the forest of +Schlangenzweigen, and seeing them wheel in a direction she knew was not +that of their original destination. "What are you doing, Baron?" she +cried. "I thought you were to take me straight to Clairdelune?"</p> + +<p>The Baron put his hand to his heart (which he had once more been obliged +to compress by a metal hoop) before he could speak. "It is now time," he +began, "that you should be told who you are, Madam, and the glorious +future that awaits you." And, with a prolixity that may here be avoided, +he informed her of her right to the crown of Märchenland and of the +Marshal's arrangements for placing her on the throne.</p> + +<p>"But I don't want to be placed on the throne!" said Daphne. "Do you +really think I should turn out these poor Wibberley-Stimpsons now—when +they behaved so decently in letting me go? It would be too horribly mean +of me if I did."</p> + +<p>At this he thought it his duty to enlighten her upon Queen Selina's +perfidy, which naturally altered Daphne's opinion, but did not shake her +determination.</p> + +<p>"If she is so keen about her crown she may keep it," she said. "All I +care for now is to get to Clairdelune and see Giroflé—I mean +Mirliflor."</p> + +<p>"But," objected the Baron, employing the Marshal's argument, "we should +arrive there days before the Prince."</p> + +<p>"Then," said Daphne imperiously, "tell the storks to take us to +him—wherever he is."</p> + +<p>"If I did so," he objected, "the Marshal's plan would fall through!"</p> + +<p>"And what if it does? How do you know that he's to be trusted? I always +thought myself he had a bad face, and I don't feel at all inclined to +put myself in his power. So you will please not be a pig, Baron, but do +as I say."</p> + +<p>No doubt her diction should have been more on a level with her dignity, +but then it must be remembered that she had not been brought up as a +prospective Fairy Queen.</p> + +<p>"I am convinced," he persisted, "that the Marshal's devotion to your +Majesty's cause is beyond suspicion."</p> + +<p>"And I'm quite sure that it isn't," retorted Daphne. "If, as you tell +me, Baron, I am your Queen, it's your duty to obey my orders, and I +order you to take me to Mirliflor." He did not venture to oppose her any +longer, so he gave the necessary command, and the great birds wheeled +round once more towards Clairdelune.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Mirliflor had discovered, after accomplishing a third of his journey, +that his horse had suddenly gone so lame that it was unable to proceed +at any pace but a walk. He had dismounted, and was leading it until he +could reach a hostelry and provide himself with a fresh steed, when he +heard a loud throbbing in the air behind him. The next moment a large +flight of storks passed over his head and descended with a car on a spot +some yards in advance of him. He saw at once that one of the occupants +was Daphne, and leaving his horse by the wayside he went forward to meet +her, not without some constraint and uncertainty, however, for his fear +that she would love him no longer had not ceased to haunt him.</p> + +<p>She had alighted and was standing still, her face expressing wonder and +something of alarm. Could this splendid gallant cavalier really be her +homely Giroflé? she was thinking, and if he were, how could he help her +to overcome this paralysing sense of his being a stranger? He came +towards her, feeling almost as shy as she.</p> + +<p>"Daphne! my dearest!" he said, stretching out his arms, "am I so changed +that you can't care for me any more?" And, as she heard his voice, all +her doubts and apprehensions suddenly fled.</p> + +<p>"No," she murmured, placing a fair hand on each of his broad shoulders +and looking fearlessly up into his face. "You are just the same, +really. My very own Giroflé! And, oh, I'm so glad!"</p> + +<p>"And you forgive me for deceiving you, dearest?" he asked when the first +rapture of meeting and reassurance was over. "I was bound in honour to +tell you nothing."</p> + +<p>"I know," she said; "the Court Godmother is to blame for that—not you. +And I was prepared to find you changed, Gir—Mirliflor—only—not quite +so changed as this."</p> + +<p>"If you would love me better as I was, darling," he said, "tell me so, +and I will make her transform me again. I will become Giroflé for the +rest of my life—rather than lose you!"</p> + +<p>"I don't think she is well enough to be asked to do that now," replied +Daphne. "And, besides"—and here she held him from her at arm's +length—"besides, now I look at you, you really are rather nice, you +know! No, darling, I won't have you altered again."</p> + +<p>After all, this was only in accordance with Märchenland's precedents. +Did Beauty, for instance, resent her Beast's emergence into a Prince? +All the same, Daphne was a little ashamed of herself for the increasing +satisfaction she felt in Mirliflor's good looks—it seemed almost an +infidelity to Giroflé—but she could not help it, and did not even try.</p> + +<p>The Baron had tactfully remained with the storks until, in his opinion, +it was time to interrupt the lovers, when he stepped towards them, +cracking loudly.</p> + +<p>"Sire," he said, "accept my congratulations on a good fortune that is +perchance even greater than you yet know. You have won a lady who is not +only lovely, but, as I shall show you, no other than the daughter of +our late Prince Chrysopras, and thus rightfully entitled to the crown of +Märchenland."</p> + +<p>"And you knew this, Daphne?" cried Mirliflor when the Baron had +concluded. "Why did you say nothing to me about it?"</p> + +<p>"I only heard of it myself just now in the car," she said. "And what +does it matter? I don't want to claim the crown—all I want is to live +at Clairdelune with you."</p> + +<p>But he told her it was her duty to her Country to assert her just +rights, and, on being informed of the appointment with the Marshal, he +was in favour of keeping it. "He will be useful," he said, "if he is an +honest supporter of your cause."</p> + +<p>"But I'm quite certain he isn't!" said Daphne.</p> + +<p>"We can only make sure by meeting him," he replied, "and as of course I +shall be with you, you will be in no danger."</p> + +<p>He had no weapon but the sword that had served him so well at +Drachenstolz, which he had brought away with him rather as a <i>souvenir</i> +than with any idea that he might need it on his journey, but Daphne felt +that, so long as Mirliflor was at her side, she had nothing to fear, and +so she readily consented to re-enter the car and be taken to the Chapel +in the forest, where the Marshal in all probability was awaiting her +arrival.</p> + +<p>As the car neared the borders of the forest, Mirliflor took out the silk +cap which the Baron had lent him. "I meant to have returned this to you, +Baron," he said, "but I find I have it still. With your permission, I +will keep it a little longer, as I fancy it may be useful. Don't be +alarmed, darling," he added to Daphne, "if you don't see me when I put +this on. Remember that, though I shall be invisible, I shall be near +you all the time."</p> + +<p>"I'll try to remember, Mirliflor," said Daphne. "But—but don't stay +invisible longer than you can possibly help."</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>The Chapel stood in a clearing in the very middle of the forest, and the +storks calculated their descent with such nicety that they brought the +car up in front of the door.</p> + +<p>The Marshal, in his plumed helmet, golden cuirass, and high boots of +gilded leather, was waiting, and now came forward to help Daphne to +alight. His vizor was raised, but the company of knights with him wore +theirs down, so that it was impossible for her to know who they were or +whether they intended her good or ill.</p> + +<p>"We expected you long ere this, Lady Daphne," said the Marshal as he +handed her out.</p> + +<p>"Did you, Marshal?" she said, trying to appear unconcerned. "We went a +little out of our way." She noticed that, either by accident or design, +several of the knights had interposed themselves between herself and the +Baron.</p> + +<p>"We have the less time at our disposal," said the Marshal, "so I will +come to the point at once. You have no doubt been already informed of +your rights, and that I and my companions are here to place you on the +throne, provided you accept my conditions?"</p> + +<p>"I—I was not told of any conditions," said Daphne.</p> + +<p>"There is but one," he said, and at this the Chapel door was thrown open +and a priest of extremely disreputable exterior appeared on the +threshold, with the lighted altar as his background. "Wed me—and you +shall be Queen of Märchenland."</p> + +<p>"I've no wish to be that," she replied, "and, as you know, Marshal, I +have already promised to marry Prince Mirliflor."</p> + +<p>"You may dismiss all thought of that," he said blandly, "for if you +refuse my hand, both you and the Baron will meet with instant death, the +car and birds will also be destroyed and buried, and I have so arranged +that it will be believed that her Majesty Queen Selina has had you +removed to the distant land from which you came."</p> + +<p>"Marshal," pleaded Daphne, trying hard to remember that Mirliflor was +really by her side, "I must have time—time to think over your—your +proposal."</p> + +<p>"It may help you to decide, Lady Daphne," he said, "if you reflect that, +in any case, you will never again behold Prince Mirliflor of +Clairdelune."</p> + +<p>"And why not, Marshal?" said Mirliflor, as he flung away the cap of +darkness and stepped in front of his beloved.</p> + +<p>The Marshal knew at once that his fate was sealed. He stood no chance +whatever against a Prince who had slain a dragon singlehanded. The +knights also seemed to recognise this, or else their sympathy had veered +to Daphne's side, for they stood back in a circle without attempting to +interfere, while the priest, who perhaps had not till then understood +that the marriage ceremony was to be compulsory, promptly re-entered the +little Chapel and blew out all the candles.</p> + +<p>The combat was over in a second or two—as any combat would necessarily +be in which one of the antagonists was equipped with an irresistible +sword. Mirliflor, to be sure, did not know that he possessed this +somewhat unsportsmanlike advantage, and had disdained to shelter +himself, as he might have done, under the cap. But it is more than +possible that if he had known more about the sword, he would have +stretched the point of honour in this particular case. As has already +been seen, he had occasional lapses from the ideals the Fairy had +bestowed on him at his baptism, and he was quite incapable of troubling +himself about them when Daphne's life was at stake. Perhaps he ought to +have been more consistently punctilious, but he was not—which was +fortunate for both of them.</p> + +<p>As soon as the knights saw the Marshal fall, they hastened to protest +their loyalty to their young Queen and offer their congratulations, +which Daphne thought it politic to accept at their face value. Horses +were found for her and Mirliflor, who decided to make, with a picked +body of the knights, for a village a league from Eswareinmal and await +developments there. Of the rest of the party, some were instructed to go +back to the Palace and report the Marshal's death while hunting, the +rest remained to bury his body, and it was one of these who found the +packet, and, most unluckily for Queen Selina, thought it necessary to +deliver it in hot haste to its addressee.</p> + +<p>The Baron was directed to go on in the car to Clairdelune and inform +King Tournesol that his son had found a bride at last.</p> + +<p>On reaching the village near Eswareinmal, Mirliflor had sent on two of +his escort into the city to ascertain the state of feeling there. They +brought back the unexpected news that all the citizens now knew that the +Lady Daphne was entitled to the Crown and were demanding her; that +Queen Selina, with her husband and son, had been imprisoned on suspicion +of having made away with her, and, if she were not forthcoming by an +early date, would be executed publicly without fail.</p> + +<p>In the heat of his resentment at the treachery which had so nearly +succeeded in parting him from Daphne for ever, Mirliflor declared that +they should be left to the doom which they would certainly meet if +Daphne's return were kept secret for a few days.</p> + +<p>"Mirliflor said that—not Giroflé," she told him. "Giroflé would never +be so horribly cold-blooded. But even Mirliflor didn't really mean it! +Of <i>course</i> we can't let these Stimpson people be executed. Besides, I +<i>know</i>—I can't say how, but I <i>do</i> know—that Mr. Stimpson and +Clarence, at any rate, haven't been parties to any plot to get rid of +me. And as for Mrs. Stimpson, I dislike her, and I want to go <i>on</i> +disliking her—which I couldn't possibly do after she had her head cut +off! So we'll go into Eswareinmal at once, Mirliflor, and do what we can +for the poor things."</p> + +<p>"I spoke in haste, dearest," said Mirliflor. "I was wrong, and you are +right as usual."</p> + +<p>"And now we're <i>both</i> going to be right, darling!" said Daphne.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>"I wish," Clarence remarked later the same day, "I wish these windows +looked out on the front. We might see her coming back in that blessed +stork-car. She'll be sure to come the quickest way when she hears we're +in the soup like this—don't you think so, Mater?"</p> + +<p>"I'm sure <i>I</i> don't know!" said the tortured Queen Selina. "She mayn't +come back at all. I mean, she may keep the messengers and leave us to +perish. It is only what I should expect of her!"</p> + +<p>"No, dash it all, Mater, she's too much of a sport for that," he said. +"She'll either turn up or send word that she's all right."</p> + +<p>"Don't deceive yourself, Clarence!" said his mother. "I know better than +you can, and I tell you that she will do neither."</p> + +<p>"Not when it's to save our lives?" he replied. "She's bound +to—unless—unless anything has happened to her. I'm a bit worried about +that, because—well, time's getting <i>on</i>, you know—what?"</p> + +<p>"I trust, my boy," said his father, "we shall not be brought to +the—er—scaffold by any mistake of that kind. If that occurred, it +would be most un—" he caught his wife's eye and substituted +"unsatisfactory. I'm not sure," he added, "but I fancy I hear shouting. +Seems to come from below."</p> + +<p>"It certainly <i>is</i> shouting," said Clarence, "and it's getting louder. +They're coming this way. I—I hope I'm wrong—but I've a strong +impression that we're going to get it in the neck after all!"</p> + +<p>"Sidney! Clarence!" cried Queen Selina, as she sank on her knees, unable +to bear her guilty burden any longer. "I—I can't die without asking you +to forgive me for—for what I have brought on you!"</p> + +<p>"It's no fault of yours, Mater," said Clarence. "Just the family luck, +that's all!"</p> + +<p>"Ah, but listen—listen!" implored his Mother; but, before she could +proceed, the door was suddenly unlocked, and Prince Tapfer von +Schneiderleinheimer entered with every sign of respect.</p> + +<p>"I am charged by her Majesty Queen Daphne to desire your attendance in +the Throne Room," he said, "and to convey her and Prince Mirliflor's +regret that you should have been subjected to any inconvenience by +having permitted her departure to Clairdelune."</p> + +<p>Queen Selina—or rather Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, as she was now once +more—hastily rose from her knees. So the Baron had disobeyed his +orders, and Miss Heritage did not even know that they had been given! +This was indeed an unhoped-for deliverance. <i>What</i> a mercy, she thought, +that it had come just before she had spoken words she could never have +recalled! "Kindly assure—your Mistress," she said, with all the dignity +of fallen grandeur, "that while we cannot but feel that we have been +most unjustly suspected, we are willing to make every allowance for the +circumstances, and shall have much pleasure in coming down to offer our +congratulations presently. But first I want to see the Princess Royal +and Princess Ruby if they are well enough to leave their dungeons."</p> + +<p>"Your daughters, Madam, have merely been required to remain in their own +apartments, and are in perfect health," he replied; "I will have them +conducted to you immediately."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Mummy!" exclaimed Ruby a little later, as she ran to her Mother's +arms, "is it really true? Aren't you and Daddy King and Queen any more?"</p> + +<p>"No, my darling," said Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, "it seems the people +would rather have Miss Heritage."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I don't mind so much if it's Daphne. And will Prince Mirliflor be +King?"</p> + +<p>"I really can't say how they will arrange it—nor does it interest me +<i>what</i> they may do."</p> + +<p>"It does <i>me</i>," said Ruby. "I hope they'll let us stay here with them."</p> + +<p>"I consider it most unlikely—even if I were willing to be a guest in my +own Palace. But I've no doubt they will make some suitable provision for +us."</p> + +<p>"Speaking for myself, Mother," said Edna, "I should be far happier +leading a simple life in retirement than ever I've been in this +pretentious place. And, though I never cared much about being a +Princess, we can scarcely be treated as commoners after what we <i>have</i> +been."</p> + +<p>"I shall settle all these matters myself with Miss Herit—Queen Daphne, +I suppose I <i>ought</i> to call her, but it's so difficult to get into just +at once. And now I think we will all go down to the Throne Room. +Remember on no account to show the slightest ill-feeling. Let her see +that, if we have lost everything else, we still retain our manners."</p> + +<p>She was herself so far from betraying any ill-feeling when she entered +the Throne Room that she was almost overwhelmingly affectionate.</p> + +<p>"My dear child!" she said, advancing to Daphne, who was standing in the +centre of the room with Mirliflor, "so pleased to see you both back! but +we're <i>all</i> of us <i>that</i>! And, as I was saying to His—to my +husband—only a few minutes ago, 'I'm sure, Sidney,' I said, 'there's no +person in the world I would give up my crown to so willingly as I would +to dear Miss Heritage!'"</p> + +<p>"Most happy," said her husband. "We've abdicated already, your—your +Majesty—both of us—as soon as we knew the facts."</p> + +<p>"I—I'm most awfully glad to see your Majesty back again," said +Clarence, noting the flush on her cheeks and the sparkle in her eyes as +she glanced at Mirliflor, whom he envied more than ever. "I was +beginning to think I—er—shouldn't—you ran things a trifle close."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps I did," said Daphne, "but you see, I thought it was wiser to +try to find Mirliflor, before being taken to—to Clairdelune." She said +this quite simply, for she could see that, as she had been sure of from +the first, both Clarence and his father were no parties to Mrs. +Stimpson's design, and she was anxious to spare them all knowledge of it +if she could.</p> + +<p>Her words only confirmed Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson's sense of security; +Daphne evidently suspected nothing, probably because the false Marshal +had never handed the Baron his secret instructions. "<i>Much</i> the best +plan, I'm sure, your Majesty!" she agreed, "though it was fortunate for +<i>us</i> that you found dear Prince Mirliflor so soon. However, it has all +ended happily, so we will say no more about it. And now I want to beg +that you mustn't consider Us. If you would like to have possession of +the Palace at once, you have only to say so. Or if I could be of any use +to you by staying on for a little, just to show you how things ought to +be done——?"</p> + +<p>Daphne forced herself to be civil to her for her family's sake, not her +own.</p> + +<p>"It is very good of you," she said, "but I'm afraid it won't be possible +for you to stay here."</p> + +<p>"Well," said Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, "we shall be perfectly satisfied +with any residence—if it's only quite a moderate-sized castle—that +your Majesty is good enough to put at our disposal. Not <i>too</i> far from +here, or poor Ruby"—here she glanced at her younger daughter, who had +taken possession of one of Daphne's hands, which she was kissing and +fondling—"would be <i>quite</i> inconsolable at losing her dearest friend!"</p> + +<p>But her remarks were lost on Daphne, for just then, to Mrs. Stimpson's +surprise and secret dismay, the entrance was formally announced of the +Court Godmother, whom she had imagined to be at least moribund, if not +dead. She came in, looking frail and feeble, but still with much of the +energy and vitality that had seemed to have departed for ever.</p> + +<p>"Really," thought the disgusted Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, "Mother +Hubbard's dog is a fool to her!"</p> + +<p>Daphne had already gone to greet her and lead her to a seat. "I'm much +better, my child—in fact almost as well as ever. A day or two ago I +thought I was dying—but a little rest and the good news of your return +have quite set me up again. I begin to think I shall see my second +century out yet!"</p> + +<p>"It is indeed a marvellous recovery, my dear Court Godmother!" chimed in +Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson. "We've all been <i>so</i> anxious! We should have +sent to inquire, only we couldn't—because—well, you'll hardly +<i>believe</i> it, but we've been imprisoned (and very nearly <i>executed</i>, +too!) on a ridiculous charge of having made away with our dear young +Queen here! When, as <i>you</i> know, I had actually gone out of my way to +have her sent to Clairdelune as soon as I found you were too ill to see +to it yourself."</p> + +<p>"And well for you that you did so!" said the grim old Fairy, "for if you +had played—or even sought to play—her false, I would have seen to +it—old and ailing as I am—that such treason did not go unpunished!"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson shivered inwardly under the implacable old eyes; +she knew well that she could expect no mercy if the Fairy discovered +that these secret orders had ever been handed to the Baron. Only, as +the Baron had never received them, he could tell her nothing, and as the +Council now believed them to be a forgery of the Marshal's, Mrs. +Stimpson felt herself fairly safe.</p> + +<p>"Yes, dear Court Godmother," she said sweetly; "but you see, I +haven't—so we needn't discuss that <i>now</i>, need we? When you came in +just now, I was just telling her Majesty that we had no desire to stay +on at the Palace longer than is unavoidable, but that, naturally, we +were anxious to know where accommodation would be found for us—nothing +grand, of course, <i>any</i> fairly large <i>château</i> would suit us."</p> + +<p>"I'm sorry," said Daphne, after stooping to kiss Ruby, "but that is +quite impossible."</p> + +<p>"Impossible?" cried Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson. "I can't believe that your +Majesty would turn us out of our own Palace, without a home to go to!"</p> + +<p>"You have 'Inglegarth,'" said Daphne, "and as soon as the Baron returns +with the car he shall take you there."</p> + +<p>"I am much obliged to your Majesty," returned Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, +her complexion deepening to a rich purple, "very much obliged for such +truly generous treatment! Some people might think that, considering that +you wouldn't be Queen at all but for our kindness in taking you with us, +when we were brought here—by no seeking of <i>ours</i>—to reign over this +ridiculous country—I say, <i>some</i> people might call this rather shabby +and ungrateful. Especially when we gave way the moment we were told +there had been a mistake—sooner than make any fuss or trouble—as few +Sovereigns in our position would have done! And now it seems we're to be +rewarded by being bundled back to a suburban residence which, whatever +else may be said for it, is absurdly inadequate for any retired +Royalties! But you will find we are not to be got rid of quite so +easily. I absolutely decline to go back to Gablehurst to be an ordinary +nobody after what I have been. Nothing in the world shall induce me to!"</p> + +<p>"My love," said her husband, "we can't stay here if we're not wanted."</p> + +<p>"No, Mater," said Clarence, "we've got to clear."</p> + +<p>"I shall be thankful to get away myself," added Edna. "What is +Märchenland, after all?—just a petty little Kingdom that nobody even +knows is in existence!"</p> + +<p>"<i>You</i> may go if you please," Mrs. Stimpson declared. "<i>I</i> shall +stay—if I have to sit and starve to death at the Palace Gates! And a +pretty scandal <i>that</i> will be!"</p> + +<p>"If you were allowed to starve," said the Fairy Vogelflug—"which you +wouldn't be, you'd get food enough—but no sympathy. So I should advise +you myself to return to your own Country, where you are probably held in +more esteem than you are here. And now," she added to Daphne, "I must +ask your Majesty's leave to withdraw to my own apartments. I shall be +obliged if you would send the Baron to me as soon as he arrives from +Clairdelune." And with this, and a stiff but stately curtesy to the +young Queen, she hobbled out of the Throne Room.</p> + +<p>"I shall maintain to my dying breath," declared Mrs. Stimpson +vehemently, "that, after governing this Country as we have done, we have +earned the right to stay in it. I consider we are not only entitled to +that, but to a suitable establishment and pension. Your Majesty can +surely spare us something out of all we have given up!"</p> + +<p>Daphne intimated that she wished to reply to Mrs. Stimpson in private, +whereupon the others withdrew out of hearing and left them together.</p> + +<p>"I hate having to say it," she began in a low voice, "but you really +can't stay here on any terms, Mrs. Stimpson—I think I needn't tell you +why."</p> + +<p>"Your Majesty surely doesn't suspect me of any——?"</p> + +<p>"I don't suspect," said Daphne, "I <i>know</i> how you tried to part me from +Prince Mirliflor for ever—and how nearly you succeeded. <i>He</i> knows, +too.... Oh, you are in no danger from us—<i>we</i> shall say nothing. But +there is someone else who <i>might</i>."</p> + +<p>"Not—not the Baron?" cried Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, so thrown off her +guard that she failed to see how completely the question gave her away.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Daphne gravely, "the Baron. You heard what the Court +Godmother said about seeing him as soon as he returns? We have forbidden +him to speak—but it's quite possible that she will get the truth out of +him—and that might be rather disagreeable for you, mightn't it?"</p> + +<p>"Very," agreed the trembling Mrs. Stimpson. "She'd have no mercy on +me—on any of us!"</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid not," said Daphne, "and she might not listen even to me. +So—don't you think it would be wiser to change your mind about staying +and go back to Gablehurst before she <i>does</i> see him?"</p> + +<p>"Much," said Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson in a half-choked voice—"much! +if—if it can be arranged."</p> + +<p>"I think it can. The journey to Clairdelune and back won't tire the +storks—they will be quite able to take you over to England as soon as +you are ready to start."</p> + +<p>"We'll go and get ready at once," said Mrs. Stimpson, "so as not to keep +the car waiting."</p> + +<p>"You have plenty of time. It can't be here for some hours yet."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I hope the Baron will make haste—and—and if your Majesty <i>could</i> +only prevent him from seeing the Court Godmother till after we are +gone!"</p> + +<p>"She will probably be asleep," said Daphne, "but in any case he shall +have instructions to take you home the very moment he arrives at the +Palace. I think," she added, "that is all we had to say to one another."</p> + +<p>"Except," said Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, "that your Majesty really must +allow me to express my deep sense of the very handsome——"</p> + +<p>"No, <i>please</i>!" said Daphne, turning away, for she felt that she had had +as much of Mrs. Stimpson as she could stand just then.</p> + +<p>That good lady, having partially recovered her equanimity, retreated to +her husband and family.</p> + +<p>"I've been talking it over with her Majesty, Sidney," she announced, +"and she has <i>quite</i> brought me to see that, under the circumstances, we +shall really be more comfortable in dear old England. So she has kindly +arranged for us to be taken home in the car directly it gets back from +Clairdelune."</p> + +<p>"Glad to hear it, my love," said the ex-Monarch. "Personally, I much +prefer 'Inglegarth' to this sort of thing."</p> + +<p>"But I say," Clarence put in, glancing down at his fantastic attire, "I +don't quite see myself going back to Gablehurst in <i>this</i> get up. Wish +I knew what had become of the kit we came in!"</p> + +<p>It was now the hour when the Court was accustomed to go up and change +their costumes before dinner, and Daphne felt a difficulty as to the +proper course to pursue with the Wibberley-Stimpsons. Could she without +indelicacy invite them to sit as guests at what had lately been their +own table? And yet it seemed hardly human to leave them out. She decided +that the former course was on the whole less open to objection.</p> + +<p>"I hope," she said to Mrs. Stimpson, with a touch of shyness, "that you +will all give me the pleasure of dining with us this evening? You see, +you must have something to eat before such a long journey."</p> + +<p>"Your Majesty is most kind," said Mrs. Stimpson in a great flurry, "but, +if you will excuse us from accepting what—no one knows better than +I—is really a command, I—I really <i>don't</i> think we should have time to +sit through a long dinner. We—we might miss the car—and besides, +there's the question of dressing. If we could have a few sandwiches and +a little wine in one of the vestibules while we are waiting for the car, +that will be all we shall require!"</p> + +<p>"You shall do exactly as you please about it," replied Daphne. She was +greatly relieved, as one reason for her hesitation in asking them had +been the dread that Mr. Stimpson might think himself called upon to make +an after-dinner speech.</p> + +<p>Her ladies-in-waiting were already in her Tiring-Chamber, highly +delighted by the prospect of arraying a Queen whom, even when she had +been nominally one of themselves, they had always not merely admired but +adored.</p> + +<p>It had suddenly occurred to Daphne that the Stimpson family might find +themselves on their return to Gablehurst in certain difficulties against +which she felt bound to do what she could to protect them.</p> + +<p>She thought over the best means of doing this, which took so much time +to carry out that the business of arraying her for her first banquet as +a Royal Hostess had to be got through more hurriedly than her ladies of +the Bedchamber thought at all decorous.</p> + +<p>But she knew that Mirliflor would be well content with her, however she +looked—and as a matter of fact he not only was, but had every reason to +be so.</p> + +<p>The Wibberley-Stimpsons had already ascertained that the clothes they +had worn on their arrival in Märchenland had been carefully laid up in +one of the Royal wardrobes, from which they were brought at their +earnest request. They put them on in frantic haste, and, in deadly fear +of being surprised by the Royal Household, they stole down the great +Staircase to an antechamber by the Entrance Hall. There they found a +table set with every description of tempting food, to which all did +justice but Mrs. Stimpson, the state of whose nerves had entirely taken +away her appetite. She was continually starting up and saying, "Listen! +I'm <i>sure</i> I hear these storks!"</p> + +<p>"You'd better eat something, Mater," Clarence said. "It's the last +dinner we shall ever have in Märchenland."</p> + +<p>"I can't," she replied, "I don't know how any of <i>you</i> can.... There go +the silver trumpets! She's going into the Banqueting Hall now. On Prince +Mirliflor's arm, most likely! How she can have the <i>heart</i> when she +<i>must</i> know we are still here!"</p> + +<p>"She <i>did</i> ask us to dinner, my love," Mr. Stimpson mildly reminded her.</p> + +<p>"She had the execrable taste to do that, Sidney," replied his wife, "and +I think the manner in which I declined must have been a lesson to +her.... Dear me, is that car <i>never</i> coming?"</p> + +<p>She said that many times during the evening, as they sat on in the ebony +and ivory chamber, while the strains of music reached them faintly from +the distant Ballroom.</p> + +<p>Clarence thought gloomily of the dance on the night of the Coronation, +and how his mother had forbidden him to choose Daphne as his partner. +Perhaps, if he had insisted on having his own way—if he had not limited +himself to a merely morganatic alliance, she might have—but it was too +late to grouse about that now! He endeavoured to cheer himself by the +thought that he would very soon be in a civilised land of cigarettes.</p> + +<p>It was getting late, and the music had now ceased, from which they +gathered that the Queen and Court had already retired. "She <i>might</i> have +had the common civility to say good-bye to us!" complained Mrs. +Stimpson, "but of course she is too grand now to condescend so far! Not +that <i>I</i> have any desire to see her again. On the contrary!"</p> + +<p>The doors of the Vestibule were thrown open here and one of the ushers +announced: "Her Majesty the Queen and His Royal Highness Prince +Mirliflor."</p> + +<p>"Coming here to triumph over us!" was Mrs. Stimpson's comment as she +rose.</p> + +<p>"We came to wish you a pleasant journey to Gablehurst," explained +Daphne, as she entered, followed by Mirliflor. "I hope you won't have to +wait for the car <i>much</i> longer, but I've told the attendants in the +Hall to let you know the minute it is here."</p> + +<p>She was looking radiantly lovely and girlish—and queenly as well, in +spite of the fact that she was still uncrowned. But if she had had the +right to wear her crown, she was incapable of doing so just then.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson made a curtsey that might have been lower if she +had had any practice—but all the curtseying previously had been done to +herself. "We thank your Majesty," she said. "I too hope there will be no +more of this delay. I am getting worn out with all this waiting. Oh, +while I think of it," she went on (the desire to be offensive overcoming +any fear of the consequences), "of course we are not in a position <i>now</i> +to give really <i>valuable</i> wedding presents—and I'm afraid mine must be +a <i>very</i> humble offering, particularly as it needs repairing. However, +such as it is, perhaps your Majesty will honour me by accepting it with +our congratulations and <i>very</i> best wishes?" And she offered the jewel +which she had formerly acquired from Daphne. Daphne's eyebrows +contracted for an instant, but the next moment she laughed.</p> + +<p>"I really couldn't, Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson!" she said. "You see, you +have already given it to Clarence, and I mustn't deprive him of it."</p> + +<p>"Won't you accept it from <i>me</i>, then?" he said awkwardly. "I—I shan't +have any use for it now."</p> + +<p>She shook her head. "You will please me so much better by keeping it," +she said gently—"in memory of Märchenland."</p> + +<p>It was true that it had once belonged to her father—the father she had +never known—but then it had also belonged to Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, +and Daphne was conscious now of an invincible unwillingness to accept +any gift from that lady.</p> + +<p>"I—I'd do anything to please you," said Clarence, taking the pendant +from his mother and slipping it into the pocket of his dinner-jacket.</p> + +<p>Ruby, in the white silk frock she had last worn at "Inglegarth," was +clinging to Daphne. "I don't want to go back!" she wailed, "I want to +stay here with you. Won't you send for me some day? Say you will; do say +you will!"</p> + +<p>Daphne stooped to caress and comfort her, and also to hide her own +emotion. "I wish I could, darling," she said tenderly, "but I'm afraid, +I'm <i>afraid</i> I mustn't make any promises that I'm not sure of being able +to keep."</p> + +<p>"Then say you will—<i>perhaps</i>!" entreated Ruby, but her mother promptly +interposed.</p> + +<p>"Ruby, my dear," she said, "you're forgetting how far her Majesty is now +our superior. A Palace is no longer a fit place for any of us to visit, +and I consider it best we should remain in future strictly in our +respective spheres."</p> + +<p>"Then I will go to mine at once," said Daphne, smiling. "Good-bye, Mrs. +Wibberley-Stimpson. Good-bye, Edna." She held out her hand to both of +them, but they curtsied formally without offering to take it. "Good-bye, +dearest little Ruby—I hope your next governess will love you nearly as +much as I do—she can't <i>quite</i>! Good-bye, Mr. Stimpson—I think you +will be rather glad to be back in the City again, won't you?"</p> + +<p>"I shall, indeed, your Majesty," he said. "To tell you the honest truth, +I don't think I was ever cut out for a monarch."</p> + +<p>It was Clarence's turn next, and when he saw her offering him her hand +with the old frank friendliness, he had a renewed sense of his own +unworthiness.</p> + +<p>"No," he said in a low voice, "you can't want to shake hands with—with +such a hopeless rotter as I've been!"</p> + +<p>"I shouldn't," she replied, "if I weren't sure that you could be +something very much better if you chose. And I know you <i>will</i> choose."</p> + +<p>"I will," he said, "I swear I will—if I ever get the chance!"</p> + +<p>"Your chance will come. Quite soon, perhaps. And when it does, remember +that I believe in you—and, good-bye, Clarence."</p> + +<p>"Good-bye—Daphne," he said brokenly. As he took her hand he thought +with a keen pang that he had never held it before, and never would +again. And the time had been—or so at least he imagined—when he might +have made that hand his own for ever!</p> + +<p>"Good night, Mirliflor," said Daphne, as he held aside the hangings for +her. "We shall meet to-morrow."</p> + +<p>She passed into the great Hall with a dignity the more charming for +being so natural and unconscious—and that was the last Clarence was +ever destined to see of her.</p> + +<p>He turned to Mirliflor, whose eyes still betrayed the pride he felt in +his beloved. "I don't mind telling you, old chap—er—Prince Mirliflor, +that I took to you from the start, and—as I can't be the lucky man +myself, I'm jolly glad it's to be <i>you</i>!"</p> + +<p>"Thank you," said Mirliflor, who was less given to florid phrases than +the average Fairy Prince. "So am I."</p> + +<p>"I dare say," Clarence went on, as he realised the contrast between his +own clothes and the magnificent costume that the old Fairy had provided +for her royal godson, "I dare say you're thinking we're not looking very +smart?"</p> + +<p>Mirliflor was honestly able to disclaim having any impressions on the +subject.</p> + +<p>"Well, these togs must seem a bit rummy to <i>you</i>—but I can assure you +that, for informal occasions like the present, they're quite the right +thing in England." (He had a momentary impulse to except his father's +white tie, but, after all, why should he say anything about that when +Mirliflor knew no better? So he decided to pass it), "Worn by the very +best Society."</p> + +<p>Mirliflor politely accepted this information, and then made his +farewells. Edna's good wishes were couched in a spirit of frigid +magnanimity. She had too much self-respect to let him perceive that she +resented his fickleness.</p> + +<p>They were now alone in the antechamber. From time to time Mrs. +Wibberley-Stimpson would rise impatiently and peer out into the vast +hall, now only lit by one or two flickering cressets, to see if the +stork-car had arrived—but the attendants in waiting always assured her +that it had not, and, after some fussing and fretting, she lay down on a +divan and fell into an uneasy slumber.</p> + +<p>Her husband was snoring placidly; Ruby had cried herself to sleep long +before; Edna had brought down her lecture-notes, and was conscientiously +employing the time in polishing up her knowledge of English Literature.</p> + +<p>Her notes on Nietzsche's philosophy had been torn out after the rupture +with the Count. Somehow the Nietzschean theories did not seem to work +quite well when carried into practice. But, after deciphering a very few +Literature notes, Edna found herself too drowsy to continue.</p> + +<p>Clarence remained awake longest. He had wandered restlessly out into the +hall just to look at the great Staircase half lost in the gloom. Daphne +had ascended it a little while since. To-morrow she would come down, +fresh and radiant, to meet Mirliflor. Before long they would be married +and crowned, and live happy ever after in the good old Märchenland way. +Well, he wouldn't have to look on and see them doing it, which was some +consolation. He went back to the antechamber and regarded the sleeping +forms of his family with disillusioned eyes. "We look like Royalties—I +<i>don't</i> think!" he said to himself. "No wonder they've booted us out. +Why, a bally rabbit-warren would!"</p> + +<p>But this depressing reflection soon ceased to trouble him, unless it +still continued to shadow his dreams.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXII" id="CHAPTER_XXII"></a>CHAPTER XXII</h2> + +<h3>SQUARING ACCOUNTS</h3> + + +<p>Almost simultaneously Mr. Wibberley-Stimpson and his son and daughters +opened their eyes, then rubbed them, and sat up and looked about them +with a bewilderment that gradually gave way to intense relief. For, +although the light had faded, their surroundings were reassuringly +familiar. They were in their own drawing-room at "Inglegarth." It +occurred at once to most of them that they had never actually left +it—an impression that was pleasantly confirmed by Mrs. +Wibberley-Stimpson's first remark as she awoke later.</p> + +<p>"Why, hasn't the dinner-gong gone yet?" she inquired crossly. "Cook gets +more and more unpunctual!"</p> + +<p>"I don't think it can be eight o'clock yet, my dear," said her husband, +"it's quite light still."</p> + +<p>"Nonsense, Sidney, it must be long past dinner-time! I've been so lost +in my own thoughts that somehow I——"</p> + +<p>"Now, Mother, you know you've been asleep and only just woke up!" said +Edna, from one of the chintz couches.</p> + +<p>"Have I? Perhaps I <i>did</i> drop off just for a few seconds. In fact I must +have done—for I begin to recollect having quite a curious dream. I +dreamed that you and I, Sidney, were King and Queen of some absurd +fairy Kingdom or other, and that—well, it was not at <i>all</i> a pleasant +dream."</p> + +<p>"It's a most singular coincidence, Selina," he said, "but I've been +dreaming much the same sort of thing myself!"</p> + +<p>The others looked at one another, but none of them ventured to express +just yet what was in all their minds.</p> + +<p>"Have you?" said his wife languidly. "I suppose it was telepathy or +something of that kind. Ring for Mitchell, Clarence—I hope dinner has +not been allowed to get cold. And—and Miss Heritage seems to have left +the drawing-room. Run up, Ruby, and tell her to come down."</p> + +<p>"I don't believe she's upstairs at all, mummy," said Ruby. "No, of +course she <i>can't</i> be. We left her in the Palace—don't you remember? +<i>She's</i> Queen now, you know?"</p> + +<p>"Queen! Miss Heritage! Why, you don't mean to tell me you've been +dreaming that too?"</p> + +<p>"So have I, as far as that goes, mater," said Clarence. "If it <i>was</i> a +dream, and not—not——"</p> + +<p>"How could it be anything else? Besides, here we all <i>are</i>, exactly as +we were!"</p> + +<p>"We've got our cloaks and things on, though," said Ruby. "<i>I</i> know how +it was! We've been brought here in the stork-car while we were fast +asleep. We sat up ever so long waiting for it."</p> + +<p>"It can't be! I won't believe anything so absurd. Draw the curtains, +somebody, and pull up the blinds.... It's odd, but it certainly looks +more like early morning than any other time. Clarence, go out and strike +the gong. Perhaps the maids haven't finished dressing yet."</p> + +<p>Clarence went out accordingly. The gong bellowed and boomed from the +hall, but there was no sound of stirring above. "I say," he reported, +"I've just looked into the dining-room, and all the chairs are upside +down on the table. That looks rather as if we'd been away for a +bit—what?"</p> + +<p>"Clarence! You're not beginning to think that—that all that about our +having been a Royal Family may be <i>true</i>?"</p> + +<p>"Well, Mater," he said, "if we haven't been in Märchenland, where <i>have</i> +we been? Oh yes, we've been Royalties right enough—and a pretty rotten +job we made of it!"</p> + +<p>At this time there was a deprecatory knock at the drawing-room door. +"Mitchell!" cried her mistress, "don't you know better than to—?" +However, it was not Mitchell that entered—but a person unknown—a +respectable-looking elderly female, who seemed to have made a hasty +toilette.</p> + +<p>"Askin' your pardons," she said, "but if you were wishing to see the +family, they're away just now."</p> + +<p>"We <i>are</i> the family," replied Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson. "We have +been—er—abroad, but have returned. And we should be glad of breakfast +at once."</p> + +<p>"I can git you a cup of tea as soon as the kittle's on the boil," she +said, "but I'm only put in as caretaker like, and I've nothink in the +'ouse except bread and butter. The shops'll be opening now, so if you +don't object to waiting a little, I could go out and get you a naddick +and eggs and such like."</p> + +<p>"Yes, buck up, old lady!" said Clarence, "and I say, see if you can get +a <i>Daily Mail</i> or a paper of some sort."</p> + +<p>"What are you so anxious to see the paper for?" inquired Edna after the +caretaker had departed.</p> + +<p>"Only wanted to know what month we're in," he said. "It would have +looked so silly to ask her what day it is. We must have been—over +there—a good long time."</p> + +<p>"At least a year!" said Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, no longer able to +sustain the dream theory. "More. When we left it was quite early +Spring—and now all the trees are out! Sidney, what <i>will</i> your firm say +to your having been away so long without letting them know where you +were?"</p> + +<p>"I can't say, my love. I'm afraid they might make it a ground for a +dissolution of partnership—unless I can give them a satisfactory +explanation of my absence."</p> + +<p>"The difficulty will be to find one!" said his wife. "As for you, +Clarence, they will be too glad to see you back again at the Insurance +Office to ask any questions."</p> + +<p>"I dare say they would, Mater, only—it didn't seem worth mentioning +before—but, as a matter of fact, I—er—resigned the day we left."</p> + +<p>"Then it seems," said Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson bitterly, "we have been +sent back here to find ourselves in comparative poverty! I hope and +trust"—she felt furtively in her bead handbag before continuing more +cheerfully—"that we shall be able to struggle through somehow."</p> + +<p>She knew now that they would not be without resources. She could feel +them through the handkerchief in which they had been wrapped—two pieces +which she had had the presence of mind to pick up from the Halma board +as she passed through Edna's and Ruby's chamber the evening before. One +was carved from a ruby, the other from a diamond, and each of them was +worth a small fortune. Her one regret now was that she had not pocketed +several more while she was about it. But, although she would have been +perfectly within her rights in doing so—for were they not her own +property?—she had thought at the time that it would be risky to take +any number that could be noticed. There was always the chance that Miss +Heritage might count them!</p> + +<p>However, she said nothing about this to her family just then; it would +be a pleasant surprise for them later on.</p> + +<p>"But," she continued, "I <i>do</i> think it might have occurred to Miss +Heritage—I can't and won't call her by any other name—that, as she was +known to be in my employment when we left 'Inglegarth,' our returning +without her may expose us to very unpleasant remarks. People may think +I've discharged her—left her stranded in foreign parts—or I don't know +what!"</p> + +<p>"That is what she <i>calculated</i> on, no doubt!" said Edna.</p> + +<p>"Oh, stop it, Edna!" said her brother, "you ought to know her better +than that!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, of course she's an angel—in <i>your</i> estimation! But she could have +saved mother from being misunderstood if she'd wanted to—and since she +hasn't—well, I'll leave you to draw the obvious inference!"</p> + +<p>Ruby, who had been roving about the room during this conversation, now +broke in:</p> + +<p>"Mummy," she cried, "there's a letter here for you, and it looks like +darling Queen Daphne's writing!" And she brought it to her mother. It +was enclosed in a folded square of parchment—envelopes, like other +modern conveniences, being unknown in Märchenland—and fastened with the +royal signet, which Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson broke with a melancholy +reminiscence of the satisfaction it had given her to use the seal +herself.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<i>Dear Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson</i>," she read aloud—"<i>As I am about +to be married here very shortly, my return with you to England will +naturally be impossible. It is a great grief to me to have to part +from my dear little pupil Ruby, to whom I have become so deeply and +sincerely attached. Will you please tell her from me that I shall +never forget her, and miss her very much indeed.—Believe me, very +truly yours,</i></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Daphne Heritage.</span>"</p></div> + +<p>"Well," commented Mrs. Stimpson, while poor Ruby's tears began to flow +afresh, "that is certainly a letter which I could show to <i>anybody</i>. +Though I notice she doesn't say anything about being grieved to part +with anyone but Ruby. A deliberate slight to the rest of us! And then +the meanness of turning us out without the slightest return for all +we've done for her! It <i>does</i> show such petty ingratitude!"</p> + +<p>"Easy on, Mater!" said Clarence. "She don't seem to have let us go away +quite empty-handed after all. I mean to say there's a box or something +over there that I fancy I've seen before in the Palace."</p> + +<p>He went up to examine it as he spoke. It was an oblong case, rather +deeper and squarer than a backgammon box, covered with faded orange +velvet and fitted with clasps and corners of finely wrought silver set +with precious stones.</p> + +<p>Inside were the emerald and opal "halma" board and ruby and diamond +pieces, and with them a slip of parchment with Daphne's handwriting. "<i>I +thought perhaps</i>," she had written, "<i>you might care to have this. +Princess Rapunzelhauser tells me she is afraid two of the men are +missing, but I hope she is mistaken and they are really all there.—D.</i>"</p> + +<p>"<i>I</i> shall never play with them!" declared Ruby breaking down once more. +"I—I couldn't bear to, without Her!"</p> + +<p>"Of <i>course</i> you will never play with them, my dear," said her mother, +"they are far too valuable for that."</p> + +<p>A very inadequate impression of Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson's strength of +character must have been given if anyone expects that this gift would +cause her the slightest degree of shame or contrition; on the contrary, +it only served to justify her in her own eyes—not that she needed any +justification—for having appropriated those two pieces. She had merely +anticipated—and nothing would be easier than to put them back in the +box without being observed.</p> + +<p>"A magnificent present!" pronounced Mr. Stimpson. "Really what I should +call very handsome indeed of her. If we ever had to sell this set they'd +fetch a colossal sum—<i>here</i>—simply colossal!"</p> + +<p>"And a minute ago, Mater," said Clarence, "you accused her of being +mean!"</p> + +<p>"Well," she replied, "and what are these things, when all is said, to +the riches we've surrendered to her? A mere trifle—which she'll never +even miss!"</p> + +<p>"You're forgetting they were hers—not ours—all the time. And we've +left her precious little gold to go on with. It makes me sick to hear +you running her down, when, when ... well, anyhow, Mater, I'll be glad +if you won't—in <i>my</i> hearing!"</p> + +<p>"There's no occasion to use that tone to <i>me</i>, Clarence. I have my own +opinion of Miss Heritage, and I am not likely to alter it now. But if +you choose to keep your illusions about her, <i>I</i> shall say nothing to +disturb them."</p> + +<p>"You may be very clever, Clarence," said Edna, "I know you <i>think</i> you +are, but there's <i>one</i> subject at all events you're hopelessly ignorant +about—and that's <i>Women</i>!"</p> + +<p>"I don't mind owning it," he retorted. "I'd have taken my oath once that +a highly superior cultivated English girl like you could never have +cottoned to any Johnny in the Ogre line of business. But you've shown me +my mistake!"</p> + +<p>Edna, who was scarlet with wrath, would no doubt have made an obvious +rejoinder had not a diversion been caused by the caretaker, who appeared +with that morning's <i>Daily Mail</i>.</p> + +<p>"Ah, so you managed to get a paper?" cried Clarence. "Good!" and he took +it from her hands and opened it. "I say," he announced as soon as they +were alone, "we haven't been away so long as we thought. We're still in +1914. Saturday, twenty-fifth of July."</p> + +<p>"Is that all?" said his mother. "But I remember now that tiresome old +Court Godmother saying that Time went quicker in Märchenland than it +does here. I don't understand how—but there's evidently <i>some</i> +difference. The twenty-fifth of July? Dear me, the Pageant must be over +and done with long ago! Not of course that I should have cared to take +part in it <i>now</i>!"</p> + +<p>"Well, my boy," said Mr. Stimpson as Clarence ran through the columns of +the paper, "and what's the latest news?"</p> + +<p>"First defeat of Middlesex," replied Clarence; "Surrey's at the head of +the table now for the Championship! Fine batting by Gloucester at +Nottingham yesterday—319 to Notts 299 first innings, and 75 for three +wickets!"</p> + +<p>"Capital!" said his father without enthusiasm, "and what about Politics? +Got Home Rule yet?"</p> + +<p>"I'll tell you in a minute.... Looks as if they hadn't. Breakdown of +Home Rule Conference at Buckingham Palace. Wonder what the Government +will do <i>now</i>."</p> + +<p>"They've only to be firm," said Mr. Stimpson, in his character as +ex-autocrat. "If Ulster chooses to resent the will of the People as +expressed in the last General Election, well, she must be put down, or +what's our Army <i>for</i>, I should like to know. Any other news?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing much, except that Austria's just sent an ultimatum to Servia. +Seems the Austrian Grand Duke's been assassinated, and Austria believes +the Servians were in it. Anyhow, they've got to knuckle down by six +o'clock to-night or they'll be jolly well walloped. But of course +they'll give in when they're up against Austria.... I see these writing +chaps are doing their best to work up a scare, though. Here's one of 'em +actually saying it may 'plunge all Europe into War.' Good old Armageddon +coming off at last, I suppose. How they can write such tommy-rot!"</p> + +<p>"It's only to send up their circulation," said Mr. Wibberley-Stimpson. +"Depend upon it, there'll be no War. None of the Powers want it—too +expensive in these days. They'll see that it's settled without fighting. +And even if they can't, <i>we</i> shan't be dragged in—we shall just let 'em +fight it out among themselves, and when it's over we shall come in for a +share of the pickings!"</p> + +<p>"Well," said Clarence, as he crumpled the paper into a ball and tossed +it away, "we needn't worry ourselves about Armageddon—got something +more serious to think about."</p> + +<p>"What do you mean, Clarence?" inquired his mother uneasily.</p> + +<p>"Why," he said, "it seems we've been away about four months. We can +explain now why Miss Heritage hasn't come back with us. She's made that +all right by her letter—and a trump she was to think of it! But what +are we going to say when people want to know—and you can bet they +<i>will</i>—where we've been all this time and what we've been doing?"</p> + +<p>"We can simply tell them we have been temporarily occupying exalted +positions in a foreign country which we are not at liberty to mention," +suggested Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson hopefully.</p> + +<p>"We <i>could</i>," he said; "and the reply we should get would probably be +'Rats.' They might put it more politely—but that's what it would amount +to. Believe me, you'll never make people here swallow you and the +governor as the late King and Queen of Fairyland—it's a jolly sight too +thick! Besides, there's nothing particular in what we've done there to +brag about—what?"</p> + +<p>"<i>I</i> at least have nothing to reproach myself with," said his mother +virtuously. "Still I agree with you, Clarence, that perhaps it <i>would</i> +be better if we could give some account of ourselves which would sound a +little less improbable."</p> + +<p>"We shall have to invent one. And as soon as we've done breakfast I vote +we put our heads together and fake something up. But, whatever it is, we +must all remember to stick to it!"</p> + +<p>And after long and strenuous cogitation, the Stimpson family managed to +construct a fairly plausible story of an unexpected summons to a remote +part of the world, in which they were obliged by circumstances to remain +without any facilities for informing their friends of their situation.</p> + +<p>There was one danger which Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson foresaw. At any time +she might encounter the Duchess of Gleneagles or Lady Muscombe in +Society. However, she decided that the risk was almost negligible. After +all, their respective circles could not be said to intersect and, if she +ever <i>should</i> come across either of these distinguished ladies, it would +be easy to deny all recollection of ever having met them before.</p> + +<p>And thus reassured, she was able to support the official version of the +family adventures so whole-heartedly that she ended by accepting it as +the only authentic one.</p> + +<p>Ruby, it is true, confided a widely different account in secret to one +or two of her most intimate friends.</p> + +<p>But Ruby's story met with the fate that is only too certain to befall +this veracious and absolutely unexaggerated narrative—nobody was ever +found to believe a single word of it!</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="EPILOGUE" id="EPILOGUE"></a>EPILOGUE</h2> + + +<p>The re-appearance of the Wibberley-Stimpsons, coupled with the +circumstantial explanations they gave of their mysterious absence +abroad, provided their friends and neighbours with very nearly the +proverbial nine days' wonder. It might have done so even longer, but for +that fateful beginning of August, when, with appalling suddenness, the +blow was dealt which shattered the peace of Europe and convulsed the +whole world.</p> + +<p>Then the Fools' Paradise in which England had so long luxuriated +crumbled beneath her feet, and left her face to face with stern +realities. Nothing was the same, or ever would be the same, again. +Issues, causes, topics, which scarcely a week before had seemed of such +vital and engrossing importance, shrivelled into insignificance or +extinction under the scorching blast of war.</p> + +<p>And so it followed that Gablehurst entirely forgot its previous +curiosity concerning the private affairs of the Wibberley-Stimpson +family, thereby relieving them from a strain on their inventive powers +which they had begun to find extremely wearing.</p> + +<p>The crisis afforded Mr. Stimpson a long-desired occasion for taking a +spirited part in politics. At the suggestion of his wife, who reasoned +that in so Conservative a neighbourhood it would be popular to condemn +any steps a Radical Government had taken, he summoned a public meeting +to protest against the British Ultimatum to Germany, on the ground that +England's safety and interests alike depended on her preserving the +strictest neutrality under any circumstances whatever. As his sole +supporter on the platform was a recently naturalised British subject +with a pronounced German accent, the result of this patriotic endeavour +was, as he admitted afterwards, "a little unfortunate." Mrs. +Wibberley-Stimpson herself was compelled to recognise, as she led him +home with two black eyes and only one coat-tail, that she had been less +correct than usual in estimating the local sentiment, though, of course, +she ascribed his treatment entirely to the lack of tact and ability with +which he had handled his subject. However, they have long since +succeeded in living all that down. Mr. Stimpson very soon recognised +that his views of the situation had been mistaken, and made haste to +publish his conviction of the righteousness of our cause. No one now +enlarges with more fervour on the ruin and disgrace that would have +overtaken us if we had been induced to stand aside by persons he refers +to as "those infernal cranks and pacifists."</p> + +<p>Moreover, he acquired further merit by his generous contribution of two +thousand pounds to the Prince of Wales' Fund—a contribution which +caused a sensation among many who could give a fairly shrewd guess at +the income he drew as a partner in the firm of Cramphorn, Stimpson, & +Thistleton.</p> + +<p>But then they did not know that, shortly before, he had disposed of two +exquisitely carved pieces—one diamond, and the other ruby—by private +contract to an American millionaire, for a sum which would have covered +an even more princely donation. He has several more of these +curiosities, but is reserving them for times when they are more likely +to fetch their proper value.</p> + +<p>As for his wife and elder daughter, they have already achieved the +distinction of sitting on more War Committees, and talking more at every +one of them, than any other ladies in Gablehurst.</p> + +<p>It is unnecessary to say that they have also knitted a prodigious +quantity of garments, or at least did until they were requested to +abandon their colour-schemes for the regulation khaki wool—which +perceptibly cooled their enthusiasm.</p> + +<p>But, after all, the greatest exhibition of self-denial was given by +Ruby, who parted with her latest and best-beloved acquisitions—two +tree-frogs and an axolotl—and sent the proceeds of their sale to the +Red Cross Society.</p> + +<p>Clarence had made several applications for such vacant berths as he +could hear of in the City which seemed to combine the advantages of +light work and a heavy salary, but somehow the principals he interviewed +could not be brought to share his own conviction that he was exactly the +person to suit them. He had referred them to his previous employers, but +even that had led to no favourable result.</p> + +<p>The war had not gone on long, however, when it was forcibly borne in +upon him that, if there was no particular demand in business circles for +his services, they were needed rather urgently just then by his King and +Country.</p> + +<p>And so, one evening before dinner, he strolled casually into the +drawing-room at "Inglegarth" and electrified his family by mentioning +that he had offered himself that afternoon to a certain Cavalry +regiment, and been pronounced physically fit after examination.</p> + +<p>His mother was naturally the most deeply affected by the news, though, +after the first shock was over, she was sustained by recollecting that +she had caught herself secretly envying a neighbour, whom she had never +looked upon as a social equal, but whose boy had just obtained a +commission in the Territorials.</p> + +<p>"You might have prepared us for this, Clarence!" she said, as soon as +she could speak. "It's a heavy blow to me—to us all. Still, if you feel +it your duty to go, I hope your Father and I are not the parents to hold +you back. If I'm not on one of the same committees as Lady Harriet," she +added more brightly, "I really think I must call and let her know. She +would be so interested to hear that you are now a Cavalry officer."</p> + +<p>"You might make it a Field-Marshal, Mater, while you're about it!" he +returned. "But, if you want to be accurate, you'd better describe me as +a bally trooper, because that's all I am, or likely to be."</p> + +<p>"A trooper!" exclaimed his horrified mother. "Clarence, you <i>can't</i> mean +to tell us you've enlisted as an ordinary common soldier! I couldn't +possibly permit you to throw yourself away like that, nor, I am sure, +will your Father! Sidney, of course you will insist on Clarence's +explaining at once to the Colonel, or whoever accepted him, that he +finds we object so strongly to his joining that he is obliged to +withdraw his offer."</p> + +<p>"Certainly," said Mr. Stimpson. "Certainly. It's not too late yet, my +boy. You've only to say that we can't allow it—you're more badly wanted +at home—and they're sure to let you off."</p> + +<p>"Can't quite see myself telling 'em that, Guv'nor. Even if I <i>wanted</i> to +be let off—which I don't."</p> + +<p>"After the way you've been brought up and everything!" cried Mrs. +Wibberley-Stimpson. "To sink to <i>this</i>! Has it occurred to you that you +would have to associate entirely with persons of the very lowest class?"</p> + +<p>"You wouldn't say that if you'd seen some of the Johnnies who passed the +Vet with me," he replied. "And, as to classes, all that tosh is done +away with now. There's only one class a fellow can't afford to associate +with—the slackers who ought to be in khaki and aren't. I couldn't have +stuck being in that crowd any longer, and I'm jolly lucky to have got +well out of it!"</p> + +<p>"All the same, Clarence," lamented his Mother, "you <i>must</i> see what a +terrible come-down it is for <i>you</i>, who not so very long ago were a +Crown Prince!"</p> + +<p>"I thought we'd agreed to forget all that, Mater," he said, wincing +slightly. "Anyway, if I don't turn out a better Tommy than I did a +Prince, they won't have me in the regiment long. But I'm not going to +get the push this time, if I can help it. Come, Mater," he concluded, +"don't worry any more over what's done and can't be undone—just try and +make the best of it!"</p> + +<p>But this was beyond Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson's philosophy just then. If +he had been leaving his comfortable home with a commission as +sub-lieutenant, she might have been able to find some slight consolation +in announcing the fact to her friends. Now she would have to make the +humiliating admission that he was nothing more than a common +trooper—after which she felt she would never be able to hold up her +head again!</p> + +<p>As things turned out, these apprehensions proved unfounded. For it +seemed that other young Gablehurst men belonging to families in as good +a position as her own had enlisted as privates, and, so far from being +considered to have brought discredit on their parentage, were regarded +with general approval.</p> + +<p>And the pride with which their mothers spoke of them encouraged Mrs. +Wibberley-Stimpson to be even prouder of Clarence, as the only one who +had joined a Cavalry regiment.</p> + +<p>When he was undergoing the necessary training with the reserve regiment +and first had to enter the Riding-School, he was prepared, remembering +how suddenly and completely his control of Märchenland horses had left +him, for some highly unpleasant experiences.</p> + +<p>Daphne's pendant had been left in safe custody at Inglegarth, and, even +if he had had any idea that it had assisted his horsemanship (which he +was far from suspecting), he would not have brought it with him, lest he +should lose a thing which Daphne had said he would please her by +keeping.</p> + +<p>Probably, had he brought and been allowed to wear the token, it would +not have made any impression whatever on the mind of a British +charger—but fortunately no talisman was needed.</p> + +<p>All the riding in Märchenland, while his horses continued docile, had +not been without some good result after all. At least he found that he +had quite as good a seat as any of his fellow-recruits, and a very much +better one than most of them.</p> + +<p>And the months of training passed, not unhappily. He made friends, not +all of them in his own class; he set himself to learn his job as quickly +and thoroughly as he could, and his sergeant-major spoke of him, though +not in his presence, as a smart young chap who showed more sense than +some he had to do with.</p> + +<p>He had not been many weeks in the regiment before he got his first +stripe, and when he came home on furlough he was able to inform his +family that he had just been promoted to be a full-blown Corporal. It +was a farewell visit, as he was being sent out in a day or two with a +draft to his regiment at the Front. He had grown broader across the +chest, and looked extremely brown and fit, while his family noticed that +he no longer ended his remarks with "what?" Once or twice he expressed +his satisfaction at getting the chance at last of having a go at the +Bosches—but he said very little about the future, and seemed more +interested in hearing about Ruby's new school and Edna's ambulance +class.</p> + +<p>Then he left them, and for months after that they had to endure the long +strain of constant anxiety and suspense which few British households +have escaped in these dark times. Clarence had always been a poor +correspondent—and his letters, though fairly regular, were short and +wanting in details. But he said the regiment was doing dismounted work +in the trenches; that he was acquiring the habit of sleeping quite +soundly under shell-fire; that he had been much cut up by losing some of +his best pals, but so far had not been hit himself, though he had had +several narrow shaves; he kept pretty fit, but was a bit fed up with +trench work, though he didn't see an earthly of riding in a cavalry +charge at present.</p> + +<p>The last letter was dated February. After that came a silence, which was +explained by an official letter stating that he was in a field hospital, +severely wounded. Inglegarth remained for days in helpless misery, +dreading the worst, till they were relieved by the news that he was now +in a base hospital and going on well.</p> + +<p>But it was some weeks before he could be moved to London, and longer +still before he was convalescent enough to be taken to his own home, +where the joy of seeing him recover so rapidly was checked by the +knowledge that he would only leave them the sooner.</p> + +<p>He was much the same slangy and casual Clarence they had known, though +rather subdued, but he had moods of sombre silence at times which none +of them dared to interrupt, when his eyes seemed to be looking upon +sights they had seen and would fain forget. As to his own doings he said +but little, though he told them something of his experiences during his +last week at the front—how the regiment had been rushed up in +motor-buses from Bleu to Ypres; how they had marched to the Reformatory +which they had defended for five days under heavy fire; how they had +then dug caverns and occupied trenches to the south of the Menin road, +and how the trenches had been mined by the enemy, and five officers +killed and sixty-four casualties, of which latter he was one.</p> + +<p>Before he was pronounced fit for active service again he heard that he +had been recommended for a commission, and given one in another cavalry +regiment which had very nearly the same <i>prestige</i> and traditions as his +own, though he would have been the last to admit it till then.</p> + +<p>Thus was Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson's dearest desire at last attained; she +could now inform her friends and acquaintances that her boy was actually +a subaltern, while, even in conversation with strangers, it was always +possible to lead up to the fact by enlarging on the heavy cost of a +cavalry officer's kit.</p> + +<p>And yet, in fairness to her, it may be said that, with all her striving +after social distinction, if she had been required to choose between her +son returning to the front with a commission and keeping him at home +with no higher rank than that of a corporal, she would have chosen the +latter without a moment's hesitation.</p> + +<p>But since the choice was not given her, Clarence's promotion did much to +console her for his approaching departure—at least until the day +arrived, when she turned blindly away from the platform with an aching +dread that the train was bearing him out of her life for ever.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>That was several months ago, and Second-Lieutenant Stimpson (he dropped +the "Wibberley" when he first enlisted) has been at the front ever +since.</p> + +<p>There is a certain endless road, bordered by splintered stumps which +once were poplars, and pitted in places with deep shell-holes, that he +knows only too well; having taken his troop along it many a night to +relieve the party in the trenches.</p> + +<p>Even now, when he comes to the group of ruined cottages at which he has +to leave the road and strike across country into the danger-zone, he is +unpleasantly conscious of a sinking at his heart at the prospect of +another week or so of that infernal existence of shattering noise, +flying death-splinters, and sickening sights and smells. There he will +have to be constantly on the watch, meals and sleep can only be snatched +at precarious intervals, and seldom without disturbance; if there is +anything more nerve-racking than the scream of shells and the hail of +shrapnel it is the lull that follows, when he waits for the enemy's rush +to begin. And yet, the moment he finds himself back in the trench again, +he becomes acclimatised; his men speak of him as a cool and resourceful +young officer under any difficulties, while on more than one occasion he +has done some daring and very useful reconnoitring work that may even +earn him mention in despatches.</p> + +<p>But at present he is enjoying one of his hard-earned rests, being +billeted in a farmhouse well away from the firing-line.</p> + +<p>Here, having no duties or responsibilities to fix all his thoughts on +the present, he can allow them to dwell on the future for a while.</p> + +<p>This desperate and relentless war will come to an end in time—how soon +he knows no more than anyone, but that it will end in victory for +England and her Allies he has no doubt whatever. He is equally sure, +though he could not account for his certainty, that, unlike many a +better fellow than himself, he will live to see his country at peace +once more. But what is he to do then? Even if an opening in the City +presented itself, he could never stick an office again after this. On +the other hand, even if he gets another step or two, he will find it +difficult to live on his pay in a crack cavalry regiment. However, the +Governor will no doubt give him an allowance that will enable him to +stay in the Service—the Mater can be safely trusted to see to that!</p> + +<p>So, this question being satisfactorily disposed of, his thoughts, as +usual on these occasions, drift back to Märchenland, and particularly to +Daphne's parting words on the night he left the Palace.</p> + +<p>Would she think, he wonders, that he has done something to justify her +belief in him?</p> + +<p>At least she might be pleased if she knew that he could not fairly be +described any longer as a useless rotter.</p> + +<p>"Only," he tells himself disconsolately, "she never <i>will</i> know. +England's no country of hers now, and she wouldn't feel enough interest +in it even to send the Baron across in the stork-car for a daily paper. +If she did, she'd be none the wiser, because he'd be sure to bring <i>The +Poultry-Fancier's Journal</i> or <i>The Financial News</i>, or something of that +sort. And, after all, if she had any idea of the ghastly business that +has been going on in this old world for the last year, she's too much +heart to be happy—even in Märchenland. But now she'll go on being happy +for the rest of her life, bless her! and if she gives me a thought now +and then—well, it will be a jolly sight more than I deserve!"</p> + + +<h3>THE END</h3> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Works_by_F_Anstey" id="Works_by_F_Anstey"></a><i>Works by F. Anstey</i></h2> + + +<h3>Salted Almonds. Second Impression. Crown 8vo. 6s.</h3> + +<p><i>ATHENÆUM.</i>—'All the pieces have that rare savour which is the Author's +secret.'</p> + +<p>The Brass Bottle. With a Frontispiece. 5th Impression. (<i>Waterloo +Library.</i>) Crown 8vo. 3s. 6d.</p> + +<p><i>SPECTATOR.</i>—'In his logical conduct of an absurd proposition, in his +fantastic handling of the supernatural, in his brisk dialogue and +effective characterisation, Mr. Anstey has once more shown himself to be +an artist and a humourist of uncommon and enviable merit.'</p> + +<h3>The Talking Horse and other Tales.</h3> + +<p><i>ATHENÆUM.</i>—'The grimmest of mortals, in his most surly mood, could +hardly resist the fun of "The Talking Horse."'</p> + +<h3>The Giant's Robe.</h3> + +<p><i>PALL MALL GAZETTE.</i>—'We read and cannot cease reading till the puzzle +is solved in a series of exciting situations.'</p> + +<h3>The Pariah.</h3> + +<p><i>SATURDAY REVIEW.</i>—'Extremely entertaining reading. There is not a dull +page—we might say, not a dull sentence—in it....'</p> + +<h3>A Fallen Idol.</h3> + +<p><i>TIMES.</i>—'Will delight the multitudinous public that laughed over "Vice +Versa."... The boy who brings the accursed image to Champion's house, +Mr. Bales, the artist's factotum, and above all Mr. Yarker, the +ex-butler who has turned policeman, are figures whom it is as pleasant +to meet as it is impossible to forget.'</p> + +<h3>Lyre and Lancet. With 24 Full-page Illustrations.</h3> + +<p><i>SPEAKER.</i>—'Mr. Anstey has surpassed himself in "Lyre and Lancet."... +One of the brightest and most entertaining bits of comedy we have had +for many a day.'</p> + +<h3>Vice Versa; or, a Lesson to Fathers.</h3> + +<p><i>SATURDAY REVIEW.</i>—'If ever there was a book made up from beginning to +end of laughter, and yet not a comic book, or a "merry" book, or a book +of jokes, or a book of pictures, or a jest book, or a tomfool book, but +a perfectly sober and serious book in the reading of which a sober man +may laugh without shame from beginning to end, it is a book called "Vice +Versa; or a Lesson to Fathers."... We close the book, recommending it +very earnestly to all fathers in the first instance, and their sons, +nephews, uncles, and male cousins next.'</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Also_available_from_publisher" id="Also_available_from_publisher"></a>Also available from publisher</h2> + + +<h3>CONAN DOYLE'S NEW 'SHERLOCK HOLMES' STORY.</h3> + +<h3>The Valley of Fear. With a Frontispiece.</h3> + +<h3>By the Author of 'The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes,' 'The Memoirs of +Sherlock Holmes,'<br /> + 'The Lost World,' &c.</h3> + +<p><i>Punch</i>.—'As rousing a sensation as the greediest of us could want. I +can only praise the skill with which a most complete surprise is +prepared.'</p> + +<p><i>Pall Mall Gazette.</i>—'My Dear Watson! All good "Sherlockians" will +welcome Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's new story with enthusiasm ... it is all +very thrilling and very fine reading.'</p> + + +<h3>Journeys with Jerry the Jarvey.</h3> + +<h3>By the Hon. ALEXIS ROCHE.</h3> + +<p><i>Scotsman.</i>—'The stories are so good and the epigrams so quaint that +one is loath to lay it down. A book that can call forth a hearty laugh +on nearly every page.'</p> + +<p><i>Field.</i>—'The stories are really irresistible, and there is not a dull +page in the whole book.'</p> + + +<h3>Oliver. By B. PAUL NEUMAN.</h3> + +<h3>Author of 'The Greatness of Josiah Porlick,' 'Chignett Street,' &c.</h3> + +<p><i>Westminster Gazette.</i>—'The first hundred pages contain as fine a piece +of restrained realistic writing as our recent literature has put forth. +We laid down this very individual book with a wholesome respect for Mr. +Neuman's literary art.'</p> + +<p><i>Punch.</i>—'The thing is remarkably well done, a close and unsparing +treatment of a subject by no means easy ... an original and successful +story.'</p> + + +<h3>Two Who Declined. By HERBERT TREMAINE.</h3> + +<p><i>Evening Standard.</i>—'A striking, even absorbing novel. Its author will +certainly "count" before long.'</p> + +<p><i>Pall Mall Gazette.</i>—'A very clever story, and a work of great +promise.'</p> + + +<h3>Some Elderly People and their Young Friends.</h3> + +<h3>By S. MACNAUGHTAN.</h3> + +<h3>Author of 'The Fortune of Christina McNab,' 'A Lame Dog's Diary,' &c.</h3> + +<p><i>Globe.</i>—'Miss Macnaughtan at her best. All her characters are +charming. Her books are a sovereign remedy for depression and +misanthropy.</p> + +<p><i>Daily Telegraph.</i>—'One of the most engaging stories that we have read +for a goodly while—a story full of lively wit and mellow wisdom. +Delightful is indeed the word which best sums up the whole book.'</p> + + +<h3>The Pastor's Wife.</h3> + +<h3>By the Author of 'ELIZABETH AND HER GERMAN GARDEN.'</h3> + +<p><i>Globe.</i>—'A wonderful portrait of a woman by a woman. The power of this +story is undeniable, and the analysis of feminine feeling almost +uncanny. A very remarkable novel indeed.'</p> + + +<h3>Spragge's Canyon.</h3> + +<h3>By HORACE ANNESLEY VACHELL. Author of 'The Hill,' 'The Paladin,' 'Blinds +Down,' etc.</h3> + +<p><i>Pall Mall Gazette.</i>—'It is a fine story, told with all the art of +which Mr. Vachell is a master.'</p> + + +<h3>Molly, My Heart's Delight.</h3> + +<h3>By KATHARINE TYNAN. Author of 'A Midsummer Rose,' 'John Bulteel's +Daughters,' etc.</h3> + +<p><i>Globe.</i>—'A charming and altogether captivating heroine. A story to +make one glad o' the reading.'</p> + + +<h3>The Ways of Miss Barbara.</h3> + +<h3>By AGNES and EGERTON CASTLE. Authors of 'Rose of the World,' 'French +Nan,' etc.</h3> + +<p><i>Liverpool Daily Post.</i>—'This delightful story of old world gallantry +and gaiety bubbles over with comedy and kindness. This should be one of +the most popular novels of the season.'</p> + + +<h3>A Green Englishman, and other Stories of Canada</h3> + +<h3>By S. MACNAUGHTAN. Author of 'The Fortunes of Christina M'Nab,'<br /> +'The Expensive Miss du Cane,' etc.</h3> + +<p><i>Observer.</i>—'Miss Macnaughtan has the crispness and sense of rounding +off of the ideal short story writer.'</p> + + +<h3>A Freelance in Kashmir.</h3> + +<h3>By LADY CHARNWOOD.</h3> + +<p><i>Times.</i>—'There are a happy few to-day who understand the tradition of +Trollope, and Lady Charnwood must be reckoned among them. There is +insight, reflection, a gift for the invention of natural incident and +the flow of natural dialogue, and humour.'</p> + + +<h3>A Tale of the Great Anarchy.</h3> + +<h3>By Lieut.-Colonel G. F. <span class="smcap">MacMUNN</span>, D.S.O., Author of 'The Armies of +India.'</h3> + +<p><i>Birmingham Daily Post.</i>—'Colonel MacMunn knows his India and his +history; and for this stirring story he has turned to the inviting +period of the "Great Anarchy."'</p> + +<p><i>Scotsman.</i>—'The author may be congratulated on having written so +entertaining and instructive a novel.'</p> + + +<h3>They Who Question.</h3> + +<h3>A Novel by a well-known writer published anonymously.</h3> + +<p><i>Daily Telegraph.</i>—'A story which is packed with thought in itself, and +well calculated also to arouse and stimulate thought in others. The book +is one to be recommended.'</p> + + +<h3>La Belle Alliance.</h3> + +<h3>By ROWLAND GREY, Author of 'Green Cliffs,' etc.</h3> + +<p><i>Daily Telegraph.</i>—'This is a fresh, human, very sympathetic story, +founded upon close observation of life. It will delight girl-readers, +although it is secretly directed at their parents.'</p> + + +<h3>The House of the Foxes.</h3> + +<h3>By KATHARINE TYNAN. Author of 'Honey, My Honey,' 'Molly, My Heart's +Delight,' etc.</h3> + +<p><i>Morning Post.</i>—'Mrs. Katharine Tynan brings her superior art to adorn +a legendary tale of the Irish family of the Rosses of Turloughmore.'</p> + +<p><i>Pall Mall Gazette.</i>—'There is much genial description of homely Irish +humble life woven through the story. Meg is a charming heroine.'</p> + + +<h3>Two Sinners.</h3> + +<h3>By Mrs. DAVID G. RITCHIE. Author of 'Man and the Cassock,' 'The Truthful +Liar,'<br /> 'The Human Cry,' etc.</h3> + +<p><i>Spectator.</i>—'An extremely clever and interesting novel. The book is +rich in surprises and, as Sir James Paget once said, surprise in the +great essential in recreation.'</p> + + +<h3>The Irish Nuns at Ypres: An Episode of the War.</h3> + +<h3>By D. M. C., O.S.B. (Member of the Community).</h3> + +<h3>Edited by R. BARRY O'BRIEN, Author of 'The Life of Charles Stewart +Parnell,' &c.<br /> + With an Introduction by JOHN REDMOND, M.P.</h3> + +<p><i>Yorkshire Post.</i>—'No more vivid and impressive narrative of what +German frightfulness means to the civilian population has yet been seen. +The story once read will not soon be forgotten.'</p> + +<p><i>Court Journal.</i>—'Those who are on the look out for a war book off the +beaten track should get this work. It is one of the most powerful yet +simple narratives that we have seen. It will rank when the war is over +as one of the most damaging pieces of evidence against the Germans and +their methods.'</p> + + +<h3>Paris Waits: 1914.</h3> + +<h3>By Mrs. M. E. CLARKE.</h3> + +<p><i>Punch.</i>—'I have seldom met a volume of more pronounced "heart +Interest" than "Paris Waits." Not only are her pen-pictures remarkably +vivid and realistic, but the camera has also helped.'</p> + +<p><i>Times.</i>—'It is a very familiar tale that is told in these pages, yet +it gains a new pathos, a deeper significance from the simple yet +eloquent way it is told.'</p> + +<p><i>Daily Mail.</i>—'A noteworthy book. It relates in detail the story of +those tragic days.'</p> + + +<h3>War and Lombard Street.</h3> + +<h3>By HARTLEY WITHERS. Author of 'The Meaning of Money,' 'Poverty and +Waste,' &c.</h3> + +<p><i>Times.</i>—'Carried out with the same happy touch of literary simplicity +and wit, combined with an expert knowledge of his subject, which has +given distinction and popular value to his preceding books. Nothing +could be clearer or more enlightening for the general reader.'</p> + +<p><i>Morning Post.</i>—'In brief but most attractive language it deals with +the historic financial events of the past six months. A most fascinating +résumé of the financial events of the crisis up to date.'</p> + +<p><i>Daily News.</i>—'Mr. Withers knows all the machinery of the money market, +and he has a lucid style which makes matters plain normally very +mysterious and technical to the layman.'</p> + + +<h3>The Tollhouse.</h3> + +<h3>By EVELYN ST. LEGER, Author of 'The Shape of the World,' 'The Blackberry +Pickers.'</h3> + +<p><i>Times.</i>—'An appealing and humorous picture of the life of an +old-fashioned English village in war time.'</p> + +<p><i>Scotsman.</i>—'This charming short novel.'</p> + + +<h3>The Spirit of England.</h3> + +<h3>A Series of Papers written in 1914 and 1915.</h3> + +<h3>By the Right Hon. GEORGE W. E. RUSSELL, Author of 'Collections and +Recollections,' &c.</h3> + +<p><i>Scotsman.</i>—'An eminently readable book in which many good things come +up by the way. It is always thoughtful and stimulating.'</p> + +<p><i>Globe.</i>—'This very Interesting and suggestive book.'</p> + + +<h3>Life of John Viriamu Jones.</h3> + +<h3>By Mrs. VIRIAMU JONES.</h3> + +<p><i>Pall Mall Gazette.</i>—'This Life of the first Vice-Chancellor of the +University of Wales is very well done, and gives us an admirable +portrait of a singularly earnest, strenuous, and lovable nature.'</p> + +<p><i>Times.</i>—'This fascinating volume.'</p> + +<p><i>South Wales Daily News.</i>—'Will be largely read, not only in the +Principality, but far beyond its confines ... deeply interesting.'</p> + + +<h3>The Minor Horrors of War.</h3> + +<h3>By Dr. A. E. SHIPLEY, F.R.S., Master of Christ's College, Cambridge.</h3> + +<p>This book deals with various insect and other pests which cause disgust, +discomfort, and often disease amongst our troops now fighting in all +quarters of the globe.</p> + +<p><i>Country Life.</i>—'A book which gives a good deal of very necessary +information in an entertaining manner.'</p> + +<p><i>Medical Officer.</i>—'It may be studied with advantage in barracks or +billets, in the tropics or the trenches.'</p> + + +<h3>The System of National Finance.</h3> + +<h3>By E. HILTON YOUNG, M.P.</h3> + +<p><i>Morning Post.</i>—'The book should become a permanent addition to the +literature of the subject, the more so as there is no other which deals +with the Nation's finance in the same practical manner.'</p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of In Brief Authority, by F. 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Anstey + +Release Date: March 31, 2009 [EBook #28459] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IN BRIEF AUTHORITY *** + + + + +Produced by David Clarke, Mary Meehan and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) + + + + + + + + + + IN BRIEF AUTHORITY + + BY F. ANSTEY + +AUTHOR OF "VICE VERSA," "A FALLEN IDOL," "THE PARIAH," "THE GIANT'S +ROBE," "LYRE AND LANCET," "THE BRASS BOTTLE," "THE TALKING HORSE AND +OTHER TALES," "SALTED ALMONDS," ETC. + + +LONDON +SMITH, ELDER & CO., 15 WATERLOO PLACE +1915 + +[All rights reserved] + +Printed by BALLANTYNE, HANSON & CO. +at the Ballantyne Press, Edinburgh + + + + +To +Peggy + + + + +AUTHOR'S NOTE + + +It may be as well to mention here that the whole of this book was +planned, and at least three-fourths of it actually written, in those +happy days, which now seem so pathetically distant, when we were still +at peace--days when, to all but a very few, so hideous a calamity as a +World-War seemed a danger that had passed for the present, and might +never recur; when even those few could hardly have foreseen that England +would be so soon compelled to fight for her very existence against the +most efficient and deadly foe it has ever been her lot to encounter. + +But, as the central idea of this story happens to be inseparably +connected with certain characters and incidents of German origin, I have +left them unaltered--partly because it would have been difficult, if not +impossible, to substitute any others, but mainly because I cannot bring +myself to believe that the nursery friends of our youth could ever be +regarded as enemies. + +F. ANSTEY. + +_September 1915._ + + + + +CONTENTS + +I. "THE SKIRTS OF HAPPY CHANCE" + +II. RUSHING TO CONCLUSIONS + +III. FINE FEATHERS + +IV. CROWNED HEADS + +V. DIGNITY UNDER DIFFICULTIES + +VI. CARES OF STATE + +VII. A GAME THEY DID NOT UNDERSTAND + +VIII. "A STEED THAT KNOWS HIS RIDER" + +IX. THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE + +X. THE BLONDE BEAST + +XI. A WAY OUT + +XII. UNWELCOME ANNOUNCEMENTS + +XIII. WHAT THE PIGEON SAID + +XIV. BAG AND BAGGAGE + +XV. "RIVEN WITH VAIN ENDEAVOUR" + +XVI. "A CLOUD THAT'S DRAGONISH" + +XVII. THE REWARD OF VALOUR + +XVIII. A PREVIOUS ENGAGEMENT + +XIX. SERVANTS OF THE QUEEN + +XX. AT THE END OF HER TETHER + +XXI. "WHOSE LIGHTS ARE FLED, WHOSE GARLANDS DEAD" + +XXII. SQUARING ACCOUNTS + +EPILOGUE + + + + +IN BRIEF AUTHORITY + + + + +CHAPTER I + +"THE SKIRTS OF HAPPY CHANCE" + + +On a certain afternoon in March Mrs. Sidney Stimpson (or rather Mrs. +Sidney Wibberley-Stimpson, as a recent legacy from a distant relative +had provided her with an excuse for styling herself) was sitting alone +in her drawing-room at "Inglegarth," Gablehurst. + +"Inglegarth" was the name she had chosen for the house on coming to live +there some years before. What it exactly meant she could not have +explained, but it sounded distinguished and out of the common, without +being reprehensibly eccentric. Hence the choice. + +Some one, she was aware, had just entered the carriage-drive, and after +having rung, was now standing under the white "Queen Anne" porch; +Mitchell, the rosy-cheeked and still half-trained parlour-maid, was +audible in the act of "answering the door." + +It being neither a First nor a Third Friday, Mrs. Stimpson was not, +strictly speaking, "at home" except to very intimate friends, though she +made a point of being always presentable enough to see any afternoon +caller. On this occasion she was engaged in no more absorbing occupation +than the study of one of the less expensive Society journals, and, +having already read all that was of real interest in its columns, she +was inclined to welcome a distraction. + +"If you please, m'm," said Mitchell, entering, "there's a lady wishes to +know if she could see you for a minute or two." + +"Did you ask her to state her business, Mitchell?... No? Then you should +have. Called for a subscription to something, I expect. Tell her I am +particularly engaged. I suppose she didn't give any name?" + +"Oh yes, m'm. She give her name--Lady 'Arriet Elmslie, it was." + +"Then why on earth didn't you say so before," cried the justly +exasperated Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, "instead of leaving her ladyship on +the door-mat all this time? Really, Mitchell, you are _too_ trying! Go +and show her in at once--and be careful to say 'my lady.' And bring up +tea for two as soon as you can--the _silver_ tea-pot, mind!" + +It might have been inferred from her manner that she and Lady Harriet +were on terms of closest friendship, but this was not exactly the case. +Mrs. Stimpson had indeed known her for a considerable time, but only by +sight, and she had long ceased to consider a visit from Lady Harriet as +even a possible event. Now it had actually happened, and, +providentially, on an afternoon when Mitchell's cap and apron could defy +inspection. But if it was the first time that an Earl's daughter had +crossed Mrs. Stimpson's threshold, she was not at all the woman to allow +the fact to deprive her of her self-possession. + +A title had no terror for _her_. Before her marriage, when she was Miss +Selina Prinsley, she had acted as hostess for her father, the great +financier and company promoter, who had entertained lavishly up to the +date of his third and final failure. Her circle then had included many +who could boast of knighthoods, and even baronetcies! + +And, though Lady Harriet was something of a personage at Gablehurst, and +confined her acquaintance to her own particular set, there was nothing +formidable or even imposing in her appearance. She was the widow of a +Colonel Elmslie, and apparently left with only moderate means, judging +from the almost poky house on the farther side of the Common, which she +shared with an unmarried female cousin of about her own age. + +So, when she was shown in, looking quite ordinary, and even a little +shy, Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson rose to receive her with perfect ease, +being supported by the consciousness that she was by far the more +handsomely dressed of the two. In fact her greeting was so gracious as +to be rather overpowering. + +"Interrupting me? Not in the very _least_, dear Lady Harriet! Only too +delighted, I'm sure!... Now _do_ take off your boa, and come nearer the +fire. You'll find this _quite_ a comfy chair, I think. Tea will be +brought in presently.... Oh, you really _must_, after trapesing all that +way across the Common. I can't _tell_ you how pleased I am to see you. +I've so often wished to make your acquaintance, but I couldn't take the +first step, could I? _So_ nice of you to break the ice!" + +Lady Harriet submitted to these rather effusive attentions resignedly +enough. She could hardly interrupt her hostess's flow of conversation +without rudeness, while she had already begun to suspect that Mrs. +Stimpson might form an entertaining study. + +But her chief reason, after all, was that the prospect of tea had its +attractions. Accordingly she attempted no further explanations of her +visit just then, and was content to observe Mrs. Stimpson, while she +rippled on complacently. + +She saw a matron who might be about fifty, with abundant pale auburn +hair, piled up, and framing her face in a sort of half aureole. The eyes +were small and hazel green; the nose narrow and pointed, the wide, +full-lipped mouth, which wore just then a lusciously ingratiating smile, +showed white but prominent teeth. The complexion was of a uniform +oatmealy tint, and, though Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson was neither tall nor +slim, she seemed to have taken some pains to preserve a waist. + +"Most fortunate I happened to be at home," she was saying. "And if you +had called on one of my _regular_ days, I shouldn't have had the chance +of a _real_ talk with you. As it is, we shall be quite _tete-a-tete_.... +Ah, here _is_ tea--you must tell me if you like it weak, dear Lady +Harriet, and I shall remember the _next_ time you come. Yes, you find me +all alone this afternoon. My eldest daughter, Edna, has gone to a +lecture at her Mutual Improvement Society, on a German Philosopher +called Nitchy, or some such name. She's so bookish and well-read, takes +such an interest in all the latest movements--runs up to town for +_matinees_ of intellectual dramas--_quite_ the modern type of girl. But +not a blue-stocking--she's joined a Tango Class lately, and dances most +beautifully, I'm told--just the figure for it. We got up a little +Costume Ball here this winter--perhaps you may have heard of it?--Ah, +well, my Edna was generally admitted to be the _belle_ of the evening. A +perfect Juliet, everybody said. I went as her mother--Lady Capulet, you +know. I _did_ think of going as Queen Elizabeth at one time. I've so +often been told that if I ever went to a Fancy Dress Ball, I ought to go +as her--or at all events as _one_ of our English Queens. But, however, I +didn't. Mr. Stimpson went as a Venetian Doge, but I do _not_ consider +myself that it was at all suitable to him." + +She did not say all this without a motive. She knew that a local +Historical Pageant was being arranged for the coming Summer, and that +Lady Harriet was on the Committee. Also she had heard that, after +rehearsals had begun, some of the principal performers had resigned +their parts, and the Committee had some difficulty in finding +substitutes. + +It had struck her as not at all unlikely that her visitor had called +with a view to ascertaining whether the services of any of the Stimpson +household would be available. If she had, it was, of course very +gratifying. If she had merely come in a neighbourly way, there was no +harm in directing her attention to the family qualifications for a +Pageant performance. + +Her hearer, without betraying any sign of the mirth she inwardly felt, +meekly agreed that Mrs. Stimpson was undoubtedly well fitted to +impersonate a Queen, and that the costume of a Venetian Doge was rather +a trying one, after which her hostess proceeded: "Perhaps you are right, +dear Lady Harriet, but the worst of it was that my boy Clarence, who +would have made such a handsome Romeo, insisted on going as a _Pierrot_! +Very likely you have seen Clarence?... Oh, you would certainly have +noticed him if you had--always so well turned out. He's got quite a good +post as Secretary to an Insurance Co., in the City: they think so +highly of him there--take his advice on everything--in fact, he +practically _is_ the Company! And only twenty-two! It's _such_ a relief, +because there _was_ a time when it really seemed as if he'd never settle +down to any regular work. Nothing would induce him to enter my husband's +business--for I must tell you, Lady Harriet, we _are_ in business. +Sauces, pickles, condiments of every sort and description--_wholesale_, +you know, _not_ retail, so I hope you aren't _too_ dreadfully shocked!" + +Lady Harriet remarked that she saw nothing to be shocked at--several of +her relations and friends were in business of various kinds, which gave +Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson the opening she required. "Society has changed +its views so _much_ lately, has it not?" she said. "Why, the youngest +partner in Mr. Wibberley-Stimpson's firm is a younger son of the Earl of +Fallowfields--Mr. Chervil Thistleton, and an Honourable, of _course_! I +daresay you are acquainted with him?... Not? Quite a charming young +man--married a Miss Succory, a connection of the Restharrows, and such a +sweet girl! You may have met her?... Oh, I thought--but I really hardly +know her _myself_ yet," (which was Mrs. Stimpson's method of disguising +the fact that she had never met either of them in her life). "When he +came into the warehouse he was perfectly amazed at the immense variety +in pickles and sauces--it was quite a revelation to him. Only he can't +_touch_ pickles of any kind, which is a pity, because it prevents him +from taking the interest he might in the business.... Just _one_ of +these hot cakes, dear Lady Harriet--you're making such a wretched +tea!... I should like you to see my youngest child, Ruby. She's gone out +to tea with some little friends of hers, but she may be back before you +go. So much admired--such lovely colouring! But just a _little_ +difficult to manage. Governess after governess have I had, and none of +them could do anything with her. My present one, however, she seems to +have taken to. Miss Heritage, her name is--at least she was adopted as a +baby by a rich widow of that name, and brought up in every luxury. But +Mrs. Heritage died without making a will, and it seems she'd muddled +away most of her money, and there were claims on what she left, so the +poor girl had to turn out, and earn her own living. Such a sad little +story, is it not? I felt it was really a charity to engage her. I'm not +sure that I can keep her much longer, though. She's far too good-looking +for a governess, and there's always a danger with a marriageable young +man in the house, but fortunately Clarence has too much sense and +principle to marry out of his own rank. I do think that's _such_ a +mistake, don't you, dear Lady Harriet? Look at the Duke of Mountravail's +heir, the young Marquis of Muscombe--married only last month at a +registry office to a girl who was in the chorus at the Vivacity! I hear +she comes of quite a respectable family, and all that," admitted Mrs. +Stimpson, who derived her information from her Society journals. "But +still, can you _wonder_ at the poor Duke and Duchess being upset by it? +I've no doubt you are constantly coming across similar instances in +Smart Society." + +Lady Harriet disclaimed all acquaintanceship with Smart Society, which +Mrs. Stimpson protested she could not believe. "I am sure you have the +_entree_ into _any_ set, Lady Harriet, even the smartest! Which reminds +me. _Have_ you heard anything more about that mysterious disappearance +of the Dowager Duchess of Gleneagle's diamonds during her journey from +the North last week? A tiara, _and_ a dog-collar, I was told. +Professional thieves, I suppose, but don't you think the Duchess's +maid?--Oh, _really_? I made _sure_ you would be a friend of the +Duchess's--but, of course, Society is so much larger than it used to +be!" + +"You are a far better authority than I can pretend to be about it," Lady +Harriet owned smilingly; "and really you've given me so much interesting +information that I had nearly forgotten what I came to see you about. +It's--well, I wanted to ask----" + +"I think I can _guess_, Lady Harriet," put in Mrs. Stimpson, as her +visitor paused for a second. "I've heard of your difficulties about +getting players for the Pageant, and I'm sure I, and indeed _all_ the +family, would feel only too honoured." + +"It's most kind of you," Lady Harriet interrupted, rising, "but--but +that isn't why I've troubled you. It's only that I'm thinking of +engaging Jane Saunders as house-parlourmaid, and she tells me she was in +your service, so I called to ask about her character, don't you know." + +For a moment Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson wished she had been less +precipitate, but she soon recognised that no real harm had been done. +"Saunders?" she said, "yes, she left me last month. Do sit down again, +dear Lady Harriet, and I'll give you all the information I possibly can. +Well, when that girl first came, she had everything to learn. It was +quite evident she'd never been in service before with gentlefolks. +Actually brought in letters in her _fingers_, Lady Harriet, and knocked +at sitting-room doors! And _no_ notion of cleaning silver, and I like to +see mine come up to table without a speck! However, after being with me +for a while, she improved, and I can conscientiously say that she became +quite competent in time. That is, for a household like _ours_, you know, +where things are done in quite an unpretentious style." + +"I don't think we are at all pretentious people either," said Lady +Harriet, rising once more. "And now, Mrs. Stimpson, you have told me all +I wanted to know, so I must tear myself away." + +"Must you _really_ be going? Well, Lady Harriet, I've _so_ much enjoyed +our little chat. There are so few persons in a semi-suburban +neighbourhood like this, with whom one can have anything in common. So I +shall hope to see more of you in future. And if," she added, after +ringing for Mitchell, "I _should_ find I've forgotten anything I ought +to have told you about Saunders, I can easily pop in some morning." Lady +Harriet hastened to assure her that she must not think of giving herself +this trouble--after which she took her leave. + +"Rather an amusing experience in its way," she was thinking. "Something +to tell Joan when I get back. But oh! _what_ an appalling woman! She's +settled _one_ thing, though. It will be quite impossible to take Jane +Saunders _now_. A pity--because I rather liked the girl's looks!" + +Meanwhile the happily unconscious Mrs. Stimpson had settled down in her +chair again with the conviction that she had made a distinctly +favourable impression. She allowed her eyes to wander complacently round +the room, which, with its big bay window looking on the semi-circular +gravel sweep, and its glazed door by the fireplace leading through a +small conservatory, gay with begonias, asters, and petunias to the +garden beyond, was not merely large, by Gablehurst standards, but +undeniably pleasant. She regarded its various features--the white +chimney-piece and over-mantel with Adam decorations in _Cartonpierre_, +the silk fire-screen printed with Japanese photographs, the +cottage-grand, on which stood a tall trumpet vase filled with branches +of imitation peach blossom, the _etageres_ ("Louis Quinze style") +containing china which could not be told from genuine Dresden at a +distance, the gaily patterned chintz on the couches and chairs, the +water-colour sketches of Venice, and coloured terra-cotta plaques +embossed on high relief with views of the Forum and St. Peter's at Rome +on the walls, and numerous "nick-nacks"--an alabaster model of the +Leaning Tower of Pisa, a wood carving of the Lion of Lucerne, and groups +of bears from Berne--all of which were not only souvenirs of her +wedding-journey, but witnesses to Continental travel and general +culture. + +She could see nothing that was not in the most correct taste, as Lady +Harriet must have observed for herself, together with the hammered +copper gong, the oak chest, and the china bowl for cards in the hall. +Strange that Saunders should have been the humble means of bringing +about so unexpected a meeting, but Providence chose its own instruments, +and now the seed was sown, Mrs. Stimpson felt she could rely on herself +for the harvest. + +And so she took up the latest number of _The Upper Circle_, and read, to +the accompaniment of alternate duologues and soliloquies by thrushes and +blackbirds in the garden, until gradually she drifted into a blissful +dream of being at a garden-party at Lady Harriet's and entreated, not +merely by her hostess, but Royalty itself, to accept the _role_ of +Queen at the County Pageant! + +She was in the act of doing this gracefully, when the vision was +abruptly ended by the entrance of her elder daughter. Edna was by no +means bad-looking, in spite of her light eyelashes and eyebrows, and the +fact that the _pince-nez_ she wore compressed her small nose in an +unbecoming ridge. Her eyes were larger than her mother's, though of the +same colour, and her hair was of a deeper shade of auburn. Her costume +was of a kind that may be described as the floppily artistic. + +"I never heard you come in, my dear," said her mother. "Did you enjoy +your lecture?" + +"Quite; I took pages and pages of notes. Nietzsche's _Gospel of the +Superman_ is certainly most striking." + +"And _what_ is his Gospel exactly?" + +"Oh, well, he teaches that the ideal man ought to rise superior to +conventional prejudices, and have the courage to do as he thinks right +without deferring to ordinary ideas. To be strong in willing what he +wants--all that sort of thing, you know." + +"Dear me!" said Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson dubiously. "But, if everybody +acted like that, would it be quite--er--nice?" + +"There's no fear of any of the men in Gablehurst being Supermen, at all +events!" said Edna. "They're all perfect slaves to convention! But the +lecturer explained the Nietzschean theories in such a way that he made +us feel there was a great deal to be said for them.... No tea, thanks. I +had mine at the Fletchers. It looks," she added, with a glance at the +tea-cups, "as if you had been entertaining some one, Mother--who was +it?" + +"Only Lady Harriet," replied Mrs. Stimpson, with elaborate carelessness. + +"_What_ Lady Harriet?" was the intentionally provoking query. + +"Really, Edna, one would think there were dozens of them! _The_ Lady +Harriet: Lady Harriet Elmslie, of course." + +"Oh," said Edna. "And what did _she_ want?" + +"Well, she _came_ to ask after Saunders' character, but she stayed to +tea, and we really struck up quite an intimate friendship, discussing +one thing and another. She's so quiet and unassuming, Edna--absolutely +no _hauteur_. I'm sure you will like her. I told her about you all, and +she seemed _so_ interested. Quite between ourselves, I shouldn't be at +all surprised if she got us invited to take part in the Pageant--she's +on the Committee, you know." + +"If I _was_ invited, Mother, I'm not at all sure I shouldn't refuse." + +"You must please yourself about that, my dear," said Mrs. Stimpson, who, +perhaps, felt but little anxiety as to the result. "_I_ shall certainly +accept if the part is at all suitable." + +She might have said more, if Ruby had not suddenly burst into the room. +Ruby was certainly the flower of the family--an extremely engaging young +person of about ten, whose mischievous golden-brown eyes had long and +curling lashes, and whose vivacious face was set off by a thick mane of +deepest Titian red. + +"Oh, Mummy," she announced breathlessly, "I've got invitations for +nearly all my animals while we're away at Eastbourne! Mucius Scaevola's +the most popular--everybody asked him, but I think he'll feel _most_ at +home with Daisy Williams. Vivian and Ada Porter will simply love to +have Numa Pompilius, but nobody seems to want Tarquinius Superbus, so I +shall turn him out in the garden, and he must catch worms for himself." + +"Dearest child," said her mother, "what are these new animals of yours +with the extraordinary names?" + +"They're the same old animals, Mums. I've rechristened them since I +began Roman History with Miss Heritage. Mucius Scaevola's the Salamander, +because they're indifferent to fire, like he was--though Miss Heritage +says it wouldn't be kind to try with Mucius. Numa Pompilius is the +Blind-worm--he used to be Kaa--and the Toad has changed from Nobbles to +Tarquinius Superbus." + +"I can't understand how you can keep such unpleasant pets as reptiles," +said Edna. + +"Because I like them," said Ruby simply. "And Bobby Williams has +promised, as soon as it gets warmer, to come out on the Common with me +and catch lizards. _Won't_ it be lovely?" + +"I hope you won't put one of them down anybody's neck, then, as you did +to Tommy Fletcher." + +"That was Mucius," Ruby admitted cheerfully. "But I didn't mean him to +go so far down. And he was very good--he didn't bite Tommy anywhere." + +"Little ladies don't play such tricks," said her Mother. "I hope Miss +Heritage doesn't encourage your liking for these horrid creatures?" + +"Oh, she doesn't mind, so long as I don't take them out of the aquarium, +but she hates touching them herself." + +"Did she come in with you?" her mother inquired, and was told that Miss +Heritage had done so, and had gone upstairs, whereupon Ruby was ordered +to go and take off her things, and stay quietly in the schoolroom till +it was time to come down. + +"I don't know if you noticed it, Mother," Edna began, as soon as Ruby +had consented to leave them, "but Miss Heritage had a letter by the +afternoon post which seemed to upset her. I went rather out of my way to +ask her if she had had bad news of any kind, but she did not think +proper to take me into her confidence. Perhaps she might be more open +with _you_." + +"My dear," said Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, with much dignity, "I take no +interest whatever in Miss Heritage's private correspondence." + +"Nor I," declared Edna. "I only thought that if she is in any +trouble--She's so secretive, you know, Mums. I've tried more than once +to get her to tell me what cosmetic she uses for her hands--and she +never will own to using any at all!" + +"I'm sure, Edna, you've no reason to be ashamed of your hands." + +"Oh, they look all right just now," said Edna, examining them +dispassionately. "But they _will_ turn lobster colour at the most +inconvenient times. Hers never do--and it _does_ seem so unfair, +considering--" She broke off here, as Daphne Heritage entered. + +"Well, Miss Heritage?" said Mrs. Stimpson, as the girl hesitated on +seeing Edna. "Did you wish to speak to me?" + +"I did rather want your advice about something," said Daphne, who had a +paper, and a small leather case in her hands; "I thought I might find +you alone. It doesn't matter--it will do quite well another time." + +"Don't let _me_ prevent you, Miss Heritage," said Edna. "If you don't +wish to speak to Mother before me, I've no desire to remain. I was just +going up to change in any case." + +She went out with a slightly huffy air, which was not entirely due to +baffled curiosity, for she admired Daphne enough to resent being quietly +kept at a distance. + +"It's about this," explained Daphne, after Edna had made her exit--"a +bill that has just been sent on to me." She gave the paper to Mrs. +Stimpson as she spoke. "I don't know quite what to do about it." + +She looked very young and inexperienced as she stood there, a slim +girlish figure with masses of burnished hair the colour of ripe corn, +braided and coiled as closely as possible round her small head, but +there was no trace of timidity or subservience in her manner. In the +slight form, with the milk-white skin, delicate profile and exquisite +hands, there was a distinction that struck her employer as quite +absurdly out of keeping with her position. + +"The only thing to do about a bill, my dear," said Mrs. Stimpson, "is to +pay it. But nearly thirty pounds is a large sum for you to owe your +milliner." + +"It's for things Mother--my adopted mother, you know--ordered for me. +Stephanie was always told to send in the account to her. But this seems +to have been overlooked, and the executors have sent it on to me. Only I +can't pay it myself--unless you wouldn't mind advancing me the money out +of my salary." + +"I couldn't possibly. You forget that it would represent over a year's +salary, and it's by no means certain that you will be with me so long." + +"I was afraid you wouldn't," said Daphne, with a little droop at the +corners of her extremely pretty mouth. "So I brought this to show you." +She held out the leather case. "It's the only jewellery I've got. It +belonged to my father, I believe; he and my real mother both died when I +was a baby, you know--and I never meant to part with it. But now I'm +afraid I must--that is, if you think any jeweller would give as much as +thirty pounds for it." + +Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson opened the case, which was much more modern than +the kind of badge or pendant it contained. This was a fairly large oval +stone of a milky green, deeply engraved with strangely formed letters +interlaced in a cypher, and surrounded by a border of dark blue gems +which Mrs. Stimpson decided instantly must be Cabochon star sapphires of +quite exceptional quality. The gold chain attached to it was antique and +of fine and curious workmanship. + +She was convinced that the pendant must be worth considerably more than +thirty pounds, though she was no doubt right in telling Daphne that no +jeweller would offer so much for an ornament that was quite out of +fashion. "Besides," she said, "I don't like the idea of any governess of +mine going about offering jewellery for sale. Have Edna or Ruby seen you +wearing this thing?" she asked with apparent irrelevance. + +It appeared they had not; Daphne had never worn it herself, and she had +only remembered its existence that afternoon, and found it hidden away +at the back of her wardrobe. + +"Well," said Mrs. Stimpson, "it is most unpleasant to me to see a young +girl like you owing all this money to her milliner." + +"It isn't very pleasant for _me_," said Daphne ruefully; "but if you +won't advance the money, and I can't or mustn't sell the pendant, I +don't very well see how I can help it." + +"I'll tell you what I'll do," said Mrs. Stimpson. "I really _oughtn't_ +to--and under ordinary circumstances I couldn't afford it, but, as it +happens, a great-uncle of mine left me a small legacy not long ago, and +I haven't spent quite all of it yet. So I don't mind buying this for +thirty pounds myself." + +"Will you really?" cried Daphne. "How angelic of you!" + +"I think it is," said Mrs. Stimpson; "but I feel myself responsible for +you, to some extent. So I'll write you a cheque for the thirty pounds, +and you can send it off to this milliner person at once." She went to +the writing-table and filled up the cheque. "There," she said, handing +it to Daphne, "put it in an envelope and direct it at once--you'll find +a stamp in that box, and it can go by the next post." + +"By the way, my dear," she added, as she was leaving the room, "I +needn't tell you that _I_ shall not breathe a word to a soul of our +little transaction, and I should advise you, in your own interests, to +keep it entirely to yourself." + +"I was quite wrong about Mrs. Stimpson," Daphne told herself +reproachfully, after she had slipped the letter containing bill and +cheque into the letter-box in the hall. "She _can_ be kind sometimes, +and I've been a little beast to see only the comic side of her! I +daresay she won't even _wear_ that pendant." + +But Mrs. Stimpson had every intention of wearing it that same evening. +It is not often that one has the opportunity of doing a kindness and +securing a real bargain at a single stroke; and she knew enough about +jewels to be fully aware that, if the ornament was a trifle +old-fashioned, she had not done at all badly over her purchase. + +"It really suits me very well," she thought, as, after putting the last +touches to her evening demi-toilette, she fastened the pendant round her +neck. "Even better than I expected. It was lucky Miss Heritage came to +_me_. A jeweller would have been sure to cheat her, poor child!" + +And she went down to the drawing-room feeling serenely satisfied with +herself. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +RUSHING TO CONCLUSIONS + + +Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, as she sat in the drawing-room, where the +curtains had been drawn and the lamps lighted, was occupied with a +project which she was anxious to impart to her husband as soon as he +returned. Some time before a dull rumble from the valley had informed +her that his usual train was approaching Gablehurst station, and now she +heard the click of the front gate, the crunch of his well-known step on +the gravel, and the opening of the hall door. + +"I want to speak to you for a moment, Sidney," she said, opening the +drawing-room door. "Come in here before you go up to dress." (Mrs. +Stimpson insisted on his dressing for dinner. It was customary in all +really good society, and also it would prevent him from feeling awkward +in evening clothes--which it never did.) + +"Very well, my dear," he said, entering. "Any news with you?" which was +his invariable question. + +Mr. Stimpson was short and inclined to be stout. What remained of his +hair was auburn and separated in the middle by a wide parting; he had +close-cut whiskers of a lighter red, which met in his moustache, and if +his eyes had been narrow, instead of round and filmy like a seal's, and +his mouth had been firm, and not loose and slightly open, he would not +have been at all a bad caricature of his Majesty King Henry the Eighth. + +"Nothing--except, but I'll tell you about that afterwards. Sit down, do, +and don't fidget.... Well, I've been thinking, Sidney, that we really +ought to ask the Chevril Thistletons to a quiet little dinner. Not to +meet any of our _usual_ set, of course! We could have the dear Rector, +who, if he _is_ Low Church, is very well connected--and Lady Harriet +Elmslie." + +Mr. Stimpson showed no enthusiasm at the suggestion. "Lady Elmslie, +Selina!" he cried. "But we don't _know_ her ladyship!" + +"I do wish you would learn to use titles correctly, Sidney! Lady +_Harriet_ Elmslie--not Lady _Elmslie_! And you shouldn't speak of her, +except to servants, as 'her ladyship'; that's only done by inferiors." + +"Well, my love, whatever may be the correct way of speaking of her, the +fact remains that we haven't the honour of her acquaintance." + +"That's just where you're mistaken! We _have_, or at least _I_ have;" +and she described how she had come to enjoy that privilege. + +"Well," he admitted at the conclusion, "she certainly seems to have made +herself exceedingly affable, but it doesn't follow that she'd come and +dine, even if we asked her." + +"She would if it was to meet the Thistletons." + +"Perhaps so, my love, but--er--we don't know that _they_ would come." + +"Of course they would, if they knew we were expecting Lady Harriet. For +goodness' sake, Sidney, don't swing your foot like that--you know I +can't bear it. All _you_ have to do is to find out from Mr. Thistleton +what evenings the week after next would be most convenient, and _I'll_ +undertake the rest!" + +"I--I really couldn't do that, Selina. I'm a proud man, in my way, and I +don't care about exposing myself unnecessarily to a rebuff." + +"Why should you be rebuffed? After all, he's only a junior partner!" + +"True, my love, but that doesn't make him less stand-offish. He may be +_in_ the business, but he's not _of_ it. I doubt myself whether even old +Cramphorn would venture to invite him to dinner, and if he did, I'd bet +a tidy sum that the Honourable Mr. Chevril Thistleton----" + +"Mr.--_not_ the Honourable _Mr._ Thistleton, Sidney," corrected his +wife, who had studied all such _minutiae_ in a handbook written by a lady +of unimpeachable authority. "The term is _never_ employed in ordinary +conversation, or on visiting cards. But, if you won't show a proper +spirit, I shall write myself to Mrs. Thistleton and propose one or two +dates." + +"It would be no good, my love," said Mr. Stimpson, brought to bay, +"because, if you _must_ know, I--er--_did_ approach the subject with +Thistleton--and--well, his manner was not sufficiently encouraging to +induce me to try it again. Not so fond of being made to feel as if I was +no better than one of our own clerks. I get quite enough of _that_ from +old Cramphorn!" + +"You should _assert_ yourself more, Sidney, if you want people to +respect you." + +"I'm always asserting myself--but old Cramphorn never listens! Just goes +on his own way. Won't hear of any changes--what was good enough when the +firm started a hundred years ago is good enough for _him_--now I'm all +for _new_ ideas myself--Progress and so forth!" + +"That's what has kept us back," said Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson; "we should +have been in a far better set here than we're ever likely to be now if +you hadn't given yourself out as a violent Radical, when it's well known +that all best Gablehurst people are Conservatives, and several who are +not really entitled to be anything of the kind. As it is, I suppose I +must be content to pass my life in this suburban hole and mix with none +but second-rate people. But I certainly cannot expect Lady Harriet to +come here and meet them, so there's an end of it. If she imagines I've +no desire to pursue her acquaintance, it can't be helped, that's all! +And now you had better go up and dress." + +The whole family were assembled by the time Mr. Stimpson +re-appeared--his wife was in her armchair by the standard lamp. Edna was +at the writing-table revising her notes of the afternoon's lecture, and +Clarence was seated close by, while Ruby was whispering earnestly to +Daphne on one of the chintz couches. + +"All of you down before me, eh?" said the head of the family after the +usual salutations had been exchanged. "But I went up long after +everybody else. And not late after all--I've taught myself to dress in +well under ten minutes, you see!" + +"Wish he'd taught himself not to wear a white tie with a dinner jacket!" +grumbled Clarence to Edna in an undertone. + +"Couldn't you _tell_ him about it?" she replied. + +"I could--but what'd be the good? He'd only turn up next time in a +tail-coat and a black bow!" said Clarence gloomily. "The poor old +governor's one of the people who never learn----!" + +Clarence's own type was that for which the latest term is "knut." He was +accepted both by his family, his intimates, and himself as an infallible +guide on things in general. When consulted as to matters on which he +happened to be entirely ignorant, and these were not a few--he had +formed the habit of preserving a pregnant silence, as of one who could +say a good deal on the subject if he were at liberty to speak. And this +in itself denoted a certain degree of intelligence. + +In appearance he was well built, though only of average height. He had +small green eyes like his mother's; his light sandy hair had a natural +ripple, and his pale face expressed nothing beyond an assured +consciousness of his own superiority. And yet he was not without a +certain sense of humour in matters which did not immediately concern +himself, though, owing to particular circumstances, it was just then +distinctly in abeyance. + +"What time do you get back from the City to-morrow afternoon, my boy?" +his father asked. + +"Not going up at all, Pater," said Clarence. "Told them I shouldn't." He +was thinking that after dinner would be quite time enough to break the +news that, on receiving a severe wigging for general slackness, he had +lost his temper, and offered to resign his post--an offer that had been +accepted with disconcerting alacrity. + +"Ah, Sidney," said Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, "_Clarence_ knows how to +assert himself, you see!" + +"I merely asked," Mr. Stimpson explained, "because I'm taking a Saturday +off myself, and I thought we could have a round or two of golf +together, eh, my boy?" + +"I don't mind going round with you before lunch," said Clarence. +"Engaged for the afternoon; but, if you'll take _my_ advice, Governor, +you'd better practise a bit longer with the Pro before you attempt to +_play_. No good trying to run till you can walk, don't you know, what?" +(He had learnt to terminate his sentences with "what" as a kind of smart +shibboleth.) "Hullo, Mater!" he broke off suddenly, as he noticed the +pendant on her ample bosom, "where did you get that thing? Out of a +cracker?" + +"Certainly not, Clarence; I am not in the habit of wearing cheap +jewellery. And this cost a considerable sum, though I daresay it is +worth what I paid for it." + +"Did you go much of a mucker for it, Mater?" + +"If I did, Clarence, I was well able to do so, thanks to dear old Uncle +Wibberley's legacy." + +"I must say, Mother," said Edna, "it's far the most artistic thing I've +ever known you buy." + +"It isn't _everybody's_ taste," remarked Mr. Stimpson, "but I should say +myself that it wasn't a bad investment. Where did you come across it, my +love?" + +"My dear Sidney," replied Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson with much majesty, "as +I purchased it with my own money, where I came across it, and what I +paid for it are surely matters that only concern myself." + +Daphne, who could hardly avoid hearing this conversation, was impressed +by the tact and delicacy it displayed. It never occurred to her that +Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson's reticence might be inspired by other motives +than a generous desire to spare her feelings. "She really is quite a +decent sort!" she told herself. + +Clarence had not been unobservant of her--indeed it would not be too +much to say that he had been acutely conscious all the time of Miss +Heritage's presence. + +Ever since she had become a member of the household he had alternated +between the desire to impress her and the dread of becoming entangled in +the toils of an artful little enchantress. It was true that since her +arrival in the family she had made no effort whatever to enchant him; +indeed, she had treated him with easy indifference--but this, his +experience of her sex and the world told him, was probably assumed. She +could hardly help knowing that he was something of a "catch" from her +point of view, and scheming to ensnare him. + +Perhaps Clarence, with his now dubious prospects, felt himself rather +less of a catch than usual; perhaps it occurred to him that being +moderately ensnared would be pleasantly exciting, since he would always +know when to stop. At all events, he lounged gracefully toward the sofa, +on which she and Ruby were sitting: "I say, Miss Heritage," he began, +"you mustn't let my Kiddie sister bore you like this. She's been +whispering away in your ear for the last ten minutes." + +Daphne denied that she was being bored. + +"Of _course_ she isn't!" said Ruby; "I was finishing the story I began +telling her when we were walking home. We'd got to where Daphne first +meets the Fairy Prince." + +"Then it's all about Miss Heritage, is it?" + +"I call the heroine 'Daphne' in my story, after her--but, of course, she +isn't Miss Heritage _really_." + +"You don't seem to think it very likely that Miss Heritage will ever +come across a Fairy Prince, eh!" commented Clarence, and wondered the +next moment whether he mightn't have said something to commit himself. + +"I hope not," said Ruby, slipping her hand affectionately through +Daphne's arm, "because then she'd leave me, and I should never see her +again!" + +"I shouldn't worry about it just yet, darling," said Daphne, smiling. +"Fairy Princes are only to be found in their own country--and it's a +long way from here to Fairyland." + +Clarence was noticing, not for the first time, that her full face was +shaped like a shield, also that two fascinating little creases came in +it when she smiled, and her pretty grey eyes had a soft sparkle in them. +"I must be jolly careful," he told himself. + +"I should prefer, Miss Heritage," said Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, who had +overheard the last sentence, "that Ruby was not encouraged to fill her +head with Fairy tales. I don't think them good for her." + +"Oh, come, Mater!" protested Clarence, unable to resist the _role_ of +Champion. "Where on earth is the harm of them." + +"Surely, Clarence," Edna put in instructively, "there is _this_ +harm--they give such an utterly false impression of what life really +_is_! That's why I've never been able to take any interest in them." + +"More likely," said Clarence, "because you've got no imagination." + +"If I hadn't," retorted Edna, "I should hardly have got through the +Poetry I have. Most of Browning and Alfred Austin, and all Ella Wheeler +Wilcox! It's only the lowest degree of imagination that invents things +that couldn't possibly have happened!" + +"They may have left off, Edna, but they happened _once_," declared Ruby. +"I know there _used_ to be Fairyland somewhere, with Kings and Queens +and Fairy Godmothers and enchanted castles and magicians and Ogres and +Dragons and things in it. And Miss Heritage believes it, too--_don't_ +you, Miss Heritage, dear?" + +"I'm much mistaken in Miss Heritage, my dear," said Mr. Stimpson +gallantly, "if her head isn't too well screwed on (if she'll allow me to +say so) to believe in any such stuff. All very well for the Nursery, you +know, but not to be taken seriously, or ... why, what's that? Most +extraordinary noise! Seems to come from outside, overhead." + +They could all hear a strange kind of flapping whirr in the air, it grew +nearer and louder and then suddenly ceased. + +"Aeroplane," pronounced Clarence, drawing the window curtains and +looking out. "Miles away by now, though. Terrific pace they travel at. +Too dark to see anything." + +He returned to the hearthrug, and the moment afterwards, the silence +outside was broken by a shrill, clear call which seemed to come from +silver trumpets. + +"Very odd," said Mr. Stimpson, "some one seems to be playing trumpets on +the gravel-sweep!" + +"If it's one of those travelling German bands," said his wife, "you'd +better send them away at once, Sidney." + +But, whoever they were, they had already entered the hall, for almost +immediately the drawing-room door was thrown open and two persons +wearing tabards and gaily plumed hats entered and sounded another +blast. + +"'Pon my word, you know," gasped Mr. Stimpson, "this is really----" + +The heralds stepped back as a third person entered. He was wearing a +rich suit of some long-departed period, and, with his furrowed face and +deep-set eyes, he rather resembled an elderly mastiff, though he did not +convey the same impression of profound wisdom. He gazed round the room +as though he himself were as bewildered as its other occupants, who were +speechless with amazement. Then his eye fell on Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, +and he hesitated no longer, but, advancing towards her chair, sank with +some difficulty on one knee, seized her hand, and kissed it with every +sign of deep respect. + +"Heaven be praised!" he cried in a voice that faltered with emotion, "I +have at last found the Queen we have so long sought in vain!" He spoke +with some sort of foreign accent, but they all understood him perfectly. +As he knelt they heard a loud crack which seemed to come from between +his shoulders. + +"Braces given way," whispered Clarence to Edna; "silly old ass to go +kneeling in 'em!" + +"Really, sir," said Mr. Stimpson, "this is most extraordinary +behaviour." + +"You don't understand, Sidney," said Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, who had +recovered from her first alarm and was now in a gratified flutter; +"remember what I told you about Lady Harriet and the Pageant! Pray, get +up, sir," she added to the stranger, "I haven't the advantage of knowing +your name." + +"I am the Court Chamberlain," he said, "and my name is Treuherz von +Eisenbaenden." + +It was unknown to Mrs. Stimpson, but she concluded that he was some +Anglo-German commercial magnate, who would naturally be invited to join +the Committee for any such patriotic purpose as a Pageant. + +As to the excessive ceremony of his manner, that was either the proper +form for the occasion, or, what was more likely, Mr. Troitz, or whatever +his name was, having come fresh from a dress rehearsal, could not divest +himself as yet of his assumed character. The important point was that +her interview with Lady Harriet had borne fruit already, and in the +shape of a pressing invitation to play the distinguished part of +"Queen!" The advantages thus offered for obtaining a social footing +amongst county people made it easy to overlook any trifling +eccentricities where the intention was so obviously serious. "Well, Mr. +Troitz," she said graciously, "since the Committee have been kind enough +to ask me, I shall be very pleased to be your Queen." + +"And if I may say so, Sir," said her husband, "there are few ladies in +the vicinity who would prove more competent. In fact----" + +"That will do, Sidney," said his wife; "if Lady Harriet and the +Committee did not consider me competent to be the Queen they would not +have asked me." And Mr. Stimpson said no more. + +"Pardon," Mr. Treuherz said, looking at him with solemn surprise, +"but--who is _this_?" + +"This is my husband, Mr. Troitz--let me introduce him." + +"Your husband. Then, he will be the King!" + +"The King?" cried Mr. Stimpson, "why, really, I'm not sure that would be +altogether in my line." + +"Nonsense, Sidney. Of _course_ you will be the King if they want you! +And this is my son, Clarence, Mr. Troitz. My daughters, Edna and Ruby." + +"A Crown Prince!" cried Treuherz, and bent low to each in turn. "And +two--no, I mistake--_three_ Princesses! Ah, it is too much for me +altogether!" + +It was almost too much for Ruby, who giggled helplessly, while even +Daphne had to bite her lip rather hard for a moment. + +"The other young lady," corrected Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, "is merely my +daughter Ruby's governess--Miss Heritage. But if you like to find a +place for her as one of my ladies of honour or something, I have no +objection to her accepting a part," she added, reflecting that Miss +Heritage's manners and appearance would add to the family importance, +while it would be a comfort to have an attendant who could not give +herself such airs as might a girl belonging to a county family. + +"Naturally," said Treuherz, inclining himself again. "Any member of your +Majesty's household you desire to bring." + +"Very well; I suppose, Miss Heritage, you have no objection? Then you +will accompany us, please. And now, Mr. Troitz, about when shall we be +wanted?" + +"When?" he replied. "But now! At once. Already I have the car waiting!" + +"Now?" exclaimed Clarence; "rum time to rehearse--what?" + +"Who said anything about rehearsing, Clarence?" said his mother +impatiently. "It's necessary for them to see us and talk over the +arrangements. It's not likely to take long." + +"But it'll do later, my love," put in Mr. Stimpson, who did not like the +idea of turning out without his dinner. "Fact is, Mr. Troitz, we were +just about to sit down to dinner. Why not keep the car waiting a bit and +join us? No ceremony, you know--just as you _are_!" + +"Sire, I regret that it is impossible," he said. "I have undertaken to +convey you with all possible speed. If we delay I cannot answer for what +may happen." + +"You hear what Mr. Troitz says, Sidney," said Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, +alarmed at the idea of another being chosen in her absence. "What _does_ +it matter if we do dine a little late? Children, we must go and put on +our things at once--your warmest cloaks, mind--we're sure to find it +cold motoring. Sidney and Clarence, you had better get your coats on--we +shall be down directly." + +Mr. Treuherz and the heralds stood at attention in the hall. While +Clarence and his father struggled into their great-coats, neither of +them in a very good temper, Mr. Stimpson being annoyed at postponing his +dinner for what he called "tomfoolery," and Clarence secretly sulky +because his parent could not be induced to see the propriety of going up +to change his tie. + +"I haven't _yet_ made out, Mother," said Edna, as they came downstairs, +"exactly where we're going to--or what we're expected to do when we get +there." + +"It will either be The Hermitage--Lady Harriet's, you know--or Mr. +Troitz's country house, wherever _that_ is. And, of course, the +Committee require to know what times will suit us for rehearsing." + +"I wish you'd settle it all without _me_," complained Edna. "I'd much +rather stay at home, and run over my lecture notes.... Well, if I must +come, I shall bring my note-book with me in case I'm bored." And she ran +into the drawing-room, and came back with the note-book, rather as an +emblem of her own intellectual superiority than with any intention of +referring to it. However, as will be found later, the manuscript proved +to be of some service in the future. + +Daphne and Ruby were the last to join the party in the hall, Ruby wildly +excited at the unexpected jaunt and the prospects of not going to bed +till ever so late, and Daphne, though a little doubtful whether Mrs. +Stimpson was quite justified in bringing her, inclined to welcome almost +any change from the evening _routine_ of "Inglegarth." And then, after +Mrs. Stimpson had given some hurried instructions to the hopelessly +mystified Mitchell, the whole family issued out of the Queen Anne porch, +and were conducted by Treuherz, who, to their intense confusion, +insisted on walking backwards to the car, while the heralds performed +another flourish on their silver trumpets. It was pitch-dark when they +had got to the asphalt pavement outside their gates, but they could just +make out the contours of the car in the light that streamed across the +hedge to the stained glass front-door. + +"Jolly queer-looking car," said Clarence. It was certainly unusually +large, and seemed to have somewhat fantastic lines and decorations. + +"Oh, never mind about the car!" cried Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, who was +inside it already, a vague, bundled-up shape in the gloom. "It's part of +the Pageant, of course! Get in, Clarence, get in! We're late as it is! +and if there's a thing I detest, it's keeping people waiting!" + +"All right, Mater!" said Clarence, clambering in. "I can't make out what +the dickens they've done with the bonnet--but we seem to be moving, +what?" + +Slowly the car had begun to glide along the road. Mr. Treuherz was +seated in front, probably at the steering-wheel, though none was +visible. The heralds sat in the rear, and the car was of such a size +that there was abundant room for the family in the centre. Some yards +ahead they heard a curious dry rustle and clatter, and could distinguish +a confused grey mass of forms that seemed to be clearing the way for +them, though whether they were human beings it was not possible to tell +till they passed a lighted street-lamp. + +"Why, goodness gracious!" exclaimed Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, "they look +like--like _ostriches_!" + +She was mistaken here, because they were merely storks, but, before she +could identify them more correctly, they all suddenly rose in the air +with a whirr like that of a hundred spinning looms--and the car rose +with them. + +"Stop!" screamed Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, "Sidney, tell Mr. Troitz to +stop! I _insist_ on knowing where we are being taken to!" + +Treuherz glanced over his shoulder. "Where should I conduct your +Majesties," he said, "but to your own Kingdom of Maerchenland?" + +Mrs. Stimpson and her husband would no doubt have protested, demanded +explanations, insisted upon being put down at once, had they been able; +but, whether it was that the car had some peculiarly soporific tendency, +or whether it was merely the sudden swift rush through the upper air, a +torpor had already fallen on the whole Stimpson family. It was even +questionable if they remained long enough awake to hear their +destination. + +Daphne, for some reason, did not fall asleep till later. She lay back in +her luxuriously cushioned seat, watching the birds as they flew, spread +out in a wide fan against the dusky blue evening sky. Gablehurst, with +its scattered lights, artistic villa-residences, and prosaic railway +station--its valley and common and wooded hills, were far below and soon +left behind at an ever increasing distance. But she did not feel in the +least afraid. It was odd, but, after the first surprise, she had lost +all sense of strangeness in a situation so foreign to all her previous +experience. + +"So we're being taken to Maerchenland," she was thinking. "That's the +same as Fairyland, practically. At least it's where all the things they +call Fairy stories really happened, and--_why_ I can't imagine--but Mr. +and Mrs. Stimpson have been chosen King and Queen! And the poor dear +things have no idea of it yet! Oh, I wonder" (and here, no doubt, the +little creases came into her cheeks again, for she laughed softly to +herself), "I _wonder_ what they'll say or do when they find out!" And +while Daphne was still wondering, her eyelids closed gently, and she, +too, was sleeping soundly. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +FINE FEATHERS + + +Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson was the first of her party to recover +consciousness. When she did, she was greatly surprised to find that it +was broad daylight, and that she was lying on a grassy slope, behind +which was a forest of huge pines. Close beside her were the recumbent +forms of her husband and family, which led her to the natural conclusion +that the car must have met with an accident. + +"Sidney!" she cried, shaking him by the shoulder. "Speak to me! +You're--you're not _seriously_ hurt, are you?" + +"Eh, what?" he replied sleepily, and evidently imagining that he was +comfortably in bed at home; "all right, my dear, all right! I'll get up +and bring in the tea-tray presently. Lots of time.... Why, hullo!" he +exclaimed, after being shaken once more, as he sat up and rubbed his +eyes. "How do we all come to be _here_?" + +The others were awake by this time. "And now we're here," put in +Clarence, "where _are_ we, eh, Mater?" + +"It is no use asking _me_, Clarence. I know no more than you do. The +last thing I remember was our all getting into the car to go and see the +Pageant Committee. I've a vague recollection of ostriches--but no, I +must have been dreaming _them_. However, the car seems to have upset +somehow, only I don't see it about anywhere." + +"No," said Mr. Stimpson, "or old Thingumagig, or those fellows with the +trumpets either." + +"Dumped us down here, and gone off with the car," said Clarence. "Looks +as if we'd been the victims of a practical joke, what?" + +"They would never dare to do that!" said his Mother. "I expect they have +missed their way in the dark. Very careless of them. I don't know what +Lady Harriet and the Committee will think of me. They'll probably ask +somebody else to take the part of Queen before we can get there--for I'm +sure we must be a good hundred miles away from Gablehurst!" + +"The Baron said that he was taking us to Maerchenland, Mrs. Stimpson," +said Daphne; "and I'm _almost_ sure that that is where we really are." + +"And where may Maerchenland be?" inquired Mrs. Stimpson sharply. "I never +heard of it myself." + +"Well," said Daphne, "it's another name for--for Fairyland, you know." + +"Fairyland indeed!" replied Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson with some +irritation. "You will find it difficult to persuade me to believe that I +am in _Fairyland_, Miss Heritage! To begin with, there is no such place, +and if there was, perhaps you will kindly tell me how we could possibly +have got to it?" + +"Through the air," explained Daphne patiently. "That car was drawn by +_storks_, you see--not ostriches." + +"When you have _quite_ woke up, Miss Heritage," said Mrs. Stimpson, "you +will realise what nonsense you are talking." + +"Whatever this place is," said Clarence, "it don't look English, +somehow, to _me_. I mean to say--that town over there--what?" He +pointed across the wide plain to a cluster of towers, spires, gables, +and pinnacles which glittered and gleamed faintly through the shimmering +morning haze. + +"It certainly has rather a Continental appearance," observed his father. + +"If it has," said Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, "it is only some buildings or +scenery or something they have run up for the Pageant. So we haven't +been taken in the wrong direction after all." + +"_I_ believe, Mummy," chirped Ruby, "Miss Heritage is right, and this +_is_ Fairyland." + +"Don't be so ridiculous, child! You'll believe next that we came here in +a car drawn by flying storks, I suppose!" + +"D'you know, Mater," said Clarence, "I'm not so sure we mayn't have. +What I mean is--there's some sort of flying machine coming along now. I +grant you it isn't drawn by storks, but they're _birds_ anyhow, and +there seems to be some one in the car too." + +"Nothing of the kind!" declared Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson obstinately. "At +least one may fancy one sees anything with the sun in our eyes as it is. +Well, upon my word!" she added, still incredulously, as an iridescent +shell-shaped chariot attached to a team of snow-white doves _volplaned_ +down from a dizzy height to a spot only a few yards away, "I really +could not have--who, and what can this old person be?" + +The occupant of the chariot had already got out of it, and was slowly +coming towards them, supporting herself on a black crutch-handled staff. +As she drew nearer they could see that she was a woman of great age. She +wore a large ruff, a laced stomacher, wide quilted petticoats, and a +pointed hat with a broad brim. Her expression was severe, but not +unkindly, while she evidently considered herself a personage of some +importance. + +"She looks exactly like the Fairy Godmother in the pictures," whispered +Ruby. + +"Whoever she may be," said her Mother, scrambling to her feet with more +haste than dignity, "I suppose I shall have to go and speak to her, as I +presume I am the person she has come to meet." + +However, it was Daphne who was addressed by the new-comer. + +"The Court Chamberlain, Baron Treuherz von Eisenbaenden, has brought me +the glad tidings of your arrival, my child," she said in a high cracked +voice, "and, as the high official Court Godmother to the Royal Family, I +felt that I should be the first to bid you welcome." + +This was more than Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson could be expected to stand +without a protest. + +"Pardon me," she said, throwing back her cloak as though she were in +need of air, "pardon me, Madam, but I think you are mistaking my +daughter's governess for _me_. I am Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson!" + +The old lady turned sharply, and as her eyes fell on the matron's +indignant face and heaving bosom, she instantly became deferential and +almost apologetic. "You must forgive me, my dear," she said, "for not +recognising you before. But at my age--I may tell you I am nearing the +end of my second century--one is apt to forget the flight of Time. Or it +may be that Time in your world flies more quickly than in ours. I did +not stay to hear more from the Baron than that he had succeeded in +finding our Queen, and, to be quite plain with you, I was unprepared to +find you so mature." + +Then, thought Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson confusedly, she _had_ been brought +here for the Pageant after all. But what very odd people seemed to be +getting it up! + +"Baron--whatever his name is, appeared to be quite satisfied that I was +suited to the part," she said coldly. "Of course, if you require someone +younger----" + +"There can be no manner of doubt, my dear, that you are the Queen we +have been seeking, so the mere fact that you are rather older than some +of us expected is of no importance whatever." + +"Thank you," said Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson. "I do not consider myself +more than middle-aged, and have generally been taken for younger than I +am, Mrs. ----, I haven't the pleasure of knowing your name." + +"Here they call me the Fairy Vogelflug; in the neighbouring Kingdom of +Clairdelune my name is Voldoiseau. I have officiated as Court Godmother +to the reigning Royal families in both countries for many generations." + +"I _thought_ you were a Fairy Godmother!" cried Ruby; "and I'm sure +you're a _good_ Fairy, and can do all sorts of wonderful things." + +"I used to, my child, in my younger days, but my powers are not what +they were, and I seldom exercise them now, because it exhausts me too +severely to do so. Once there were several of us Court Godmothers, but I +am the only one left, and my health is so poor that I can do little for +my God-children but give them moral teaching and wise counsel. However, +such good offices as I can still render shall be entirely at your +service." + +"You are very kind," said Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, resenting the other's +air of patronage, "but all my children are already provided with +God-parents. As you tell me you are a Fairy," she continued, "I suppose +I must accept your word for it--but it will take a great deal more than +that to make me believe that we are in Fairyland." + +"I thought," said the Fairy, "you already knew that the name of this +country is Maerchenland." + +It should be said here once for all that the Wibberley-Stimpsons found +no difficulty in understanding, or making themselves perfectly +intelligible to any Maerchenlanders, although they always had a curious +feeling that they were conversing in a foreign language. + +"Whatever the country is called," said Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson +aggressively, "I should like some explanation of that Baron Troitz's +conduct in entrapping us into coming here. I was distinctly given to +understand that I had been chosen to be the Queen at our local Pageant, +and that we were being taken to talk over the arrangements with the +Committee. Now he has gone off in the most ungentlemanly way, and left +us stranded and helpless here!" + +"You must have misunderstood the good Baron," said the Fairy Vogelflug; +"and he is far too loyal to desert you. He has merely hastened on to +Eswareinmal, the city whose walls and towers you see yonder, to prepare +for your reception. As you probably know, he has devoted himself with +the most untiring zeal to his mission of seeking you out and restoring +you to your inheritance." + +"He never said a word about that to me--not a word. If I am really +entitled to any property in this country, I should be glad to know +where it is situated, and what is its exact value." + +"Then," said the Fairy, "I may inform you that you are entitled, as the +daughter of your late Father--our long-lost and much-lamented Prince +Chrysopras--to no less a possession than the Crown of Maerchenland." + +"You--you don't _say_ so!" gasped Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson. "The Crown +of--Sidney, did you hear _that_." + +"It's some mistake, my dear," he said. "Must be! ... My wife's father, +Ma'am, though in some respects--a--a remarkable character, was never a +Prince--at least that _I've_ heard of." + +"It doesn't at all follow, Sidney," said his wife in a nettled tone, +"that anything you don't happen to have heard of is not a fact. There +always _was_ a mystery about poor dear Papa's origin. He was most +reticent about it--even with me. And I know it was rumoured that +Prinsley was not his real name. So it would not surprise me in the least +if Mrs. Fogleplug turned out to be right, though I cannot say till she +gives us further particulars." + +"I will do so most willingly," said the Fairy. "But as it will take me +some time to relate them, I should strongly advise you all to sit down." + +They seated themselves round her in a semicircle, and presently she +began: + +"You must know," she said, "that our mighty and gracious Sovereign, the +late King Smaragd, was twice wedded. By his first wife he had an only +son, Prince Chrysopras, a gallant and goodly prince, beloved not only by +his father, but by the whole nation. Well, after mourning his first wife +for a longer period than is customary, King Smaragd took to himself +another, who was much younger than himself, besides being marvellously +beautiful." + +"And of course she hated the poor Prince," said Ruby. "Stepmothers +always do in the stories." + +"I have not said she hated him," said the Court Godmother, who did not +like her points to be anticipated. "On the contrary, she treated him +with every mark of affection, and was constantly bestowing on him gifts +of the costliest description. One day she presented him with a wondrous +mechanical horse, fiercer and more mettlesome than even the steeds that +are born in Maerchenland." + +"Motor-bike, what," suggested Clarence sapiently. + +"A mechanical horse is what I _said_," repeated the Fairy, "resembling +others in shape and beauty, but made of metal. Prince Chrysopras, being +a skilful and fearless horseman----" + +"Indeed he was!" put in Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson. "He used to ride +regularly in the Row, almost to the last. On 'Joggles,' such a dear +brown fat cob. He was one of what I believe was known as 'The Liver +Brigade' ... a fact which for some reason I can't pretend to fathom +seems to be causing you amusement, Miss Heritage." + +Daphne, whose sense of humour was occasionally an inconvenience to her, +had certainly found the notion of a Fairy Prince in the Liver Brigade a +little too much for her gravity. However, she attributed her lapse to +the name of the horse. + +"It was the name they gave it at the Livery Stables," said Mrs. +Wibberley-Stimpson. "And I really cannot see myself--but we are +interrupting this good lady here." + +"You are," said the Fairy. "I was about to say that Prince Chrysopras +was greatly delighted by his Royal Stepmother's gift, and at once leapt +on the back of the strange steed." + +"What I call asking for trouble," commented Clarence. + +"_I_ know what happened!" Ruby struck in eagerly. "It flew right up into +the air with him, and poor Grandpapa fell off." + +"If he had, none of you would be here at the moment," said the Fairy. +"Don't be in such a hurry, my child. He was much too good a rider to +fall off. But the horse flew up and up with him till both could no +longer be seen. The remains of the steed were found long afterwards on a +mountain top. But nothing more was ever seen of the Prince, who was +supposed to have perished in one of our lakes." + +"Then he must have fallen off after all," insisted Ruby. + +"No, no, Ruby," said her mother, with a sense that, where the credit of +her family was concerned, nothing was too improbable for belief; "the +horse flew with him to England, or _somewhere_ in Europe--or else he +couldn't have met your dear grandmother, whom none of you ever saw, for +she died long before you were born. And I expect that, after he got off, +the horse flew back again, and was just able to get to Maerchenland +before the machinery broke down. And dear Papa very naturally would not +care for people to know that he had got there by such peculiar means, +which accounts for my never having heard of it before." + +"Exactly," said the Fairy Vogelflug; "but King Smaragd only knew that +his son was lost to him, and when he discovered that the horse was +enchanted, and that his Queen had bribed the Hereditary Grand Magician +to construct it, his anger knew no bounds." + +"Enough to annoy anybody," said Mr. Wibberley-Stimpson. "I should +certainly----" + +"He ordered," the Fairy went on, without appearing to feel any interest +in what Mr. Stimpson would have done in similar circumstances, "both the +Queen and the Grand Magician to be enclosed in a barrel, the inside of +which had been set with sharp nails, and rolled down into the lake from +the top of the mountain." + +"I should say myself," remarked Mr. Stimpson, "that that was going a +little too far. But he certainly had great provocation." + +"He also commanded that all wizards and enchanters should renounce their +practices for ever, and adopt some other calling, or be banished from +the Country." + +"There," said Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson approvingly, "I think he was _so_ +right. I would never encourage any of those clairvoyant people myself. +And did he marry a third wife at all?" + +"Not if he was wise!" said Clarence. + +"No, although it grieved him sorely that he had no heir to succeed him. +But towards the end of his days, he dreamed repeatedly that his son was +yet living. He beheld him in these visions a wanderer in some far-off +land, earning his bread as a musician, for in Music he had rare skill." + +"I fancy he must have given it up when he took to Finance," said Mrs. +Wibberley-Stimpson, "though he kept his taste for it. I well remember +his buying a beautiful orchestrion which used to be in the Picture +Gallery." + +"Well," pursued the Fairy, "in further dreams it was revealed to the +King that his son was married to one, who, though not of his own race or +rank, was both gently born and very fair to see." + +"Pollentine was the maiden name of your Grandmother on _my_ side, my +dears," explained Mrs. Stimpson to her family. "She must have been +good-looking as a girl, judging by a daguerrotype I had of her. Her +father was a highly distinguished Auctioneer and Estate Agent in East +Croydon, as I daresay was also revealed in the King's dream." + +"Of that I can say nothing," replied the Court Godmother; "but I know +that further visions showed him his son as a widower with an only +daughter, and later still that he was no longer living. And so much was +the King impressed that he caused a search to be made for this +grand-daughter of his in every country that is known to us. Even when he +lay on his death-bed he did not give up hope that she would be found, +and so he left his Kingdom in charge of his trusted favourite Marshal +Federhelm as Regent, with strict injunctions to continue seeking for the +missing Queen." + +"And how," inquired Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, "did the Marshal manage to +find me out?" + +"It was not he. He soon convinced himself that all further endeavours +were useless. No, it is to the devotion of our worthy Court Chamberlain, +the Baron Treuherz von Eisenbaenden, that your discovery is owing. He had +grieved so deeply to see Maerchenland without a Sovereign that, after the +example of 'Faithful John,' the founder of his family, he had placed +iron hoops round his chest to keep his heart from breaking." + +"We heard 'em go," said Clarence; "thought it was only his braces." + +"At length," continued the Fairy, "the Baron went in secret to Xuriel, +the Astrologer Royal, and induced him to consult the stars. Which Xuriel +did, and by much study and intricate calculation he succeeded in +ascertaining the exact spot in the other world where the Queen would be +discovered, and even the means by which she might be recognised." + +"Ah," said Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, "I shall begin to believe in +Astronomy after this. But even now I don't _quite_ understand how Baron +Troitz got to 'Inglegarth.'" + +"That was by _my_ assistance. I placed my travelling car at his service, +with the wise storks that fly straight to any place to which they are +directed, even though they may never have heard of it before. Happily +for Maerchenland, Xuriel's calculations have proved correct, except that +he did not foresee that the Baron would bring back two Sovereigns +instead of one." + +"What--is the Gov'nor going to be King?" inquired Clarence. "My hat!" + +"That would be ridiculous, Clarence," said his mother, "when your Father +hasn't a drop of Royal blood in his veins! He can't even rank as Prince +Consort!" + +"Not so, my dear, not so," corrected the Fairy, "by the custom of +Maerchenland, anyone who weds the Sovereign shares the throne, and your +husband will be as truly the King of this Country as you will be its +Queen." + +"Oh, is _that_ the rule?" said Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, not best +pleased. "Well, Sidney, I trust you will show yourself equal to your +position, that is all." + +"I trust so, my love," he replied uneasily. "It--it's come on me at +rather short notice. However!" + +"If Daddy and Mums are King and Queen," asked Ruby, "will Edna and me be +Princesses?" + +"Undoubtedly you will," said the Court Godmother. + +"Then Clarence will be a Prince. So you see, Miss Heritage, dear, you +_have_ met a Prince after all!" + +"Shut up, Kiddie!" said the new Crown Prince in some confusion. + +"And what will Miss Heritage be, Mummy?" + +"Miss Heritage will be what she was before, my dear--your governess." + +"But I shan't want one any more--we're in Fairyland now--and Fairy +Princesses haven't got to do lessons. Oh, Mums, couldn't you make Miss +Heritage a Princess too? Do!" + +"Why not?" said the Fairy, glancing at Daphne, whose colour had risen +slightly. "Anybody might very well take her to be one as it is." + +"Miss Heritage," said Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, "has, I am sure, too much +good sense to expect a title of any kind. She will continue to be my +daughter's instructress, and I may possibly find a place for her as +Mistress of the Robes or something; but it's much too early to say +anything definite at--Really, Edna," she broke off suddenly, "how you +can sit there calmly reading as if nothing had happened!" + +"I was merely running through my lecture-notes again, Mother," said +Edna. "If I _am_ a Princess," she added, for the benefit of the Court +Godmother, "that is no reason why I shouldn't go on cultivating my +mind." + +"Now you're a Princess, my dear," replied her mother, "it doesn't +signify to anybody whether your mind is cultivated or not." + +"It signifies a great deal to _me_, mother," said Edna, and resumed the +study of her notes with an air of conscious merit. + +"I must say _one_ thing, Mrs. Fogleplug," Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson +proceeded; "it would have been more considerate if I had been given +proper notice, and a reasonable time to prepare for such a complete +change as this. I do feel _that_." + +She did; it was a great deprivation to her to have lost the opportunity +of mentioning casually to her Gablehurst friends--and Lady Harriet +especially--that she would shortly be leaving them to occupy a throne. + +"Precisely my own feeling," said Mr. Stimpson, thinking regretfully how +the news would have made that confounded fellow Thistleton sit up, and +of the sensation it might have produced in the train to the City. "It +is, to say the least of it, unfortunate that I had no time to +communicate with the other members of my firm." + +"And there's Clarence, too!" said his fond mother. "His Company will be +quite helpless without him!" + +"They may be in a bit of a hole at first," he admitted, thankful now +that he had said nothing about his resignation, or the readiness with +which it had been accepted. "Still, no fellow is indispensable. What?" + +The Fairy explained that haste had been unavoidable, as it might have +been injurious to the storks if they had remained longer in a climate to +which they were unaccustomed. + +"But why send storks to fetch us at all?" demanded Mrs. +Wibberley-Stimpson. "Why not some more modern conveyance?... There they +are again with the car--coming back for us, I expect.... Yes, I can make +out Baron Troitz and the trumpeters--and there seems to be a gentleman +in armour with them." + +"The Regent, Marshal Federhelm," said the Fairy. "He is coming to offer +his congratulations." + +"Is he?" cried Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, scrambling to her feet again in +some dismay. "A Regent! I--I wish I knew the proper way of addressing +him!" + +The storks by this time had brought the car to ground, and were now +standing about on one leg with folded wings and an air of detachment. +The Marshal alighted and advanced slowly towards the Stimpsons while the +heralds sounded their trumpets. + +He made a formidable and warrior-like figure in his golden half-armour +of a kind unknown to antiquarians, and great jack-boots of gilded +leather. He was tall, and the towering mass of waving feathers that +crowned his helmet made him look taller still. His vizor was raised, +showing a swarthy, hook-nosed face, with quick, restless eyes like a +lizard's, a fierce moustache, and a bristling beard that spread out in a +stiff black fan. + +"_You_ had better speak to him, Sidney," whispered his wife, overcome by +sudden panic; "I really can't." + +"Er--" began Mr. Stimpson nervously, "I believe I have the pleasure of +addressing the Regent. We--we're the new King and Queen, you know, and +these are the other members of the family." + +The Marshal seemed a little taken aback at first, but he promptly +recovered himself, and bending so low that his feathers brushed Mrs. +Wibberley-Stimpson's nose, he placed in her hand a small velvet-covered +baton studded with gold stars. + +"Oh, thank you very much, I'm sure," she said. "It's quite charming. Has +it got an address or anything inside it?" + +"The symbol of my authority, your Majesty," he said, with soldierly +curtness. "I have long desired to surrender it to hands more worthy to +govern than mine." + +"Very handsome of you to say so," replied Mr. Stimpson; "but I daresay +you aren't altogether sorry to get out of it, eh?" + +"It is too lofty a position, Sire, for a rough, simple warrior like +myself," he said. "Nothing but a sense of duty to my country would have +made me accept the Regency at all." + +"I am sure," said Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, "we shall find you have +carried on the Kingdom for us as satisfactorily as possible." + +"The people appeared to think so, your Majesty. But I am forgetting the +chief purpose I am here for. I have the honour to announce that the +procession will shortly be on its way to escort your Majesties to your +Coronation, which is to take place this morning in the great church of +Eswareinmal." + +"_Coronation!_" Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson almost screamed. "Before we have +so much as had our breakfast! And in these things we are wearing now! I +never heard of anything so preposterous!" + +"I don't care much myself," said Mr. Stimpson, "about being crowned on +an empty--without having had something to eat--if it's only an egg." + +"If they're going to crown the Guv'nor in a dinner-jacket and white +tie," Clarence muttered to Edna, "we shall never hear the last of it, +that's all!" + +"There is nothing to make a fuss about, my dear," said the Court +Godmother to Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, as though she were addressing a +froward child; "look behind you, and you will see that everything you +may require is already provided." + +They looked and saw two velvet Marquees, one striped in broad bands of +apple-green and mazarine blue, the other in pale rose and cream, which a +party of attendants had just finished putting up. "In those pavilions," +continued the Fairy, "you will find not only food prepared for you, but +robes such as are fitting for a Coronation. You will have plenty of time +both to eat and change your dress before the procession can possibly +arrive." + +"She's not likely to have got our measurements right," grumbled Mrs. +Wibberley-Stimpson to her eldest daughter, as they moved towards the +rose-and-cream Pavilion. "I should have much preferred to be fitted by a +Court dressmaker. Such a mistake to rush things like this! I rather like +that Marshal, Edna; there's something very gentlemanly and +straightforward about him, though I can't see why he shouldn't wear a +proper uniform instead of that absurd armour." + +"Shan't be sorry to get some breakfast, my boy," Mr. Stimpson remarked, +as he and Clarence were making for the other marquee; "I feel a bit +peckish after being so long in the night air." + +"I should like a tub first, Guv'nor." + +"I'm afraid," said Mr. Stimpson, "that's expecting too much in these +parts." + +However, on entering, they discovered, in addition to the delicacies and +gorgeous costumes laid out for them, two great crystal baths filled with +steaming water which exhaled a subtle but delicious perfume. + +"Doing us proud, eh, Guv'nor?" was Clarence's comment on the general +luxuriousness; and his father admitted that "everything seemed to have +been done regardless of expense." + +While the male and female members of the Royal Party were enjoying the +privacy of their respective tents, the Marshal outside was expressing +his sentiments to the Court Chamberlain with much vigour and freedom. + +"Well, Baron," he began, "this is a great service you have done +Maerchenland, and I hope you are feeling proud of yourself!" + +"Oh, as for that, Marshal," modestly replied the ingenuous Baron, "I +have done no more than my duty." + +"The devil take you and your duty," growled the Marshal. "Why, in the +name of all the fiends, couldn't you have left things as they were?" + +"But, Marshal," the Baron protested, "when our learned Astrologer Royal +discovered the whereabouts of our lawful Queen, you were loudest in +approval of my expedition!" + +"How could I oppose, after you had been gabbling and cackling about it +to the whole Court, and it had even reached the ears of the people? +Besides, I was given to understand that this daughter of Chrysopras's +was a mere girl. If she _had_ been--But what have you brought us?--a +middle-aged matron with a husband and family!" + +"I own it was not what I had expected," said the Baron; "but since it +was so, what could I do but bring them all?" + +"Do? Left them where they were, of course--come back and said that that +little fool of a Xuriel had made a miscalculation, as he generally +does!" + +"I should have been a traitor had I thus denied my Queen. For, as you +have seen, she bears on her breast the very jewel of her father the +Prince, even as the stars foretold." + +"Undoubtedly she is his daughter," the Marshal admitted reluctantly. It +never occurred to him for a moment--nor would it occur to any of his +countrymen--that the pendant was anything but absolutely conclusive +proof of Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson's right to the throne. Maerchenland +notions of what constitutes legal evidence have always been and remain +elementary. + +"But it's pretty plain," he went on, "that the young fool must have made +a most unworthy marriage to have begotten one so utterly lacking in all +queenliness and dignity." + +"She will soon acquire both," the Court Chamberlain affirmed stoutly, +"as she becomes more accustomed to her position." + +"She may," declared the Marshal, "when a frog grows feathers. And this +consort of hers! _Is_ he a fit Monarch for Maerchenland? Even _you_, +Baron, can hardly say that for him! I may not have been beloved as +Regent, but at least I have made my authority respected. But what do +such a couple as this know about ruling a country? They'll make a +hopeless hash of it!" + +"Without guidance, perhaps," the Baron admitted; "but they will have the +inestimable advantage, Marshal, of our experience and advice." + +"Ha!" said the Marshal. "So they will--so they will! I was forgetting +that!" + +"No doubt they will submit to our guidance," went on the Baron, "and +thus we shall be able to save them from any dangerous indiscretions." + +"Just so," agreed the Marshal, with the flicker of a smile. + +The Court Chamberlain, at all events, spoke in all sincerity. His +hereditary instinct alone would have been enough to ensure his loyalty +to his new Sovereigns, whatever he might think of them in private. And +they were his own "finds," which gave them an added value in his +estimation, as will easily be understood by any collector of +curiosities. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +CROWNED HEADS + + +"'Pon my word, my love," Mr. Stimpson exclaimed, as his wife came +out of her pavilion in her Coronation Robes and chain, attended +by the Court Godmother, "I should hardly have known you! You look +majestic!--abso-lute-ly majestic!" + +"I wish I could say the same of _you_, Sidney," she replied; "but, as I +have told you more than once, legs like yours never ought to be seen +except in trousers.... Considering my own and my daughter's robes are +ready-made, Mrs. Fogleplug, they might be worse. As for Miss +Heritage's--well, I should have thought myself that something simpler +would have been more appropriate." + +Daphne was naturally much less sumptuously dressed than the Members of +the Royal family, but still, in her quaint double-peaked head-dress, +fantastically slashed bodice, and long hanging sleeves, with her bright +hair, too, waving loosely over her temples, its rich masses confined at +the back by a network of pearls, she was dainty and bewitching enough to +attract more than her due share of attention--Clarence's she attracted +at once, while he was sustained by an agreeable conviction that his +be-jewelled doublet, silken hose, white plumed velvet hat, and azure +mantle set off his figure to unusual advantage. + +"Tophole, Miss Heritage!" he said, strolling up with graceful languor. +"I'm not joking--you really _are_, you know! Wish _my_ kit suited me +half as well! Can't help feeling a most awful ass in it, what?" + +"Really?" she said carelessly. "How unpleasant for you! But perhaps if +you left off thinking about it----!" + +"Oh, I don't say it's so bad as all _that_!" + +"I didn't suppose it _was_, quite." + +Now this was not by any means the sort of deferential tribute he had +counted upon, and he was a little ruffled by her failure to respond. + +"Didn't you," he replied distantly, if somewhat lamely. "You'll excuse +me mentioning it, Miss Heritage, as it's only in your own interests, but +I believe it's considered the proper thing when you're addressed by--by +Royalty, don't you know, to throw in a 'Your Royal Highness' +occasionally. Of course, Court Etiquette and that may be all tosh, but I +didn't make it, and all I mean to say is--it won't do to let it slide." + +"Your Royal Highness will not have to rebuke me a second time," said +Daphne, sinking to the ground in a curtsey which it is to be feared was +wilfully exaggerated. "I'm afraid, sir," she added, as the two little +creases in her cheeks made themselves visible, "that wasn't as low as it +ought to have been, but your Royal Highness must make allowances for my +want of experience." + +"Oh, you'll soon get into it," he said, "with practice." + +"And I shall have plenty of that, your Royal Highness." + +Was she trying to pull his leg? he thought, as he moved away, and +decided that she was most unlikely to venture on such presumption. No, +it had been necessary to remind her of the deference due to him, and she +would not forget the lesson in future. Perhaps he might unbend +occasionally in private, but, on second thoughts, that would be more +dangerous than ever now. + +Ruby had seized Daphne and was embracing her in a burst of violent +affection. "Oh, Miss Heritage, darling," she cried, "you do look such a +duck in that dress--doesn't she, Mummy?" + +"I see no resemblance, my dear," said her mother coldly, "between Miss +Heritage and any description of poultry. And, as the procession will be +here in another minute, you had better take your place quietly by me.... +Really, Ruby," she added in an undertone, as the child obeyed, "you must +remember you're a Princess now. It isn't at all proper for you to be +seen pawing your governess about in public." + +"I _wasn't_ pawing her about, Mums!" protested Ruby; "only hugging her. +And if I mayn't do that, I don't want to be a Princess at all!" + +By this time the procession had arrived. It was headed by a band of +knights in resplendent but rather extravagant armour, carrying lances +with streaming pennons. After them rode the Courtiers on gaily +caparisoned steeds, followed by a bevy of Maids of Honour on +cream-coloured palfreys. A company of soldiers came next, some of whom +bore heavy matchlocks of an ancient period, and the rest pikes and +halberds. However, they marched with as proud and confident a step as +though their weapons were of the very latest pattern--which very likely +they thought they were. Following them was a State Coach, a huge, +cumbrous vehicle with unglazed windows; it seemed to be of pure gold, +and was drawn by sixteen milk-white horses in blue trappings. + +After the procession had halted, the Court Chamberlain formally +presented the members of the Royal Household, whose mere titles sounded +impressively on the ear of their new Mistress. There were Prince Tapfer +von Schneiderleinheimer and Prince Hansmeinigel; Baron Muellerbuerschen, +Baron von Bohnenranken, and Count von Daumerlingstamm; Princess +Rapunzelhauser, Princess Goldernenfingerleinigen, and Princess +Flachspinnenlosburg; Baroness Belohnte von Haulemaennerschen, Baroness +Kluge Bauerngrosstochterheimer, and Countess Gaensehirten am Brunnen, and +many others scarcely less distinguished. Never before had Mrs. +Wibberley-Stimpson been in such aristocratic company, and for the moment +she entirely forgot how immeasurably she was now their social superior. +She had held her own triumphantly with Lady Harriet, but that was +different. There was only one of _her_--and that one a quite ordinary +and insignificant personality compared with these imposingly splendid +lords and ladies-in-waiting. + +Mrs. Stimpson intended to be graciously cordial, but somehow her manner +was dangerously near being obsequious. "Most _honoured_, I'm sure, +Prince!" she found herself repeating, as she ducked instinctively. "So +very kind of you to come, Baron!... It's more than delightful to meet +you, dear Princess--I didn't quite catch your name!... _Such_ a +privilege to make your acquaintance, Countess!" + +She hoped they would take this as condescension on her part, and they +were undeniably surprised by their Sovereign's excessive affability. + +"Well," said Mr. Stimpson, as these amenities became exhausted and he +perceived that no one was taking any notice of him, "what about making a +start, hey, Mr. Marshal?" + +"If your Majesties and the Princess will deign to enter the coach, we +can set forth at once," was the reply. + +"Get in, children, get in!" cried Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson. "You and +Ruby, Edna, must sit with your backs to the horses, and there will be +plenty of room for Clarence between you." + +"With all respect, Sir," said the Marshal, as Clarence was preparing to +get in. "It is the custom on such an occasion as this for the Crown +Prince to ride on the right of the Coach. I have arranged that a horse +shall be at your Royal Highness's service." + +"Thanks awfully," said Clarence, as he glanced at a spirited chestnut +mare which two squires were endeavouring with some difficulty to soothe, +"but--er--I think I'd rather drive." He was reflecting, as he took his +seat in the coach, that he would really have to take a few riding +lessons shortly, in private. + +"Isn't Miss Heritage coming with us, Mummy?" called Ruby from the +window. + +"In the State Coach, my dear! Of course not!" + +"But why not, Mater?" protested Clarence. "There's lots of room." + +"Because I could not think of allowing it, Clarence. Perhaps Mrs. +Fogleplug will be kind enough to give her a lift in--in her own +conveyance." + +"Unfortunately," replied the Court Godmother, "my car will not hold more +than one person." + +"Well, Miss Heritage must find her way to the Palace, then! There's no +necessity for her to be present at the Coronation." + +"Surely, my dear," said the Fairy, "you would not deprive her of such a +privilege! I will have another saddle placed on that mare so that this +fair maid of yours may ride with your other ladies in waiting." + +"Of course, Mrs. Fogleplug, if you're _bent_ on Miss Heritage making a +public exhibition of herself," said Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, "I have +nothing to say. I don't suppose she has ever been on a horse in her +life!" + +"Oh, but I have, Ma'am!" Daphne pleaded eagerly. "I've ridden ever since +I was a child. And I'd love to ride that mare, if I may!" + +"Oh, very _well_, Miss Heritage, ve-ry well. But remember, if you break +your neck, _I_ shall not accept any responsibility," which Daphne took +as a permission. As soon as Mr. and Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson had taken +their seats, the sixteen milk-white horses began to pull and strain till +eventually the great coach was on the way. + +"Mummy," cried Ruby a little later, "I can see Miss Heritage! She's +riding close behind. And oh, she _does_ look so sweet on horseback!" + +"Put your head in,--do, child!" said her mother sharply. "Whatever will +the people think if they see a Princess hanging half out of the window +like that!" + +Ruby sat down rather sullenly. Clarence would have liked to put his own +head out if it had been consistent with his dignity as a Prince. As it +was, he could only hope that Daphne would come to no harm. "Really!" +continued Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, "what with one's governess riding +behind one's coach, and those two ridiculous bird-cars probably flapping +overhead, this is _quite_ unlike any Coronation Procession _I_ ever +heard of!" + +"More like a bally Circus," remarked Clarence. "Only wants a couple of +clowns with bladders on horseback and a performing elephant." + +"_I_ consider," said his mother, "that a State procession should have +more solemnity about it.... How horribly this coach jolts! It _can't_ +have any springs!... There you are again, Edna, buried in that +note-book! you might show a little interest in what is going on!" + +"I'm sorry, mother, but it all seems to mean so little to me." + +"Then all I can say is--good gracious, _what_ a lurch! I quite thought +we were over!--all _I_ can say is that it's unnatural to be so +abstracted as you are. We're getting close to Eswar--whatever they call +it. If you look round you will see the walls and towers." + +Edna adapted her _pince-nez_ and turned perfunctorily for a moment. +"_Quite_ quaint!" she said, and resumed her reading. + +"Picturesque, _I_ should call it," corrected her mother. "Sidney, +doesn't it put you in mind of dear lovely Lucerne?" + +"Very much so, my love," he replied, "or--er--Venice" (neither of which +cities, as a matter of fact, did Eswareinmal resemble in the least). +"Hullo! what are we stopping for _now_, eh?" + +It seemed they had arrived at the principal gates of the Capital, where +the Burgomaster and other civic dignitaries were assembled to welcome +and to do them homage, which they did with every sign of respect and +loyalty. As Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson felt unequal to the efforts of +responding, that duty devolved on her husband, who presented himself at +the window of the coach, and made what the reporters, had any been +present, would no doubt have described as "a few gracious and +appropriate remarks." + +"You needn't have said that about 'doing our best to give satisfaction,' +Sidney!" complained his wife after the coach had thundered over the +drawbridge, and was lumbering under the massive archway into a narrow +and crowded street, "for all the world as if we had been a butler and +housekeeper applying for a situation!" + +"It _was_ a little unfortunate, perhaps, my dear," he admitted; "but it +is so difficult to know what to say when one has to speak impromptu." + +"It ought to be easy enough to know what _not_ to say," she retorted. +"Dear me, what hosts of people!" she went on, as her irritation merged +into complacency. "And _how_ pleased they all seem to see us! But no +doubt, after a bachelor Regent, a whole Royal family--I love to see +their happy smiling faces!" + +"Grinning mugs would be nearer the mark, Mater," said Clarence; "never +saw such a chuckle-headed lot of bumpkins in my life!" + +"I will thank you to remember, Clarence," she replied, "that they are my +loyal subjects, and will be _yours_ at some time to come." + +"I can _wait_ for 'em," he said; "and if they're so jolly loyal, why +ain't they cheering more?" + +Slowly the golden coach progressed through winding streets of gabled or +step-roofed houses with toppling overhanging stories, then along one +side of a great square, packed with people in costume, the women +recalling to Mrs. Stimpson's mind, quite inappropriately, the waitresses +at the Rigi Kulm hotel on a Sunday. Then, through more narrow streets, +to a smaller square, where it stopped at some steps leading to the huge +West portal of a magnificent buttressed Church. + +"All change here--for the Coronation!" said Clarence. "I'd better nip +out first, eh, Mater?" + +"Your father and I get out first, naturally, Clarence," said Mrs. +Wibberley-Stimpson, and descended majestically, Mr. Stimpson following +with somewhat less effect owing to an attack of cramp in his left leg. +Four small pages stepped forward in pairs to carry Mr. and Mrs. +Stimpson's trains, which they found a distinct convenience, and, hand in +hand, they passed through the great, elaborately niched and statued +doorway into the nave. The interior was thronged by all the notables of +Maerchenland, including the venerable President of the Council and his +Councillors. Above, the light struck in shafts through the painted +windows of the clerestory, tinging the haze of incense fumes with faint +colours. On the high altar twinkled innumerable tapers. "_Roman!_ as I +suspected!" whispered Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson on seeing them, and +sniffing the scented atmosphere. (She had attended St. John's at +Gablehurst, because the vicar, although Evangelical, was well-known to +be of good family.) Under a crimson canopy in the choir were two golden +chairs which they understood they were expected to sit upon, and +occupied accordingly. A mitred and coped ecclesiastic, who appeared to +be some kind of Bishop, then shepherded them benevolently through a +series of mystic rites that, besides being hopelessly unintelligible, +seemed unreasonably protracted. However, they reached the climax at +last, and amidst the tumultuous acclamations of the spectators the +previously anointed heads of King Sidney and Queen Selina, as they must +henceforth be described, received their respective crowns. + +"Ha, well," remarked King Sidney, when he and the rest of the Royal +family were once more in the coach, and on their way towards the palace +that was to be their future home, "we got through it most successfully +on the whole. Perhaps the Bishop was a little too lavish with the +anointing part of the ceremony. Still, taken altogether, it was--ah--a +very solemnising affair." + +"It would have been more so, Sidney," said the Queen, "if you hadn't +kept on dropping your sceptre and tripping over your train. I don't +wonder the Bishop got flustered. But I do wish we could have had it +properly done by the dear Archbishop of Canterbury!" + +"Bit out of his diocese, Maerchenland, what?" said the Crown Prince. + +"I'm aware of that, Clarence; and, of course, we're legally crowned, +whoever did it.... Sidney, it's only just struck me, but I'm sure we +ought to be bowing. Bow, children, all of you--take the time from me. +Sidney, why aren't _you_ bowing?" + +"I can't, my love. It's difficult enough to keep my crown on as it is!" + +"You can hold it on with one hand, can't you? You simply _must_ bow if +you don't want to be unpopular! So must _you_, children. Keep _on_ with +it!" + +"Give us a rest, Mater," said Prince Clarence, after they had been +nodding like Chinese mandarins for some minutes. "My neck's beginning to +wilt already!" + +Queen Selina herself was not sorry to stop. "It's certainly very +fatiguing at first," she admitted; "we must practise it together in +private.... Was that old Mrs. Fogleplug's dove-chariot that passed us +just now? I'm afraid I shall have to put her in her place. She's rather +inclined to forget herself--not only addressed me as 'my dear,' but +actually attempted to kiss me after the Coronation!" + +"So she did _me_!" said the Princess Royal, "but I hope I showed that I +thought she was taking a liberty." + +"She's a very worthy, well-meaning old creature, no doubt," remarked the +Queen; "still, a Fairy Godmother in these days is really _rather_--I +shall have to get her to retire--on a pension." + +"She'll stick on," said Prince Clarence, "you see if she don't. Means to +boss the whole show." + +"I shall soon let her see that I intend to be mistress in my own +Kingdom," said the Queen. "I could wish, I must say, that it was just a +little more up to date! Everything so dreadfully behind the times! I +haven't seen a shop yet with a plate-glass front, and not a single +pillar-box!" + +"Poor sort of place for Suffragettes, what?" observed Clarence. + +"Frivolity apart, Clarence," remarked the Queen, "I can see already that +there is much to be done here before the country can be called really +civilised. We must set ourselves to raise the standard by introducing +modern ideas--enlighten people's minds, and all the rest of it. And you +must do _your_ share, Sidney, as I shall do mine." + +"Certainly," said the King; "I'm agreeable. All for progress myself. +Always have been.... I fancy that must be our Palace up there. A truly +palatial residence--replete, I've no doubt, with every convenience we +can require." + +The State Coach, after making a leisurely circuit of the two sides of +the principal square, was now beginning the ascent of the steep zigzag +road to the Palace, which stood on the terraced height of the plateau +that commanded the city. The party in the coach caught glimpses of its +massive but ornate towers with fantastic spires and turrets, and its +great arched and columned wings of rose-tinted marble. As it was rather +larger than Windsor Castle, King Sidney's commendation was fairly +justified. + +But Queen Selina's mind was occupied in computing the probable number of +rooms, and the maids that would be required to "do" them, while she +wondered aloud whether they could possibly afford to keep such a place +up. + +"Depend upon it, my dear," said the King, "the--ah--State will provide +an ample allowance for all our expenses. I must go into that as soon as +an opportunity occurs, and find out exactly what our income will be." + +Little more was said after this, as the great coach creaked and groaned +slowly up the winding road, and then rolled through the golden gates +into the courtyard of the Palace. + +On the steps of the chief entrance were Marshal Federhelm, Baron von +Eisenbaenden, and the Court Godmother, who, with the rest of the Royal +household, had hastened on ahead to receive them. The Marshal ushered +them into the Hall of Entrance, which was immense and cool. There they +found the ladies and gentlemen-in-waiting drawn up in curtseying and +bowing ranks. The colours of their gay costumes would have been +dazzling, had they not been somewhat toned down by the subdued light +from the windows, which were paned with transparent agate set in +tracery of a flamboyant type. At the back rose a colossal staircase of +jasper. On either side were lofty doors leading to vestibules, +corridors, and reception halls. + +Judged by Gablehurst standards, the general effect of the interior was +hardly 'home-y' or cosy enough to be perfectly satisfactory, as Queen +Selina seemed to feel, for the only comment she made was: "_No_ china +punch-bowl for visiting-cards, I see!" + +"I say," the Crown Prince inquired of the Marshal, "who's the small +sportsman in the extinguisher hat?" he referred to an unassuming little +man with long, lint-coloured hair and pale, prominent eyes, whose +shiftiness was only partly concealed by large horn spectacles. He wore +black and crimson robes embroidered in gold with Zodiacal signs. "Looks +like the Editor of Old Moore's Almanack." + +"That, Sir," replied the Marshal, "is the learned Xuriel, our Astrologer +Royal. Will your Majesties permit me to present him?" And, the Royal +assent being given, he went across to fetch the sage. + +"Xuriel, my friend," he said in his ear, with a slightly ironical +intonation, "the august Sovereigns who owe their discovery to your +learning and research are naturally anxious to express their +acknowledgements. So come along and be presented, and perhaps you will +produce a better impression if you can manage to look a little less like +a hare with the ear-ache." + +It was not, however, the prospect of being presented to Royalty that was +disturbing the Astrologer Royal, but an unpleasant suspicion that the +ex-Regent was, for some reason or other, a little annoyed with him. + +"Your Majesties will be interested to hear," explained the Marshal, +after making the presentation, "that Master Xuriel was at one time +noted for his skill as a magician." + +"My studies in Magic were never carried very far, your Majesties," +protested the Astrologer, wriggling uncomfortably. "I--I did very little +at it. And, even before it was decreed that all enchanters and sorcerers +should either leave the Kingdom or take up some other profession, I had +discovered that astrology was my true vocation." + +"And you were right," said the Marshal heartily, "as results have shown. +And doubtless there is no truth in the rumour that you still retain some +proficiency in the Black Art." + +"Absolutely none, your Majesties!" the Astrologer Royal declared. "What +small skill I ever possessed, I have already forgotten; all my magic +spells have long since been discarded." + +"So I should hope," said Queen Selina severely. "Mr. Wibber--I mean, his +Majesty and I are, of course, no believers in Magic, but we are +determined not to allow any superstitions practices here in future--are +we not, Sidney?" + +"Certainly, my dear, certainly. Most undesirable. Of course, we don't +object to ordinary conjuring--anything harmless of that sort. But take +my advice, Sir, and stick to Astrology for the future--much more +gentlemanly pursuit!" + +The Astrologer Royal promised to observe this recommendation, and just +then the Court Chamberlain announced that a meal had been prepared for +the Royal Family in the King's Parlour, to which he offered to conduct +them at once. And, as the lengthy business of the Coronation had given +them all excellent appetites, they readily welcomed the proposal. + +Princess Ruby, catching sight of Daphne in one of the groups, had begged +that she might be included, which the Queen reluctantly granted as an +exceptional indulgence. + +Daphne would gladly have excused herself had that been possible; she was +becoming painfully conscious of finding Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson as a +Queen irresistibly ludicrous. Once already that morning she had only +just escaped detection, and she was horribly afraid now that something +might happen which would lead her to betray herself by unseemly +laughter. She could only pray inwardly that it would not, as she +followed with Ruby to the King's Parlour. + +This was a lofty hall with windows opening on to the terrace; the walls +were composed of great slabs of malachite, and twisted columns of the +same supported a ceiling of elaborately carved pink jade. At one end was +a dais, where a table was spread with what King Sidney referred to +somewhat disappointedly as "a cold snack," though he did it ample +justice nevertheless. + +The Marshal sat on his right hand; at his back stood the Court +Chamberlain, while chubby-faced little pages served cakes of bread on +bended knee, and filled the golden goblets with Maerchenland's choicest +wines, which the King considered "a trifle on the sour side." The Royal +Household looked on from a distance--to the exquisite discomfort of the +Queen. + +"I really can't enjoy my food, Sidney," she complained in an undertone, +"with every mouthful I take watched by all those members of the +nobility!" + +Suddenly she coloured with annoyance as she found she was being +addressed in a gruff, strangled voice from a quarter it was difficult at +first to locate. "Mr. Troitz," she demanded, "_who_ is that +ill-mannered person who seems to be trying to talk to Me with his mouth +full?" + +"The voice, your Majesty," he replied in the most matter-of-fact tone, +"appears to proceed from the boar's head." + +"How dare you try to impose on me by such a story? It's that wretched +little astrologer man. Ventriloquism and Conjuring always go together, +and I'll be bound he's underneath the table now!... Well," she said, +after she had satisfied herself by looking, "if he's not there, he's +somewhere in the room!" + +The Court Chamberlain assured her that the Astrologer Royal was not only +absent, but incapable of such a liberty; it really _was_ the boar's head +that had spoken, as animals in Maerchenland would on rare occasions--even +after suffering decapitation. + +"There was Falada, Mummy," cried Ruby eagerly. "Don't you remember? The +horse that talked poetry after its head had been cut off and nailed over +the arch! Miss Heritage can tell you all about it." + +But Miss Heritage could not--she was far too deeply engaged in wrestling +with an inward demon of unholy mirth that threatened at any moment to +gain the mastery. + +The head began again. But whatever felicitations, predictions, or +warning it was striving to utter were rendered practically inarticulate +by a large lemon that had been unfeelingly inserted between its jaws. + +"Have the boar's head removed at once, Mr. Troitz," ordered Queen +Selina. "I cannot and will not have it interrupting the conversation +like this. It couldn't happen at all in any _civilised_ country. Why, +we shall have the cold tongue beginning next, I suppose!..." + +It was here that poor Daphne's demon got the upper hand. + +"You seem slightly hysterical, Miss Heritage," remarked the Queen. +"Horse-exercise evidently has a very bad effect on your nerves, and I +must forbid you to ride in future." + +Thus was Daphne punished for her breach of etiquette. But Queen Selina +had no suspicion, even then, of its real extent. She was incapable of +conceiving that she could possibly seem ridiculous to one so infinitely +her inferior. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +DIGNITY UNDER DIFFICULTIES + + +The luncheon, after the removal of the too loquacious boar's head, +proceeded, to Daphne's intense relief, without any further incident, and +at its conclusion Queen Selina suggested a move to the terrace. One side +of it faced the City far below; another the slope of the road leading +immediately to the Courtyard, while from the third side steps descended +by lower terraces to the Palace Gardens, which were apparently +boundless. Beyond them, however, was a neglected region of groves and +thickets, a sort of Wilderness, which stretched from the Garden +boundaries to the edge of a plateau below which lay a wild valley, with +a chain of wilder peaks and crags forming the horizon. But none of the +Court had ever cared to explore the Wilderness, if they were even aware +of its existence, so no more need be said of it at present. + +The Royal Family leaned upon the parapet of the terrace, whence they had +a bird's-eye view of the big square immediately below, and the +picturesquely irregular buildings, above whose gabled red roofs grim +watch-towers and quaint spires or cupolas rose here and there. Down in +the square swarms of tiny figures were clustering round the public +fountains, which spouted jets that, as they flashed in the afternoon +sun, were seen to be of a purple hue. + +"Must be wine," remarked the Crown Prince. "If it's the same tap we had +at lunch, the poor devils have my sympathy!" + +"I think, Sidney," said the Queen, "that we ought all to go for a drive +presently--just round the principal streets. I'm sure the--a--populace +would appreciate it." + +"If you think it's expected of us, my love," he said. "Otherwise--well, +I should have rather liked to see a little more of the Palace; we don't +even know where our own bedrooms are to be yet." + +"The Guv'nor's right there, Mater!" said Prince Clarence. "We'd better +get settled down before we do anything else." + +"Perhaps we had," Queen Selina allowed. "I'll get that good old Mrs. +Fogleplug to take us round the house." And after sending for the Court +Godmother, she started, accompanied by the family and several of her +ladies-in-waiting, on a tour of inspection. + +Possibly the suites of halls, each more magnificent than the last, the +endless galleries and corridors, the walls decorated with sumptuous but +bizarre hangings, the floors inlaid with marble and precious stones +which were probably priceless and certainly slippery--possibly all these +contributed towards the upsetting of Queen Selina's equanimity, but her +manner was deplorably lacking in dignity and repose. She treated her +ladies, for instance, with a politeness that came nearer subservience +than ever. It was: "_Pray_ go first, dear Princess Rapunzelhauser! After +_you_, Baroness!... Please, Countess, I really couldn't _think_ of +preceding you!" at every doorway, till Daphne, as she noted the elevated +eyebrows and covert smiles of the others, felt too much shame for her +Sovereign for any thought of amusement. + +However, the Queen showed more self-assertion in her treatment of the +Court Godmother, which was characterised by some _hauteur_. + +"And now, I suppose, Mrs. Fogleplug, we have seen _all_ the Reception +Rooms. We shall probably have to entertain on rather a large scale, but +they appear to be fairly suitable. What I have _not_ yet seen is a room +where I could receive ordinary callers. I have always made a practice +since I was first married of being 'at Home' on the first and third +Fridays, and though circumstances have altered, I intend to continue +it." + +The Fairy, though she was rather at a loss to understand either the +reason or the necessity for this, said that there was a chamber called +"The Queen's Bower" which would probably meet Her Majesty's +requirements, and led the way to it accordingly. + +It was about sixty feet square, with a high vaulted roof of lapis-lazuli +set with large diamond stars; the walls were decorated with huge +frescoes representing legends, many of which Princess Ruby recognised as +familiar. + +"This will do, Mrs. Fogleplug," pronounced the Queen. "At least it +can be _made_ to do, with a little re-arrangement. As it is, there +are none of the ordinary refinements, such as art-cushions, +cake-and-bread-and-butter stand, occasional tables, and little +silver knick-knacks, which a lady's boudoir of any pretensions to +elegance should have. Just the trifles that express the owner, +and--er--constitute Home. I must have all these provided before I can +use this as a sanctum. I should certainly have expected a Palace like +this to be furnished with more regard to comfort!" + +"I should have expected a billiard-room or two," said Prince Clarence; +"but these Courtier chaps tell me they don't even know what billiards +are! Pretty sort of Palace this!" + +"I think it's a perfectly lovely Palace!" Princess Ruby declared. "It +hasn't got a single piano in it anywhere! I know, because I've asked." + +"I'm sorry to hear it, my dear," said her Mother, "because I +particularly wished Miss Heritage to get you on with your music; and, if +that is impossible, I shall have to consider whether I can keep her at +all." + +"Oh, Mummy, you won't send her away? When you know I've never been good +with anybody before, and never _shall_ be, either!" + +Queen Selina was quite alive to the advantages of retaining Daphne's +services. + +"Well, Ruby," she said, "I shall allow Miss Heritage to stay on, as your +companion" (she had already seen her way to proposing a reduction of +salary), "and she can make herself generally useful to me as well." + +Ruby went dancing back to Daphne. "You're not to be my governess any +more, Miss Heritage, dear," she announced, "because I shan't require one +now. But I've got Mummy to let you stay on as companion. Aren't you +glad?" + +Daphne answered that she was--and she would certainly have been sorry to +leave Maerchenland quite so soon. + +"And now tell me, Mr. Chamberlain--Baron Troitz, I mean," the Queen was +saying. "What time do you dine here?" + +"Whenever your Majesties please," was the reply. + +"All the same to us," said the King affably. "No wish to put you _out_ +at all." + +"Then with your permission, Sire, the Banquet will be served an hour +hence in the Banqueting Hall." + +"A banquet!" cried the Queen. "I would rather we dined quietly, without +any fuss, on our first night here." + +"It is the night of your Majesties' Coronation," the Court Chamberlain +reminded her. "The Court would be deeply disappointed if so auspicious +an event were not celebrated in a befitting manner." + +"Oh," said the Queen. "Then it will be full dress, I suppose--with +crowns?" + +"I hope--not _crowns_," put in King Sidney, who had taken the earliest +opportunity of leaving his own in a corner. "A crown is such an +uncomfortable thing to eat in. At least mine is." + +The Court Chamberlain gave it as his decision that crowns should +certainly be worn--at least through the earlier courses of the meal. + +"All you've got to do, Guv'nor," said Clarence, "is to keep yours from +splashing into the soup. A bit of elastic round your chin would do that +all right." + +"And I presume," said the Queen, "we shall wear these robes we have +on?... Oh, we shall find a change of costume upstairs? Then, as there is +not too much time for dressing, I should like to see my room at once, +Mrs. Fogleplug." + +"Sidney," she panted a little later as, escorted by the Marshal and +Baron, and followed by the Court Godmother and the ladies and +lords-in-waiting, they were making the ascent of the grand staircase, +"one of the _first_ things we must do here is to put in a lift. I really +can't be expected to climb all these stairs several times a day!" + +"They do take it out of one, my dear," he admitted. "And a lift would +certainly be a great improvement." + +At the head of the staircase was a long tapestry-hung gallery in which +were the doors opening into the suites of rooms prepared for Royalty. + +Queen Selina, on reaching hers, could not bring herself to allow her +ladies of the Bedchamber to assist at her toilet. "So _very_ kind of +you, Princess, and you, too, my dear Baroness," she protested, "but I +couldn't _think_ of troubling you--I couldn't indeed! I should feel +quite ashamed to let you! I can manage perfectly well by myself--that +is, Miss Heritage will come in after she has attended to Princess Ruby, +and do all I require, and then she can go on and help _you_, Edna." + +"Thank you, Mother," said Edna, "but I should prefer having some one who +is more accustomed to dressing hair." + +After putting Ruby into a robe of golden tissue and silken stockings and +satin shoes, which, being quite as splendid as those she had just laid +aside, afforded the child intense satisfaction, Daphne went to Queen +Selina's Tiring Chamber--a spacious apartment with hangings of strange +colours embroidered with Royal emblems. It was separated by a curtained +arch, through which a glimpse could be caught of the Royal Bedchamber, +with the colossal and gorgeously canopied State bed. + +She found the Queen still in an early stage of her toilette and in a +highly fractious state of mind. + +"I expected you to be here before this, Miss Heritage," she said. "I've +been waiting all this time for you to fasten me up the back, which I +couldn't possibly ask any of my Court ladies to do.... I'm sure _I_ +don't know what goes on next!... Oh, do you think the--er--stomacher +_before_ the ruff?... Very well.... It's impossible to judge the effect +in such a wretched light" (the chamber, it should be said, was +illuminated by a number of perfumed flambeaux stuck in elaborately +wrought silver sconces). "Even at 'Inglegarth' I had a pair of electric +lights over my dressing-table! And how on earth any Queen can be +expected to dress at a shabby tarnished old cheval-glass like this is +more than _I_ can conceive!" + +Upon which a thin but silvery voice immediately responded: + + "As dimly can I understand + How _you_ are Queen of Maerchenland!" + +"Upon my word, Miss Heritage!" exclaimed Queen Selina, with an angry +flush on her oatmeal-hued cheeks, "I am surprised at such +impertinence--from _you_!" + +"It--it wasn't me, Ma'am," said Daphne, with an heroic effort to keep +her countenance. + +"As it was certainly not myself, and you are the only other person in +the room, Miss Heritage, your denial is impudent as well as useless!" + +Daphne could only point speechlessly to the mirror. + +"Really, Miss Heritage! This goes beyond all--what _next_!" + + "Reflected here there should have been + A younger and far fairer Queen." + +continued the voice in a doggerel as devoid of polish as the mirror +itself. + +"It _does_ appear to come from--but whoever heard of a looking-glass +talking?" said the mystified Queen. + +"Little Snow-white's Stepmother had a mirror that answered her, Ma'am," +said Daphne, "and she was a queen in Maerchenland, I believe. Perhaps +this is the very one!" + +It would, no doubt, have proceeded to make some even more unflattering +comments if Daphne had not, with much presence of mind, turned its face +to the wall. How she knew that this would silence it she could not have +said herself. But it certainly did. + +"I have no reason for believing that any such person as Little +Snow-white ever existed," said Queen Selina; "but whoever that glass +belonged to, I will not have it here. I would have it smashed, if it +wasn't unlucky. But it must be removed to the attics before I come up +here to undress. Really, I never knew such a country as this is! Boar's +heads trying to speak at luncheon, and mirrors making personal remarks, +and everything so strange and unnatural! But you take it all as a matter +of course, Miss Heritage; nothing seems to surprise _you_." + +"I think, Ma'am," said Daphne, "because I've always known that, if I +ever _did_ get to Maerchenland, it would be very much like this." + +"Considering that you had no better means of knowing what it would be +like than I had myself," replied the Queen, "I can only ascribe that to +affectation.... Surely there must be more of the Crown jewellery than I +have been given as yet?... Yes, there _may_ be something in that +chest.... Good gracious me! _What_ diamonds! I don't think the dear +Duchess of Gleneagles herself can have anything to approach them!... +Yes, you can put me on a _riviere_, and two of the biggest ropes of +pearls.... It won't do to go down looking dowdy. Dear me," she added, as +she took up the pendant she had bought from Daphne twenty-four hours +before, "to think of my giving so much money for this paltry thing! If I +had known then what I do now, I should never have--but, of course, I +don't mean that I should think of going back on it." + +"I'm afraid, Ma'am," said Daphne, "I couldn't pay it back now; I sent +the cheque last night." + +"I am quite content to bear the loss, Miss Heritage. And, by the way, +you may not be aware of it, but it is hardly correct or usual, in +speaking to me, to call me 'Ma'am.'" + +"I've always understood, Ma'am," said Daphne, "that our own Queen--in +England, I mean----" + +"How the Queen of England may allow herself to be addressed is entirely +her own affair," said Queen Selina handsomely; "I have nothing whatever +to do with _that_. But I am Queen of Maerchenland, Miss Heritage, and I +shall be obliged by your addressing me as 'Your Majesty' on _all_ +occasions." + +"Certainly, your Majesty," said Daphne, executing a profound curtsey +with a little smile that she was quite unable to repress. "I assure your +Majesty that your Majesty may rely on my addressing your Majesty as +'Your Majesty' for the future, your Majesty." + +"That is better, Miss Heritage, much better--a little overdone, but +still--And now," she added, "you had better go and see if Princess Edna +wants any assistance. You need not trouble to change your own dress, as, +of course, you will not sit down to dinner with us." + +"She's too priceless!" thought Daphne, when she was outside on the +gallery, and could indulge her sense of humour in safety. "Still, I +don't think I _could_ stand her very long if it weren't for Ruby!" + +"I say, Mater," the Crown Prince called out a few minutes afterwards +outside his Mother's door, "how much longer are you and the Guv'nor +going to be? All night?" + +"You can come in, Clarence," she said. "How soon your Father will be +ready, I can't say. I finished _my_ dressing hours ago." + +King Sidney, following her example, had declined the good offices of his +gentlemen, and there were sounds from his dressing-room on the farther +side of the Bedchamber which indicated that he was in some difficulties +in consequence. + +"My aunt!" exclaimed Clarence as he saw his Mother fully arrayed. +"You've got 'em all on _this_ time, Mater, and no mistake! So've you, +Guv'nor," he added, as King Sidney joined them with rather a sheepish +air. "Only--are you sure you've got yours on _right_? I mean to +say--that ruff looks a bit cock-eyed." + +"It's given me more trouble than any white tie, my boy--but it must do +as it is." + +"Ah, I got that bristly-haired chap--what's his name--Hansmeinigel--to +put on mine for me. Didn't any of yours give you a hand?" + +"They offered to--most kindly," said King Sidney, "but--well, I didn't +altogether relish letting them dress me." + +"They'd have made a jolly sight neater job of it than you have--keep +still a jiff till I've tucked this tape in. There--that's more like it. +And I say, you and the Mater had better hurry--you're keeping the whole +Court waiting for you!" + +"Why didn't you tell us before?" said the Queen in a violent flurry. +"Where--where _are_ the Court?" + +"All drawn up in the Hall at the foot of the big staircase. They can't +make a move till you come down, and lead the way in to dinner, you +know!" + +"I--I'd rather not descend all those steps in public," objected the +King. "Confoundedly slippery. Er--couldn't we go by the backstairs, my +love?" + +"And find ourselves in our own kitchen!" said the Queen. "Certainly not, +Sidney! The grand staircase is the only dignified way down, and you had +better give me your arm at once." + +"Very well, my dear, very well. But I'm pretty sure I shall slip." + +"You must _not_ slip, Sidney! Neither of us must slip. If we did, it +would produce a very bad impression. Still, it will be safer if we go +down one by one, and hold on to the banisters." + +"No, I say," cried the Crown Prince, "you can't do that--might as well +crawl down on all fours! Buck up, both of you. Try and throw a little +swank into it!" + +Their Majesties accomplished the descent amidst the congratulatory blare +of the silver trumpets without actual mishap. But there was nothing in +the bearing of either Sovereign that could justly be described by the +term "swank," and indeed, if any fault could be found, it would have +been in quite the opposite direction. + +Of the banquet itself little need be said here. The numerous courses +were appetising and admirably served, while, to the Queen's relief, none +of the dishes showed any desire to take part in the conversation. + +The members of the Court did more than look on this time, being +entertained, with other guests, amongst whom were the President and +Council, at cross tables below the principal one on the dais. + +Clarence, seated with his family, the Ex-Regent, and the Court Godmother +at the high table, wished more than once that he could have sat by +Daphne, whom he could see at no great distance. He noted her perfect +ease, and the pretty graciousness with which she received the attentions +which her neighbours seemed only too anxious to press upon her. + +"Anyone would think she'd lived with swells all her life," he thought. +"She may have, for anything I know!" But, of course, even if she had, +the fact did not make her his equal now. + +Towards the close of the feast King Sidney, who had long since disposed +of his crown underneath his chair, considered that the occasion demanded +a speech. His effort might have been a greater success if he had +abstained from jocularity, which was not by any means his _forte_. It is +possible that a far happier sample of British humour would have failed +to set Maerchenland tables in a roar, but his hearers were either unaware +that he intended to be humorous, or sensible that his purpose had not +been achieved, for they listened in puzzled but depressed silence, while +the effect of his facetiousness on Daphne was to render her hot and cold +by turns. + +The banquet over, the Court Chamberlain deferentially informed the Royal +Party that they were expected to lead the procession to the Ball Room. + +Clarence, who had unfortunately come away from "Inglegarth" without his +cigarette-case, was longing to smoke, and hung behind for that purpose. +But on applying to the Marshal, he was told that only common soldiers +ever smoked in Maerchenland. With some trouble a highly flavoured pipe, a +tinder-box, and a pouch containing a dried herb that appeared to be the +local substitute for tobacco were procured for him. However, a very +short experience convinced him that duty required him to put in an +appearance at the State Ball. + +The Ball Room was a long, lofty hall, lit by thousands of candles set in +great golden hoops; the light they gave being multiplied almost to +infinity by the fact that the walls and ceiling were lined with +elaborately engraved looking-glass, which, fortunately perhaps for the +Queen, was dumb. When he entered, the musicians were already fiddling, +piping, and fluting in a gallery high up at one end facing a raised +platform, where his father and mother, looking extremely hot and +uncomfortable, were seated on gorgeous chairs. A stately measure was +being performed, which might have been a _gavotte_ or minuet or _pavane_ +for anything he could say; all he knew was that the figures were quite +unfamiliar to him. + +But Daphne seemed to have learnt them--or had they come to her by +instinct?--for she was dancing in one of the sets. He watched her +lissome form as she moved through the intricate evolutions till he began +to envy the Count von Daumerlingstamm, her elegant but undersized +partner. However, he flattered himself that he would have no difficulty +in cutting out little Daumerlingstamm. + +It seemed to him that that dance would never be over, but the moment it +was, he made his way to Daphne with an air that showed he was fully +aware of the distinction he was conferring. "Enjoying yourself, Miss +Heritage?" he said. "Don't know what that last dance was--but not much +'vim' about it, if you ask _me_. Tell you what--I'll get those fiddler +fellows up there to play something a bit livelier, and you and I'll +show this crowd a two-step, what?" + +"This is a great honour, your Royal Highness," said Daphne, after +sinking demurely in the regulation curtsey. "But I must not accept it +until I have her Majesty's permission." ("Which I'm quite sure she won't +give!" she thought to herself with much satisfaction.) + +"Oh, I say--what rot! The Mater won't mind! And if she does----!" + +"It would be very disagreeable for me, your Royal Highness!" + +"Oh, well," he said, "I'll go and ask her." + +As Daphne had anticipated, Queen Selina's refusal was most emphatic. +"You ought to know, Clarence, that it's utterly out of the question!" +she said. "And I'm surprised at Miss Heritage having the presumption to +expect it." + +"She didn't, Mater. She said I'd better ask you first." + +"Then it seems she has a better sense of her position than you have of +yours, Clarence. I'm told you have been seen walking about with a +disgusting pipe in your mouth, and that several people were remarking on +it. Now you are actually proposing to make yourself conspicuous by +dancing at a State Ball with your sister's companion! I have always +credited you with being a man of the world--but if _this_ is the way you +are going on----!" + +He felt the sting of so unwonted a rebuke. "I daresay you're right, +Mater," he acknowledged. "I'll be more careful after this." + +"I hope you will, I'm sure. As Crown Prince you mustn't _think_ of any +partner under the rank of Baroness. Ask one of the Princesses first, or +you'll give _more_ offence." + +"Right-oh!" was all he said, and, feeling that it would be awkward to +make any explanation or excuses to Daphne, he solved the difficulty by +avoiding her for the rest of the evening. + +Princess Goldernenfingerleinigen, a prepossessing but not very +forthcoming damsel, enjoyed the distinction of being commanded by the +Crown Prince as his first partner. + +He had had no experience in conversing with Princesses, and she did not +exert herself either to put him more at his ease or prevent him from +losing himself frequently in the mazes of the dance. Once or twice he +was oppressed by a painful suspicion that he had seen her making a +little grimace of self-pity at the Countess Gaensehirtin. But elaborately +engraved mirrors are not very trustworthy, and he might have been +mistaken. Still, he was thankful when the dance, in which he was +conscious of having done himself so little credit, came to an end. + +"Edna, old girl," he remarked subsequently to the Princess Royal, "I +call this a rotten ball. Can't stick dancing with any more of these +Princesses!" + +Princess Edna, it appeared, had been no more favourably impressed by the +Courtiers. + +"They've simply _no_ conversation," she complained, "and no ideas about +any serious subjects!" + +"No, _I_'ve noticed that," he said; "and they think they're the only +people who can dance! I tell you what--you and I'll show 'em how we do +the Tango. That'll make 'em open their eyes!" + +It did. As has already been said, both he and Edna, as persons who could +not afford to be out of the movement, had taken lessons that winter in +the recent importation from dubious Argentine dancing-saloons. They +danced it now with conscientious care, Prince Clarence exhibiting as +much _abandon_ as a man could who was dancing with his sister. + +But the Court were not sufficiently enlightened to appreciate the +performance. They evidently considered it not only uncouth and +undignified, but more than a little improper, and their general attitude +conveyed that the couple were committing one of those temporary +indiscretions which it was not only etiquette but charity to pass over +in silence. + +"Capital!" said King Sidney, clapping his hands at the conclusion. +"Uncommonly well they dance together, eh, my dear--never seen them do it +before." + +"And you will never see them do it again, Sidney," replied the Queen; +"for I'm much mistaken if they haven't broken up the Ball!" + +She was not very far wrong, for although, after some minutes of +awestruck silence, dancing was resumed, it was carried on with a +restraint and gloom that soon decided the Royal Family to retire from +the Ball Room. + +The Queen forbore from expressing her sentiments just then either to her +son or daughter, with the latter of whom, indeed, she seldom, if ever, +ventured to find fault. But she felt that her first evening in the +Palace had not been a brilliant success. + +This feeling impelled her to be more ingratiating than ever to her +ladies of the Bedchamber, whose services in disrobing her she was +compelled to accept, though under protest. + +"So _much_ obliged!" she said, as they finally withdrew with glacial +ceremony. "Quite ashamed to have troubled you, really! Good-night, dear +Princess, _good_-night. We shall breakfast at 8.30. But _en famille_, +you know--quite _en famille_--so don't _dream_ of coming down!" + +"I hope, Sidney," she began later, as he joined her in the Royal +Bedchamber, "I hope you have treated the gentlemen who undressed you +with proper consideration. It is _so_ important.... Good gracious! +What's that you've got on? A night-cap?" + +"Those--er--noblemen seemed to consider it the correct thing, my love, +and they've put me on this night-gown, too." + +"I see they have. Embroidered all over with impossible animals. You look +a perfect _sight_ in it!" + +"I'm told they're--er--hippogriffs, my dear, the--ah--Royal Crest or +emblem or something. I should have much preferred pyjamas myself. But it +seems they are not procurable here." + +"Everything in this country is in a disgracefully backward state!" +declared the Queen; "and I can see I shall have hard work to bring it up +to my ideas of what is proper. I shall _begin_ by putting that old Mrs. +Fogleplug in her proper place." + +"I should be careful, my dear," advised King Sidney. "After all, you +know, she's by way of being a Fairy." + +"So she _says_! But, Fairy or no Fairy, she's much too familiar. And if +she cannot conform to my rules, she will have to go, that's all." + +"Well, my dear, I daresay when you put it to her like that," began the +King, who had by this time succeeded in clambering into the immense bed, +and whose head was already buried in an enormous pillow. "As I was +saying," he continued hazily, "put it to her in--in that way, +and--and--no doubt ... very probably ... no reason to suppose ... +any...." But here his voice sank into an unintelligible murmur, until it +rose presently into his first, but not by any means last, snore in the +character of monarch. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +CARES OF STATE + + +Queen Selina was as good as her word. The first thing after breakfast +the next morning she retired to her Bower, and sent a summons to the +Court Godmother, desiring her immediate attendance. King Sidney was +engaged in interviewing the Lord Treasurer on the subject of the Royal +revenue. The Crown Prince and Princess Edna were strolling on the +terrace, and Daphne had discovered the board and pieces of a game +something between Chess and Halma, the rules of which she and Princess +Ruby were learning under the instruction of the Countess von +Haulemaennerschen. So that the Queen, having taken care not to disturb +any of her ladies-in-waiting, could count upon being able to deal +faithfully with the obnoxious old Fairy without fear of interruption. + +"Well, my dear," began the latter, as soon as she appeared, "I hope you +passed a comfortable night?" + +"I don't know when I passed a _more_ uncomfortable one, Mrs. Fogleplug. +That is _one_ of the things I wished to speak to you about. After being +accustomed as I have to a spring mattress, all those great feather beds +made it simply impossible to get a wink of sleep!" + +"That," said the Fairy, "is one of the penalties of being of the blood +Royal. An ancestress of yours slept in that very bed, my dear, ages ago, +before even _I_ can remember--or I should rather say she _tried_ to +sleep, but could not, owing to a pea that had somehow got under the +lowest feather-bed of all. It was certainly very careless if the pea has +never been removed." + +"It would also show, Mrs. Fogleplug, that during all those ages the bed +can never have been properly aired. I should have thought it would have +been _your_ business to see to that." + +"Then you would be entirely mistaken, my dear, for it is not. And, as I +notice that you find a difficulty in pronouncing my name correctly, I +may suggest that it would be simpler in future to call me by my proper +title, which is, 'High Court Godmother,' or 'Court Godmother,' if you +prefer it." + +"And while we are on the subject of titles," said Queen Selina, "_I_ may +mention that it is customary to address a Queen as 'Your Majesty,' and +not as 'my dear.'" + +"It has always been my habit with Sovereigns, and I have never heard it +objected to till now." + +"Well, _I_ object to it. But--and this is what I sent for you +about--there are other matters I object to even more. I intend to +regulate my household on a thoroughly modern and English system, and I +cannot have any member of it careering about in the air in outlandish +cars drawn by birds. If you _must_ have a conveyance you must be content +with a brougham or a victoria, for I shall insist on your putting down +both those bird-cars." + +"You seem to forget that, but for one of them, you would never have come +into your Kingdom!" + +"That may or may not be. At any rate there is no further necessity for +them, and--well, it just comes to this, Madam, either they go or you +do." + +The old Fairy's eyes smouldered with anger, and her nut-cracker mouth +and chin champed for a few seconds before she replied. + +"I have occupied rooms in this Palace--when not at the Palace of +Clairdelune--for over a century and a half, and I have no intention of +giving them up. I shall also continue to use the vehicles which I find +most convenient." + +"Oh?" said the Queen, "will you? We shall _see_ about that!" + +"We shall," the Court Godmother retorted. "I don't think you quite +realise yet whom you have to deal with. I may be getting on in years, +but both here and at Clairdelune I am accustomed to being treated with +more deference and respect than you seem disposed to pay me. You see, +they know that, although I have not used the full powers I possess as a +Fairy for many years past, I have not lost them altogether. I might see +fit to employ them once more--on any person who was rash enough to incur +my displeasure. And ingratitude and pride are the failings which I +always made it my particular business to correct. You would find it more +to your advantage to be on good terms with me." There was no mistaking +the veiled threat, and Queen Selina no longer doubted the Fairy's +abilities to carry it out. She was worsted, and her only course was to +give in gracefully. + +"My _dear_ Court Godmother!" she cried, "you _quite_ misunderstood me! +I'd no wish to interfere with any of your habits--not in the very +slightest degree. All I _meant_ was that, perhaps, at your age, a more +ordinary carriage than your present ones might be--er--_safer_, you +know!" + +"I am quite capable of looking after my own safety, thank you. But, +though you are our beloved Prince's daughter, you have been brought up +in ignorance of the ways of this country, so I am the more willing to +overlook treatment to which I feel sure I shall not have to draw your +attention again. And now, as we quite understand one another, my dear, +we will say no more about it. By the way, I hear you haven't sent for +any of your ladies-in-waiting this morning. How is that?" + +"I--I didn't quite like to, Court Godmother. We're--well, hardly +intimate as yet. They are so reserved and distant--especially that +Princess Rapunzelhauser. But, of course, she comes of a very high +family." + +"She is descended from the famous Rapunzel, whose story is no doubt +familiar to you.... No? Well, her father was a poor cottager who was +caught by an old witch stealing radishes from her garden. She let him +off on condition that he gave up to her the child his wife was +expecting. Rapunzel was the child, and in due time was claimed by the +witch, who shut her up in a lofty tower. However, she had the most +wonderful hair, so long that when she let it down from the top window it +touched the ground, and so thick that the Prince whom she subsequently +married was able to climb up by it, and make love to her." + +"Now you mention it, I have some faint recollection--and so Princess +Rapunzelhauser is descended from _her_! Well, that would account +for--but Princess Goldenenfinger--something, now, she _does_ look as if +she had _some_ good blood in _her_ veins." + +"The best in Maerchenland. An ancestor of hers was King of one of the +smaller Kingdoms into which the country was divided in those days. One +day when out hunting he found a woodcutter's daughter living all alone +in a hollow tree, and fell violently in love with her." + +"A _woodcutter's_ daughter? Dear me! Then, of course, marriage was out +of the question." + +"Not at all! they were married and had children. Unfortunately there was +an estrangement between the King and Queen later as she was accused of +having murdered them, and condemned to be burnt to death." + +"It only shows what a mistake it is to marry beneath one." + +"_This_ marriage ended happily. It was discovered, just in time, that +the children were alive after all." + +"Still," said the Queen, "it is _not_ a pleasant thing to have happened +in _any_ family. I should like to hear something about the pedigrees of +my other ladies-in-waiting." + +The Court Godmother was quite ready to give her all the information she +could. Princess Flachspinnenlosburg, it appeared, traced her descent +from the incorrigibly lazy daughter of a poor and not over scrupulous +mother; Baroness Belohnte von Haulemaennerschen from similarly humble +folk, whose daughter was servant of all work to seven dwarfs, and +afterwards married the King of one of the petty states before mentioned; +Baroness von Bauerngrosstochterheimer's ancestor was a peasant; Countess +Gaensehirten am Brunnen's ancestress a goose-girl--and so on through the +entire list. Queen Selina then became curious as to the origin of the +gentlemen of her Court, and found that many of their forbears were +sullied by the taint of Trade. The founders of both Prince Tapfer von +Schneiderleinberg's and Count Daumerlingenstamm's houses were tailors; +Baron von Bohnenranken derived his title from a speculator who, after a +remarkably unsuccessful venture in cattle, had made a colossal coup in +beans. As for Prince Hansmeinigel, his pretensions to high descent were +even more questionable--at least, if it was actually the fact, as the +Fairy stated, that the first of his progenitors was not only the son of +a poor father, but also suffered the additional social disadvantage of +being a hedgehog from the waist upwards; added to which he seemed to +have cherished an eccentric passion for playing the bagpipes while +riding on a cock. It is true that, after his marriage with a Princess, +he became a less impossible member of Society--still, as the Queen very +rightly felt, there are some things which can never be altogether lived +down. + +"I'm much obliged to you for telling me all this, Court Godmother," she +said, at the end; "_most_ interesting, I'm sure. And so useful to know +who everybody really _is_!" + +It was something of a disillusion to find that her Court was so largely +composed of _parvenus_, but, on the other hand, it enabled her to face +her ladies-in-waiting in future without any distressing sense of +inferiority. + +She was on the point of summoning them when the King suddenly burst into +her bower. "Selina, my love," he began, with suppressed excitement, "if +you'll tell this good woman to go, I've something to say to you." + +"Oblige me, Sidney," replied the Queen, "by not alluding to the High +Court Godmother again as a good woman; we may consider ourselves very +fortunate that she is doing us the honour of residing under our roof, +and you will be good enough to show her proper respect." + +"Oh, sorry, I'm sure; I thought you said--but if _that's_ how it is, I +apologise for interrupting you." + +"I have said all I have to say," said the Court Godmother, "so there is +no need for me to remain any longer." And with that she hobbled out of +the room. + +"I suppose you got your way about those--ah--bird-chariots, my dear?" he +asked, "as you don't seem to have sacked her!" + +"She seemed so upset at the idea of giving them up that I said she might +keep them. I shall certainly not 'sack' her, as you call it. Now I've +come to know her better, I find she is a good, faithful old soul who is +much too useful to part with, and you must be very careful to be civil +to her in future. What was it you wanted to say to me?" + +"The Lord Treasurer and I have been going into our private resources," +he said. "I thought perhaps you might like to come with me to my +Counting-house and--and have a look at 'em, my dear." + +She was only too eager to do so. "Tell me, Sidney," she gasped, as they +hurried through various corridors to the wing in which the King's +Counting-house was situated. "Shall we--shall we have enough to live on +decently?" + +"I don't know what _you_ will think," he replied, with an irrepressible +chuckle, "but I should call it affluence myself--positive affluence, my +love!" + +They arrived at a heavily clamped door, where the Marshal, the +Treasurer, and Prince Clarence and Princess Edna were waiting for them. +"Two steps down," said King Sidney after unlocking the door. + +"And here we _are_!" he cried triumphantly, as they entered. + +The Counting-house was a huge barrel-roofed chamber lighted from windows +protected by elaborate scroll-work bars. Upon shelves all round the +walls, and piled in heaps on the floor, were sacks, "Every blessed one," +explained the King, "chock full of gold ducats! What do you think of +_that_, eh, my love?" + +"I think, Sidney," she replied, "that _I_ am the person who should have +the key." + +"There's one for each of us," he said. "Here's yours. And on that table +there you'll find purses laid out, and a little gold shovel to fill them +with. I've filled mine. Whenever our funds are running low, you see, +we've only to come down here and help ourselves." + +"Good biz!" said the Crown Prince, beginning to fill one of the purses. +"I shall fill my pockets as well--save another journey, what?" + +"Some of us do not possess pockets, Clarence," said his mother. "And I +must make it a rule that no one is to take out more than a purseful at a +time, and only after satisfying me that the money is required for some +legitimate purpose." + +"I don't think such precautions are at all necessary, my dear," said +King Sidney. "Marshal Federhelm seems to have put by a good deal while +he was Regent. And besides, there's plenty more where _this_ comes from, +you know!" + +"And where _does_ it come from?" inquired the Queen. + +"Why, the Treasurer tells me, we've a mine of our own in +the Golden Mountains a few miles from here--a mine that is +practically--ah--inexhaustible. I rather thought of driving over +to see it some day." + +"Let's all go!" said the Crown Prince. "Why not this afternoon? It'll be +something to do!" + +Queen Selina was pleased to approve the suggestion. "We certainly ought +to show that we are interested in industrial concerns," she said. "All +the _best_ Sovereigns do. I can't help wishing, though, that poor dear +Papa could have come with us. He knew so much about gold mines." + +"Just as well for us he can't," said Clarence, "because _he'd_ be the +Boss, then! I say, I've got an idea. Why not take one of those sacks in +the coach with us and chuck money out of the window to the crowd, what?" + +"Look too much as if we were out for a beanfeast, my boy," objected his +father. + +"And what's the matter with a beanfeast? Believe me, it will make us +jolly popular and be a lot better fun than just bowing to the +blighters." + +"And far less fatiguing," said Edna. + +"There's something in what Clarence says," said the Queen. "It _would_ +increase our popularity--and that is so important. Of course we +shouldn't make a _practice_ of it, but we can quite afford it, just for +once--what do you think, Mr. Marshal?" + +The Marshal thought it was an excellent notion. + +The Golden Mountains were not much more than a couple of leagues from +Eswareinmal, and the roads being tolerably good, a lighter vehicle than +the State Coach and six sturdy horses accomplished the journey in very +good time. In the streets they passed through and at various villages +along the valley, crowds had collected, and the enthusiasm with which +they scrambled for the coins that were showered from the carriage +windows proved how fully they appreciated the benefits of an established +Monarchy. + +"Don't throw any more now, children," counselled Queen Selina as they +neared the mine. "We must keep some for the dear miners. Sidney, be sure +to ask some questions about the machinery, and whether they're all happy +and comfortable. And do it tactfully, because I've always heard miners +are such a very independent and intelligent class." + +Perhaps even so short a residence in Maerchenland as theirs might have +prepared the Royal party for the unusual. But it was an undeniable shock +to them all to find, on arrival at the mine, not only that the method of +working was primitive to the last degree, but that it was entirely +conducted by diminutive beings who were unmistakable Yellow Gnomes. The +interior of the mine resounded with the blows of pickaxes, but the +inevitable trumpeters had no sooner announced that the Sovereigns had +left their coach than all work was suspended. The miners swarmed up from +their tunnellings, literally tumbling over one another in their haste to +behold the countenances of Royalty. + +"They seem--ah--a remarkable lively lot," observed King Sidney as some +of the Gnomes turned somersaults and Catherine wheels around their +visitors, while the more retiring stood unassumingly in the background +on their heads. "A bit undersized, and, judging from their complexions, +I should say the work had affected their livers. But it _may_ only be +due to the gold-dust." + +"They don't seem to realise a bit who we _are_!" complained Queen +Selina. "Sidney, _did_ you see that? One of the little wretches has +just taken a flying leap over my very head!" + +The Baron, who had followed in another coach, explained that these +demonstrations were merely intended to express loyal delight. + +"Oh, if you _say_ so, Baron," she said. "But anyone might easily mistake +it for impertinence. If it was not hopeless to expect an intelligent +answer from people who seem unable to stay right side up for a single +moment, I should like to know what wages they receive and what they live +on." + +The Court Chamberlain informed her that the Gnomes got no wages and +required little in the way of food, their favourite diet, he believed, +being earth. + +"Revolting!" was her comment. "No wonder they look so unwell! Still, +their living cannot cost much, so I should think, Sidney, if we gave +the--er--foreman a gold piece to be divided amongst them, that would be +amply sufficient." + +King Sidney thereupon presented a ducat to the most important-looking +Gnome, who immediately let it drop indifferently. + +"Wonder why he did that?" said the King. "Doesn't he think it's enough?" + +"Knows too much about how it's made, I expect," said Clarence. "Like the +chap at the Marmalade factory." + +"Well, it's a pity to waste it," said his father, picking up the coin. +"I should like to see them at work before we go." + +His wish having been conveyed to the Head Gnome, the whole band rushed, +yelping and screeching, back into the galleries, seized their picks, and +began hacking at the gold which gleamed in veins of incredible richness +through the rocky walls and roof of the caves. But perhaps their efforts +would have been more effective if they had not been quite so apt to get +in one another's way. + +The visitors then inspected the furnace where the ore was melted, and +the Mint where it was stamped into big fat coins. These were put up in +sacks for transmission to the Royal Treasury, but, as a fresh batch had +been delivered only recently, the supply in hand at the Mint was not +very large just then. + +"I _did_ like those Gnomes!" said Princess Ruby on the way home. "Didn't +_you_, Mummy?" + +"I should have liked them better, my dear, if they had been more like +fellow-Christians. Sidney, I shall _insist_ on their wearing some +civilised costume." + +"By all means, my love, if we continue to employ them. But I rather +think it would be better to get rid of them altogether." + +"Get _rid_ of them, Sidney? What in the world _for_?" + +"Well, you see, my dear, at the last General Election I took a somewhat +prominent part in denouncing the Conservatives for employing Chinese +labour in the South African mines. It would be very awkward if people at +Gablehurst found out that our entire income was derived +from--er--'Yellow Slavery.'" + +"Stuff and nonsense, Sidney! Who do you suppose is likely to _tell_ +them?" + +"You never know how things get about," he said uneasily. "And, as a +consistent Radical, it--it goes against my conscience." + +"Conscience, indeed! My dear good Sidney, if you go and get rid of those +Gnomes, who seem perfectly happy and contented, there'll be no one to +dig the gold!" + +"We could hire full-grown white labourers, my dear. Of course at a +living wage, but, as they would work more systematically, they would +obtain a far larger output, so we should make a handsome profit by the +change." + +"Ah, when you put it like _that_, Sidney, it makes all the difference. I +could see for myself that those hideous little horrors weren't taking +their work seriously." + +"There's to be a State Council to-morrow morning," said the King. "It +would be a good opportunity to inform them that we do not intend to +countenance slavery any longer." + +"That ought to have an excellent effect," Queen Selina replied. "I +shouldn't wonder if it made us more popular than ever.... Why, we're +back in the city already!... How delighted the dear people seem to see +us!... Yes, Children, you can empty the sack. The love of one's subjects +is well worth the money--and it's not as if we were ever likely to miss +it!" + +The next morning after breakfast the King and Queen held their first +State Council, Prince Clarence, of whose business capacity both his +parents had a great opinion, being given a seat at the board. There +were, it appeared, various measures on the _agenda_ which, as the +President explained, were of the highest political importance, being +concerned with the settlement of such matters as the precise number of +cherries that were to be strung on a stick and sold for a groschen at +old women's fruit-stalls; the dimensions of the piece of jam that a +huckster should be permitted to put in his porridge; whether the +watchmen's horns really needed new mouthpieces, and, if so, whether +these should be of ivory or bone. Questions which had to be given the +fullest consideration and debated at prodigious length before the +Sovereigns could be asked to affix their signatures and seals to the +decrees. + +Clarence fidgeted with undisguised impatience, and King Sidney was more +than once under the necessity of raising the golden hand at the end of +his sceptre to his lips in order to conceal an irrepressible yawn. But +at last the state business was disposed of, and the King was able to +introduce his own. It was clear from the vehement wagging of the +Councillors' white beards while he was announcing the Royal intention to +emancipate all Gnomes at present in the Gold mine, that they regarded +the new departure with no great favour. The President himself, although +he admitted that it concerned the Sovereigns more closely than any other +person, pointed out certain objections which he begged their Majesties +to ponder. And Councillor after Councillor rose and protested against +the scheme with the utmost solemnity and prolixity. + +Queen Selina, who was now far more eager than the King to have the mine +reorganised on a more paying principle, would have answered the critics +herself, if Clarence had not induced her to leave the reply in his +hands. + +"Well," he said, rising, "have you all done? No other gentleman wish to +hear himself talk?... All right then. Now I'll have _my_ little say. Of +course, what the venerable old Father Christmas in the chair told you +was perfectly correct. If we choose to set these little beggars free, +it's no business of anybody but ourselves. The Guv'nor--that is to say, +his Majesty--was merely _telling_ you about it--not asking what you +thought about it. Sorry if you don't approve, but we shall get over it +in time. And really, your objections, if you won't mind my saying so, +are absolutely footling. All they amount to is--because Gold Mines here +always _have_ been worked by gangs of Yellow Gnomes, therefore they must +be for all time. Now that's just the kind of fine old crusted pig-headed +Conservativism that's kept this the stick-in-the-mud Country it is! Look +at the sort of business you've been wasting our time in jawing about +to-day--why, in the country We came from, a Rural District Council would +have settled it all in five minutes if they thought it worth bothering +about at all. Street lanterns and watchmen's horns and old women's +sweet-stalls indeed! If you could only walk through--I won't say one of +our Cities, that might be too much of a shock for you--but through an +ordinary suburb such as we lived in, and saw how things were done +_there_, it would open your eyes a bit, I can tell you! You've been +marking time all these centuries while other Kingdoms have been making +progress. I'll tell you about some of the things we've learnt to do and +use, just as an ordinary matter of course--and you haven't so much as +heard of." + +Here he gave them a vivid description of the chief inventions and +discoveries of the last eighty years, from the steam-engine to the +aeroplane, which latter, he declared, put their sixty-stork-power car +completely in the shade. + +"If it is the fact," said the President, "that the inhabitants of your +Royal Highness's Country can work such marvels, you must be even +mightier magicians than were they whom our late King so wisely +suppressed." + +"You're wrong there, old bird!" said Clarence cheerfully; "no Magic +about it whatever. All done by brains and enterprise, but--and this is +what I am trying to knock into your heads--if we'd been governed by a +set of stuffy old fossils like yourselves--if you'll allow me the +expression--we should never have got a blessed thing so much as +started!" + +Many, if not most of the Council were sceptical as to the possibility of +such inventions as Clarence had described, but the good old Baron +assured them that, even during the short time he was in England, and +although it was night, he had witnessed many of them with his own eyes, +thanks to the powerful illuminants which made darkness almost as light +as day. He exhorted his hearers to count themselves fortunate in having +gained Sovereigns who possessed such wondrous powers, since their +faithful subjects would assuredly now enjoy the benefits of them. + +"Aye," said the ex-Regent--though possibly not in such good faith as the +Baron. "We shall indeed have reason to congratulate ourselves if his +Royal Highness will graciously teach us how to construct one of these +fire-and-smoke-breathing engines that draw a line of waggons along roads +of iron, or even a mast that will send messages through a thousand +leagues of air." + +"You don't want _much_, do you, dear old boy?" said Clarence. "You don't +suppose I can show you how to build a railway train when you haven't got +any of the bally materials or appliances, do you?" + +"Your Royal Highness has but to name them, and they shall be procured." + +"They're not to be got here," replied Clarence. "If I tried to tell you +what they were, you wouldn't be any the wiser!" He spoke nothing but the +truth, for he had but the sketchiest acquaintance with the composition +of any kind of machinery. + +"Perhaps His Majesty," suggested the Marshal, who had long ago taken +King Sidney's measure, "is better able to instruct us in these mighty +secrets?" + +"H'm, well, to tell you the truth," confessed the King, "although I've +been in the habit of using railways, motors, electric light, telephones, +and so forth constantly, I can't pretend to more than a general notion +of how they work. Couldn't _make_ any of 'em, you know. Not _my_ line of +business!" + +"If that is indeed the case," said the President, "we find it the more +difficult to understand why his Royal Highness should have reproached us +for an ignorance which is no greater than either his own or your +Majesty's." + +"I wasn't reproaching you," said the Crown Prince, a little awkwardly, +"I was only telling you how differently things are managed where _we_ +come from. But after all, that isn't the point, so we'll say no more +about it. Let's get back to the Gnomes. One of you--I think it was the +gentleman with the grey topknot--objected that there was no other useful +way of employing them, except in the mine. Well, of course, we've +thought all that out," he declared, though, as a matter of fact, the +idea had only just struck him. "We intend to set 'em to work at laying +out a golf links, and when they've done that, we shall keep 'em on as +caddies. They're such nippy little devils that they ought to be jolly +useful.... Ah, naturally, you _wouldn't_ know what Golf is. Well, Golf +happens to be a thing I _do_ know something about. I can teach you +_that_ right enough. It's simply the greatest game going, and you'll be +grateful to me for introducing it. Don't worry," he added, as some of +the Council expressed dissent, "nobody's asking you to learn unless you +like. I shouldn't say myself that any of you--except perhaps the +Marshal--was very likely to shape into a 'plus' man. I fancy _he's_ got +the makings of a golfer in him, though, and, once I've got the course +laid out and given him a lesson or two, I bet you'll see he'll be as +keen as mustard." + +Before the Council broke up, the ex-Regent undertook that, as soon as +Clarence had selected the ground, the Gnomes should be removed from +their present quarters, and placed under the Crown Prince's directions. + +"Never again, Sidney," declared the Queen afterwards, "will you and I +sit through one of those tiresome councils! We'll leave them to manage +their own silly business, and if there's anything that requires our +signatures, they can bring the papers to us, and we'll sign them in our +own rooms. If there should be any difficulty, we can always ask the +Marshal--he's so very sympathetic and helpful." + +"Very," said the King, "oh, very--that is, I half fancied now and +then--but I believe he means us well. Yes, on the whole, my dear, I +think he's a person we can trust." + +"You needn't _think_ about it, Sidney," she replied; "you can feel +absolutely _certain_ that there's _nothing_ that man wouldn't do for +us!" + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +A GAME THEY DID NOT UNDERSTAND + + +With regard to the Royal visit to the Gold Mine, it should be mentioned +that, on returning to the Palace, the Queen and Princess Ruby had met +Daphne in one of the galleries. Ruby ran to her impulsively: "Oh, Miss +Heritage!" she cried, "we've had a ripping afternoon. Such fun throwing +money to the people, and seeing them scramble for it! We saw the Gold +Mine. And all the darling little Gnomes! You _would_ have loved them! I +do wish you had come with us!" + +"I fully intended to have arranged for you to do so, Miss Heritage," +said Queen Selina, with unwonted graciousness. "But with so much to +think of----! Do you happen to know where my other ladies-in-waiting +are?... In the Tapestry Chamber? Then I must get you to show me to it, +for I don't know my way yet about this immense house.... Through here? +Yes, you will accompany me--in fact, I particularly desire you to be +present." + +At her entrance the Maids of Honour all rose from their seats and made +obeisances which, but for the Court Godmother's revelations of their +ancestries, would have occasioned their Sovereign agonies of +embarrassment. But she felt she could face them now without _mauvaise +honte_, and indeed with all the assurance of superiority. + +"You may sit down, _girls_," she said, and although they found it hard +to believe at first that they could be the persons thus addressed, they +sat down. + +"And what are you all about?" she inquired. "Embroidery, is it? The +pattern seems rather large.... Oh, tapestry? I _see_. I prefer a bright, +cheerful paper on the walls to any tapestry myself. Only collects dust. +Now if you were to knit some warm woollen jerseys for those wretched +little Gnomes, who are really in _want_ of them, you would be doing +something useful. But that wasn't what I--ah, to be sure, I remember +now. I looked in to tell you, girls, that I have appointed Miss Heritage +here as my First Lady-in-waiting. You will be careful to address her in +future as 'Lady Daphne,' and treat her in all respects as your equal in +rank.... I don't know why you should look so surprised." (If they did, +it was merely that any such recommendation should be thought necessary.) +"Miss Heritage's parentage may, it is true, be obscure--but not more so, +from all I have been told, than that of most of your own ancestresses. +Indeed, I am much mistaken if she has not a better claim to be +considered a lady than any of them. Not that I think mere birth of any +importance myself, but I object to people giving themselves airs without +some real _ground_ for it. I am not alluding to Lady Daphne, whom I have +always found perfectly well-behaved and unpretentious." + +This was not perhaps the surest way of endearing Daphne to her new +companions, but then Queen Selina was less concerned to effect that than +to make them pay for the excessive deference she had so mistakenly shown +them in the past. + +However, in their simplicity it had never occurred to them that they had +any cause to be ashamed of their descent, and so they never imagined +that their Royal Mistress could insult them with it, and her shafts +missed the target. + +Fortunately for Daphne, too, she was already the object of a secret +_schwaermerei_ that left no room in their sentimental bosoms for jealousy +or ill-feeling. + +But, not being aware of this as yet, she was rendered only unhappy by +this sudden rise in the Royal favour. Her one consolation was the +certainty that it would not be very long before she was again in +disgrace. + +On the afternoon of the day on which the State Council had been held, +the Crown Prince explored the surrounding country with a view to +selecting a golf course. + +He found a district which was in every way suitable for his purpose--a +stretch of undulating land in a valley behind the plateau on which the +Palace stood, abounding in natural hazards, and affording great +facilities for artificial ones--in short, an ideal site for any links. +He began laying it out the next morning. The Gnomes were brought out of +the mine and conducted to the spot. The general idea was conveyed to a +Gnome who seemed, on the whole, less devoid of intelligence than his +fellows, and they all set to work with more activity than immediate +result. However, they seemed to take kindly to their new industry, and +Clarence was very well pleased with them. He had had no experience in +golf-architecture himself, but the nature of the ground was such that it +required but little to turn it into a very sporting course indeed, and, +if the Gnomes did not do much else, they constructed some remarkably +cunning bunkers. + +While they were thus engaged he ordered several sets of clubs to be +made from rough designs of his own by a master artificer in Eswareinmal, +who carried them out with considerable skill and fidelity. The +implements he produced may not have been quite according to Club +standards, but they were fairly serviceable. The balls seemed at first +likely to be the main difficulty, but some were discovered on the +toy-stalls in the market square which, though not of rubber, were +composed of a substance that proved an admirable substitute. They were +certainly open to one objection that, in ordinary circumstances, might +have disqualified them--they cost considerably under a farthing each. +But Clarence got over that by paying a ducat apiece for them. And then, +as the work progressed but slowly, he was forced to wait with what +patience he could until the links were ready for practising on. + +It does not take long for most people to get accustomed to any +surroundings, no matter how novel, and Queen Selina and her family soon +became acclimatised. Now that her household had lost their terrors for +her, she began to enjoy the sensation of being a Queen and inspiring +reverence and awe wherever she went, though she could have wished to be +the ruler of a Kingdom that was not quite so _outre_ as Maerchenland. +However, she felt she must take it as it was, and in a short time she +had almost forgotten that there ever had been a period when she had not +occupied a throne. + +Princess Edna, though she frequently protested that her rank had no +charms for her, was ready enough to assert it on all occasions, and +exercised authority over the unfortunate ladies-in-waiting to a degree +that might have rendered their lives a burden to them if they had been +able to take her as seriously as she did herself, which they were not. + +"Mother," she remarked one day, "I've been quite shocked to find how +appallingly ignorant our Maids of Honour are. Fancy, they've never heard +of Shakespeare, or Ibsen, or Bernard Shaw, or--well, anybody!" + +"My dear," said the Queen, "what can you _expect_ from such a set of +giggling, empty-headed minxes?" + +"I know. Still, I feel it a duty to do what I can to improve their +minds. I shall bring down my note-book this afternoon. It's got all my +notes on those lectures on English Literature I attended last Autumn. I +thought I'd read them aloud to them. It would give them a very good +general idea of the subject. Enough, at least, to enable them to talk +about it without exposing themselves." + +"I'm sure, Edna dear, it's most sweet of you to trouble about them." + +"Oh, since I have to live with a Court, I must try and raise it to a +more intellectual level." + +And so that afternoon, while the ladies of the Court were engaged, under +the Queen's supervision, in knitting little woollen garments of +shattering hues for the unsuspecting Gnomes, the Princess Royal produced +her note-book and read aloud extracts which gave an impressionist +bird's-eye view of English Literature from the fourteenth to the close +of the nineteenth Century. + +No doubt the lecturer had given his audience credit for some previous +acquaintance with the subject, and it may be that Princess Edna's method +of note-taking had been a trifle desultory; it was certain that the +ladies-in-waiting found a difficulty in assimilating the scraps of +literary pemmican she dispensed to them. + +They received with polite but languid attention such items as that: +"Shakespeare stands supreme among dramatists for consummate knowledge of +the human heart"; that: "as _Ralph Roister Doister_ is the first pure +comedy, so _The Vicar of Wakefield_ may be termed the first idyllic +English novel"; that: "while Byron possessed more intellect than +imagination, Shelley, on the contrary, was rather imaginative than +intellectual"; and even the statement that: "Browning's 'Ring and the +Book' contains upwards of twenty-one thousand lines" left them unmoved. + +It is true they were more interested in hearing that it was: "after he +had come under the spell of Petrarch and Boccaccio that Chaucer produced +his wondrous Tales," but it appeared their interest was due to some +slight misapprehension. Daphne felt the fearful joy of suppressed mirth +combined with the danger of detection as she heard Edna explaining with +laborious patience that she had _not_ intended to convey that the Poet +had been afflicted by a pair of enchanters with any caudal appendages +whatever. + +But the Princess Royal could not conceal her disgust when her final +extract, which was to the effect that: "during the closing decade of the +Nineteenth Century England became once more a 'nest of singing birds,' +as was apparent from the stream of fresh and melodious strains issuing +from, among other sources, 'The Bodley Head,'" was greeted with a ripple +of girlish laughter from her hearers. It seemed that this +incontrovertible statement of fact had somehow aroused reminiscences of +another head which, if fresh, had not been precisely melodious on the +luncheon board after the Coronation. + +Princess Edna waited with cold dignity until the last giggle was no +longer audible before announcing that she was willing to answer any +questions they might wish to ask her. Upon which Baroness Kluge von +Bauerngrosstochterheimer begged that they might be favoured with the +outline of one of the romances written by the Poet Shakespeare, who they +had been informed by her was so unsurpassed as a story-teller. + +Now Edna was undoubtedly well versed in the Literature of her native +land. She could not only have given with tolerable accuracy the names +and dates of the principal authors of each century, but a list of their +best-known works, and an estimate of the rank assigned to them by modern +criticism. She had even, impelled by an almost morbid conscientiousness, +consulted the works themselves, and could honestly assert that she had +read every single play of Shakespeare's all through, though her private +preference was for a more advanced and psychological form of drama. + +And yet on this occasion she chose to parry the Baroness's very +reasonable request. "Shakespeare," she said, in her most superior tone, +"did not write romances. He wrote _plays_." + +"Will your Royal Highness please," said the Baroness, "to tell us about +one of _them_?" + +For the life of her Edna could not just then summon up a clear +recollection of the plot of any Shakespearian comedy or tragedy--and it +is quite possible that there are many persons as highly educated as she +who might be equally at a loss. + +"With so prolific a writer as Shakespeare," she hedged, "it is difficult +to single out any particular play." + +She was so plainly embarrassed that Daphne felt impelled to come to the +rescue. + +"I think, Ma'am," she said, "they would like the story of _The Merchant +of Venice_!" + +"I should hardly call it suitable myself to such an audience as this," +replied Edna, who was possibly confusing it with _Othello_. "No, Miss +Heritage, I really think something less--less objectionable would +be--There's _As you like it_, now, _quite_ a pleasant play. I think I +can remember the outline of _that_. Let me see. Yes, it's about a girl +called "Rosalind," who dressed up as a boy and ran away into a forest, +where she met Ferdinand--or was it Bassanio?--anyway, the name is of no +consequence. Well, and he carved her name on all the trees, and so they +fell in love, and in the end they were married, you know." + +As drama this appeared to strike the ladies-in-waiting as lacking in +incident, and the Baroness von Haulemaennerschen openly declared that an +ancestress of hers who also ran away into a forest had the far more +exciting experience of being poisoned by a jealous Queen and enclosed by +dwarfs in a glass coffin. + +"Oh, very well!" said Edna; "if you are going to compare your own silly +traditions with works of genius, I give you up as hopeless!" + +And this was the beginning and the end of the Princess Royal's attempt +to infuse Culture into Court Circles. + +She had certainly failed signally to inspire her ladies with any +enthusiasm for English Literature, though, strangely enough, Daphne +succeeded later in giving them a more favourable impression of its +quality. + +Edna was, of course, incomparably more widely read, but then Daphne +knew such authors as she had read well enough to be able to give a very +full and clear account of her favourite books, and to repeat many of her +best loved poems from memory. + +It is quite possible that much of the pleasure her companions took in +hearing her do so was due to her own personality. They were not, it must +be confessed, a highly intellectual or cultivated set of young women, +but one and all regarded Daphne with a whole-hearted adoration which +would have given Princess Edna, had she condescended to notice it, a +lower opinion than ever of their intelligence. + +The links were at last in a sufficiently advanced stage for practice at +the first nine of the eighteen holes, and Clarence undertook to instruct +the Marshal in the mysteries of the game. The Marshal, though slightly +handicapped by insisting on playing in a breastplate and high boots, was +so much encouraged by the success which most beginners at golf +experience that he at once became an ardent votary. He tried to make +converts of the Courtiers, but they preferred to keep an open mind and +remain spectators for the present. + +Prince Tapfer von Schneiderleinberg indeed went so far as to say that +golf seemed to him to be without the element of danger which all genuine +sport should possess. He modified that opinion, it is true, after +incautiously standing close behind the Marshal when he was driving off +from the tee, but it did not alter his prejudices against the game. + +King Sidney practised most assiduously in private, and found he improved +in his driving under Clarence's tuition. The Gnomes had been established +in a kind of compound near the links, but their unfortunate tendency to +bolt with the club-bags and purloin every ball they found rather +impaired their usefulness as caddies. Marshal Federhelm treated his with +regrettable inhumanity. + +There was still a good deal of "ground under repair" on the course, but +the day was drawing near when the links could be formally opened. The +Marshal was anxious to celebrate the occasion by challenging his Royal +Master to play him a single, a challenge which was conveyed through the +Crown Prince. + +"Well, what do _you_ think, my boy," asked King Sidney. "Can I beat +him?" + +"I think you ought to, Guv'nor. He fancies himself at it--but he's +pretty rotten." + +"In that case, you can tell him I accept," said the King. + +But on the morning before the day, Clarence, after watching his parent +top and slice and foozle through a whole round without intermission, +became less sanguine. + +"I tell you what it is, Guv'nor," he said, frankly, "the Marshal's been +shaping a bit better these last few days, and it's my belief he can give +you a stroke a hole and win easy." + +"After all," said the King, "I'm not sure there isn't a certain loss of +dignity--playing with my own subject, don't you know." + +"It won't do to let him lick you, certainly," agreed Clarence. + +"Quite so, my boy, quite so. I was thinking--I might be prevented by +sudden business--I could go and sit with the Council, you know." + +"He'd only want you to fix another day for playing him. It's no use, +Guv'nor, you can't get out of it now. Perhaps you'd do better if you +played with a different sort of ball. I must see if I can't get you one +or two." + +And that evening he brought his father half a dozen. "They're specially +marked," he said, "so you can't make a mistake over them, and I fancy +you'll find they travel better than any of the Marshal's." + +"You've got those golf balls I gave you?" he asked the King at breakfast +next morning. "Mind you don't forget to take 'em." + +"I shan't forget, my boy. But what I'm most troubled about is my +swing--there's something wrong with it, only I can't find out what." + +"I think it a great pity myself," said Queen Selina, "that you ever +agreed to play this match at all. If you are beaten it will certainly +lower your prestige. But I am sure the dear Marshal has too much tact +not to let you win." + +"Don't you worry, Mater," said Clarence. "The Guv'nor's going to win on +his own, hands down!" + +"I sincerely hope so. It will be a sad blow to the Throne if he does +_not_." + +These remarks did not help much to steady King Sidney's nerves when he +met the Marshal on the links, where, as Monarch, he naturally had the +honour. A large crowd of onlookers from the Court had collected, and the +players had decided to dispense with caddies under the circumstances. + +The first hole was only about a hundred and sixty yards; a deep gully +lay between, and on either side of the approach were beds of tall +rushes. + +King Sidney addressed his ball for some time in agonising indecision +before he finally drove off. A cloud of sand rose; the ball was nowhere +to be seen, and, taught by experience, he looked behind for it. + +"Jolly good shot!" cried Clarence. "Right on the green!" + +"Is it, my boy?" said the King. "I can't see it there myself." + +"No more can I," Clarence owned, "but I bet you what you like you're on +the pretty, anyway. Your drive, Marshal." + +The Marshal smote a mighty blow, and his ball likewise vanished. +Clarence was of opinion that it had gone over the boundary, but the +Marshal was so certain that it was on the green that he declined to +search for it. + +"Funny," said Clarence disappointedly, as they neared the pin, "I don't +see your ball anywhere, Pater. Nor yet the Marshal's." + +"I fancy mine isn't very far away, my boy," said the King hopefully. + +One of the Courtiers who had gone to the hole, called out to say that he +could see a ball marked with a Royal Crown wedged in by the pin. + +"By George, Guv'nor!" cried Clarence, "you've holed it in one!" + +"Ah," said King Sidney, "I _thought_ I'd got the right direction." + +But the next moment both of them were depressed by the announcement that +the Marshal's ball had also landed in the hole. The Courtier had +naturally mentioned his Sovereign's achievement first, but there could +be no possible doubt that the Marshal had succeeded in equalling it. + +To have holed out at a hundred and sixty yards is not by any means an +unprecedented feat, but that two players should have done it in +succession was at least a rather remarkable coincidence. It was a severe +disappointment to the King, who had serious doubts of his own ability to +repeat such a performance. + +The next hole was a long one, some six hundred yards, over undulating +land with patches of bog; the green was on a hillock protected by +artfully devised bunkers, and the approach was full of difficulties. + +The Marshal was given the honour, and, as before, none could follow the +flight of his ball, though he declared with the greatest confidence that +it was straight for the green. King Sidney's drive did not look very +promising, but Clarence assured him that it was probably a longer one +than he thought. + +But neither player could locate his ball as they trudged on, and, though +it seemed unlikely that either could have reached the green, they did +not stop to search on the way to it. Still, when they arrived there each +of them was obviously astonished by the discovery that the other had +holed out once more. Even had the distance been less, it seemed to them +that this was stretching the long arm of coincidence almost too far, but +they did not say so; in fact, they both thought it wiser to abstain from +any comment at all. The next hole was some three hundred and fifty +yards, with several extremely tricky hazards, but, contrary to all +reasonable expectations, both King Sidney and the Marshal distinguished +themselves by doing it in one. + +At this the King felt bound to make some comment. "Very even game this, +Marshal, so far," he said. + +"Very even indeed, Sire!" said the Marshal curtly, and turned aside to +curse under his breath. + +However, after they had played the fourth and fifth holes with precisely +the same result, King Sidney became suspicious. "Clarence, my boy," he +said, taking him aside. "It strikes me there's something rather odd +about his play. I can't understand it!" + +"_I_ can," said Clarence; "it's plain enough. Haven't you noticed he's +been using a mashie--the _same_ mashie every time? Well, he's bribed or +bullied that pop-eyed little swine of an Astrologer to enchant it for +him--that's what _he's_ done!" + +"What a confounded low, ungentlemanly trick!" spluttered King Sidney in +high indignation. "Just when I was beginning to find my form at last, +too! I shall decline to go on with the match. And what's more, when we +_do_ get a Golf Club started, I'll have him blackballed for it!" + +"I wouldn't make a row about it if I were you," advised Clarence. + +"Not make a row? When he's taking an unfair advantage of me by using +this infernal Magic?--which is unlawful, by Gad, don't you forget +_that_! Why shouldn't I denounce such trickery?" + +"Because," said the Crown Prince, "he might say something disagreeable +about it being a case of Pot and Kettle, don't you know." + +"Let him!" cried the King. "Let him! I defy him to prove that I've had +anything done to _my_ clubs!" + +"Not the clubs," said Clarence; "it's those balls I gave you. I hadn't +meant to tell you, but p'raps I'd better now. I paid that little sweep +to put a spell on 'em. Of course I'd no idea he'd go and overdo it like +this. If he'd been anything of a Golfer he'd have known most of these +holes couldn't be done under three or four. And now he's given you both +away, blast him!" + +"It--it's _most_ unfortunate!" said King Sidney. "I--I don't quite see +what to do about it." + +"Simple enough," said his son, "pretend not to notice anything and play +it out." + +"I suppose I must, my boy, I suppose I must. But I know I shan't play so +well after this--it's quite put me off my game!" + +"No, it hasn't, Guv'nor. You'll play up all right, at least if Xuriel +knows his job." + +Xuriel apparently did know his job, for the King's ball continued to be +as foozle-proof as the Marshal's mashie. + +It would be tedious to describe any further holes. When a bewitched +mashie is pitted against an enchanted ball, there can obviously be none +of the alternations and vicissitudes of Fortune which constitute the +charm of Golf. + +When they were at the turn, having halved every hole up to the ninth, +the Marshal had had enough of it. "We are too well matched, Sire," he +said, "and to proceed would only be to waste your Majesty's time, which +is of far more value than my own." + +"H'm, well, perhaps we'd better call it a draw and have done with it," +said the King. + +The Court had witnessed the game without excitement or astonishment. +They saw no particular reason why the balls should fail to reach the +hole in one stroke, and did not care in the least whether they failed or +not. The only impressions they received were that Golf was too +monotonous and too easy a pastime to have any attractions for them, and +that nothing should induce them to indulge in it against such +invincible champions as his Majesty and the Ex-Regent. + +"I must say, my boy," said the King to his son, as they walked back to +the Palace together, "I wish you hadn't gone to that magician fellow. It +makes it so very awkward for _me_." + +"It would have been a jolly sight more awkward if I hadn't. Just think +of the licking you'd have had, what?" + +"Yes, yes--but there's your Mother. She's so set against Magic of any +kind. I really don't know what I'm to say to her." + +"Well," said Clarence, "I should hope, Guv'nor, you wouldn't be such a +jay as to say anything." + +"It might be only distressing her unnecessarily," said the King. + +"Sidney!" exclaimed the Queen when they met, "I can see by your face +that you've been beaten after all!" + +"Not at all, my love, not at all. Far from it!" + +"Then you've won?" + +"Well--er--not exactly _won_, my dear. We--we finished up all square." + +"Considering how long you've been learning, that's as bad as if you'd +lost. Now, mind what I say, Sidney, you must never attempt to play golf +again after this. I cannot have you making yourself ridiculous!" + +"I think you're right, my dear," he said meekly. "In fact, I had already +decided to give it up." + +Clarence clung to his Golf as long as he could, but he found it dreary +work going round the course alone. None of the Courtiers could be +induced to learn the game, and he felt a natural reluctance to take on +the Marshal as an antagonist, even if the latter had continued to be +keen. But he had conceived a strong distaste for the game, and it was +rumoured that there had been a stormy interview between him and the +Astrologer Royal, who kept his bed for several days afterwards. + +And Clarence, as the Yellow Gnomes were impossible as caddies, had to +carry his own clubs, which he particularly detested. So in course of +time he ceased to visit the links, and thus deprived himself of his only +form of open-air exercise. + +There was nothing much for him to do, except to lounge and loaf +aimlessly about the Palace, with a depressed suspicion that he was not +inspiring the full amount of respect that was due to his position as +Crown Prince. It would have been a distraction to make advances to +Daphne, but, after his somewhat cavalier treatment of her at the Ball, +he could not be sure how they would be received. Moreover, either by her +own management or his Royal Mother's, he was never given a chance of +seeing her except in public. + +He found a resource in gambling with the gentlemen of the Royal +Household. They played for high stakes, but no higher, seeing that he +could replenish his purse as often as it was emptied, than he could well +afford. His visits to the sacks of gold in the King's Counting-house +became more and more frequent, but he would have derived more enjoyment +from cards if he had won occasionally. + +One afternoon when, the usual card-players being absent on some hunting +expedition, he was left to his own devices, he wandered forlornly +through a suite of empty halls till he drifted out upon a balcony that +overlooked the Palace gardens. + +And then, as he stepped through the window, his heart gave a sudden +leap. At the corner of the balcony he had just recognised Daphne. She +was quite alone, and he recognised that the opportunity, half-feared, +half-desired, had come at last. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +"A STEED THAT KNOWS HIS RIDER" + + +Daphne turned and saw Prince Clarence almost immediately, and, after +making the prescribed curtsey, was about to retreat indoors when he +stopped her. + +"I say, Lady Daphne," he remonstrated, "don't run away like that!" + +"Your Royal Highness will be good enough to excuse me," she said; "I +ought to be with Princess Ruby by this time." + +"_She's_ all right--trying to teach the Pages hockey in the Entrance +Court. And--look here, you needn't be so beastly formal--with _me_, you +know." + +"I may remind your Royal Highness that you desired me to observe the +strictest etiquette." + +"Did I? I only meant in public. Let's drop it just now, anyway. I've +been wanting to get a talk with you. You see, you're the only person +here I can really talk to; and if you only knew how awfully hipped and +depressed I'm feeling----" + +"Are you?" she said. "I'm sorry." And there was certainly pity in the +soft grey eyes which rested on him for a moment or two. + +"I give you my word," he went on, "there are times when I almost wish +myself back at the office again. There were things to be done there, +even if I didn't do 'em. Here there's nothing--except cards. It +wouldn't be so bad if the chaps here only knew Auction--I could hold my +own at that. But you couldn't play bridge with the sort of packs they've +got in this God-forsaken country. So they've taught me a bally game they +call 'Krebsgriff,' and I've lost over two sacks of ducats at it already. +Anyone would think after _that_ they'd treat me as a pal, but not a bit +of it!" + +"Perhaps, Sir, they're afraid of being rebuked for such presumption." + +"Perhaps, but I don't think it's that. They're polite enough and all +that, to my face, but they don't look _up_ to me, you know!" + +"Why _should_ they?" Daphne thought, but all she said was, "That's very +sad." + +"Isn't it?" he said; "they don't give me a chance to show what I _can_ +do. I could knock their silly heads off at golf, and they won't even +learn! And now I can't get a game; and this afternoon, when _I_ was +feeling inclined for cards, they all go off to the forest without a word +to me, hunting beastly boars and bears, and I'm left without a soul to +speak to." + +"They might have asked you to do them the honour of coming too," said +Daphne. + +"I couldn't very well have gone if they had. You see, they hunt boars +and that on horseback here, and riding's a thing I've never gone in +for." + +"It's not too late to begin, Sir." + +"Well, to tell you the truth, I did think at one time of taking a few +lessons. But I don't know. You see, it would get about, and--well, +people would think it rather ridiculous." + +"I should have thought--" began Daphne; "no, I mustn't say any more." + +"Oh, go on, Lady Daphne, don't mind _me_! What would you have thought?" + +"Well," said Daphne boldly, "that nothing could be so ridiculous as a +Crown Prince who can't sit a horse." + +"I daresay I could as well as any other fellow, if I tried." + +"No doubt, sir, but if you never _do_ try." + +"I would, if I thought you cared." + +"Of course I care, Prince Clarence," said Daphne. "Naturally, I should +like to see you doing everything that other Princes do. You really +aren't, so far, you know. I suppose I oughtn't to have said that--I +couldn't help it." + +"That's all right," he said. "There's one thing," he added, thinking +aloud, "if I _did_ learn to ride decently, you and I might go out riding +together, what?" + +"It's rather early to talk about that," said Daphne, "when you haven't +even begun to learn." + +"I know, but I _will_ begin. For _your_ sake." + +"No, Prince Clarence, for your own," she replied, "though I shall be +glad, too. And now, I mustn't stay here any longer." + +Why, he asked himself, after she had gone, was she so keen on his +cutting a figure at Court? The answer was obvious--he had interested and +impressed her more than he could have hoped. But that, he shrewdly +perceived, only made it more necessary for him to be wary. She was +certainly a most fascinating girl, but if she had any ambitious designs +on him, she would find that he was quite capable of taking care of +himself. Still, she was right about his riding. Every Prince ought to be +able to ride. It would not take him long to learn. And when he could +ride he would go out hunting. She would think a lot more of him when +she saw him returning in triumph with a few boars and bears as trophies +of the chase. + +Accordingly he took the earliest opportunity of mentioning to his family +that he intended to take lessons in horsemanship, which both the King +and Queen considered an admirable idea. The Marshal was consulted, and +though he opposed it at first, on the ground that anything which might +affect the succession to the throne was to be avoided, he gave way in +the end, and undertook to act himself as Clarence's riding master. +Clarence was prudent enough to stipulate that none of his family should +be present while he was undergoing instruction, and the Court were not +to be informed that he was having any lessons at all until he had +completed the course and become an accomplished equestrian. + +"Well, my boy," said the King, when the Crown Prince entered the Royal +Parlour after his private lessons in the Palace tiltyard. "Well, and how +did you get on, hey?" + +"Never got on at all," Clarence reluctantly admitted. "Not likely I +should, when there wasn't a bally gee in the stables that would let me +come near him!" + +"Clarence!" cried his mother, "you _don't_ mean to say you've been there +all this time without riding a single horse!" + +"I'd have ridden 'em right enough, if they'd let me get on 'em--but they +wouldn't." + +"And pray what was the Marshal about?" inquired the Queen. + +"Well, he was laughing most of the time; it's my belief he'd had 'em all +gingered up beforehand." + +"I'm quite sure, Clarence, he would be incapable of such conduct as +that. Why _should_ he?" + +"_I_ don't know," he said. "But I won't have _him_ about again. I'll get +some one else to teach me." + +"But, my dear boy, nobody can teach you much if you can't even manage to +get on a horse's back. You'll only get hurt if you try any more, and you +will be far wiser to give it up altogether." + +"Not much, Mater!" he declared; "I'm not so easily bested as all that. +Now I've begun I mean to go on with it." + +And he went on; for, to do Clarence justice, want of pluck was not among +his defects. But he was obliged to admit that the Marshal was not fairly +accountable for the horses' behaviour, since they were quite as +unmanageable when he was no longer there. + +They were spirited creatures, but perfectly docile until they caught +sight of Clarence, when they immediately became as vicious as the most +untameable bronco. If he contrived occasionally to get hoisted into the +saddle, he never remained there long enough to put the Royal Chief +Huntsman's instructions into practice, and he began at last to have +serious doubts whether Nature had ever intended him to shine as a +horseman. + +He said nothing of these ignominious experiences to Daphne, partly +because he never found an opportunity, though more from a fear of being +laughed at. But he could not keep them from his family, and so Daphne +came to hear of his repeated failures through Princess Ruby. She did not +laugh at them, however; she was even a little touched. She thought more +of him for his attempts to follow her unlucky suggestion than if he had +never attempted anything at all, and fully believed that if he +persevered he would conquer in the end. + +His Royal Mother was so perturbed and alarmed that at last she made a +confidant of the Court Godmother, who was about to depart on her annual +visit to the Court of Clairdelune. "He _will_ go on with it!" Queen +Selina lamented, "and I _know_ he'll break his neck before long! It does +seem so strange that those horrible horses should behave like this with +Clarence and nobody else. When his poor dear Grandfather was such a good +rider, too! I can't think why they should, Court Godmother, can you?" + +The Fairy Vogelflug thought privately that the reason was not very far +to see. The horses of the Royal stud were, she knew, of an exceptional +aristocratic breed. Now poor Clarence, though of Royal blood on his +mother's side, unfortunately had little of the air and appearance which +these intelligent and observant animals probably connected with a true +Prince. It was more than likely that they had failed to recognise that +he was a Prince at all, and so resented being called upon to carry him. + +But, though she could be out-spoken enough on occasion, she felt that +this was hardly an explanation she could give to his mother. "Well, my +dear," she said, "it's very trying for you, of course. But I don't know +that there's anything _I_ can do." + +"I--I thought perhaps," said Queen Selina, with some natural hesitation, +"that you, as a Fairy, might--er--know some quite simple little spell +which----" + +"As I have told you before," interrupted the Fairy, "I make a point of +using my knowledge of Magic as seldom as I can nowadays. I have my +health to consider. And, in any case, I am acquainted with no spell for +making a Prince into a horseman. Princes in Maerchenland," she added, +rather unkindly, "have never needed such aids." + +But, after all, she was anxious that this Royal family, whom she had +been largely responsible for importing, should do her as much credit as +possible, and so she applied herself to think of something that might be +of help to the unfortunate Crown Prince. A means occurred to her at +length, but as she was by no means sure that it would be effectual, she +was careful not to commit herself. + +She did not even mention it till she was on the point of starting for +Clairdelune, and then, before she stepped into her dove-chariot, she +suddenly said to the Queen, _a propos_ of nothing in particular, "By the +way, my dear, that jewel you were wearing when you first came--I haven't +seen you with it for a long while--how is that?" + +"Well, you see, Court Godmother, my Crown jewels seem to suit me so much +better." + +"Then, if you don't want that pendant yourself, you had better give it +to your son." + +"To Clarence?" cried the Queen. "Why, what use would it be to him?" + +"It is a jewel which any Prince might be proud to wear," said the Fairy; +"and I should strongly advise you to see that he wears it. Not merely +now and then, but constantly. It may--mind, I don't say it _will_--but +it _may_ bring him better luck than he has enjoyed as yet." + +"But really, Godmother, I can't quite believe that a thing--" began the +Queen, when the Fairy cut her short unceremoniously. + +"I've no time to stay here arguing about it," she said; "my doves will +be catching cold if they stand about any longer. By all means don't take +my advice if you don't believe in it; I merely thought you might find it +worth trying--but you must please yourself. And now, with your +permission, I'll take my leave of you." + +At a sign from her, the team of doves fluttered up in a snow-white cloud +and winged their flight to the neighbouring Kingdom of Clairdelune, +where she had another Royal Godson, Prince Mirliflor, in whose affairs +she took a keener interest than she could in Clarence's. + +"Old people have such queer ideas," thought Queen Selina, as the chariot +rapidly receded from sight. "As if that twopenny-halfpenny pendant of +Miss Heritage's could--but the Court Godmother will be annoyed if I +don't follow her advice--and it's best not to offend the old creature. +I'll go up and see if it's still in my jewel case." + +It was, and she brought it down in time to intercept Clarence as he was +starting in rather low spirits for another crowded hour of anything but +glorious life in the Riding Court. + +"Clarence, my boy," she said, "I want you to oblige me by wearing this +in future." + +"What--that thing you bought before we came away!" he replied. "I say, +Mater, you _don't_ expect me to go about with a woman's pendant on my +manly bosom!" + +"Your Godmother Vogelflug thinks it is quite a fit ornament for a +Prince," urged his mother, "and--and she as much as said that it would +bring you good-luck." + +"Did she, though? Well, I could do with a bit of that for a change." And +he allowed her to fasten the chain round his neck. "By Gad, makes me +feel like a Good Forester or a Member of the Ancient Order of Buffaloes +or something!" he remarked. + +"Never mind," she said; "and it really doesn't look so very out of +place. But remember, Clarence, if it's to do any good, you must wear it +_always_." + +"Right-oh!" he said; "and now I'll go and take my usual morning toss, +what?" + +Half an hour later, he came into the Royal Parlour, where his family +were assembled, Daphne being with them. He looked round the circle with +a satisfied air, and then said in a tone of studied carelessness, "If +you've nothing better to do just now, all of you, you may as well look +in at the Riding Court in a few minutes, and see how I'm getting on. +I--er--should like Lady Daphne to come, too, and the whole Court. Tell +'em to hurry up. You'll find me down there ready for you." He was gone +before they had recovered from their surprise. + +"Dear me," said the King, "I'm not quite sure that it would be wise to +have the Court looking on just yet, eh, my dear?" + +"I have every confidence in Clarence," said the Queen. "He would not +have suggested that they should attend unless--but perhaps a smaller +audience, of just ourselves, might be less trying for him." + +So it was only the Royal family and Daphne that went down to the Riding +Court, where, to Queen Selina's alarm, some very formidable-looking +jumps had been put up. + +"He's never going to be rash enough to try to get over those!" she said. +"Tell him he's not to run such risks. I can't allow him to!" + +Just then Clarence cantered in on a high-spirited mare, over which he +seemed to have complete control. He put her at obstacle after obstacle, +and surmounted all of them with the greatest ease. To prove that he was +equally at home on any mount, he had several other horses brought in, +and over each he showed the same mastery, and a seat with which Daphne, +who was critical in such matters, could find no fault. + +"You young dog!" said his father, when the exhibition was over and +Clarence had dismounted. "So you've been taking us in all this time, +pretending you couldn't stick on a horse for more than a few seconds, +hey?" + +"Oh, well," he said modestly, "I didn't like to say too much. Fact is, +it's only quite lately that I've felt what you might call at home on a +gee." + +The Stud grooms could have testified how very lately this was if they +had thought proper to do so--which, of course, they did not. + +"It only shows what can be done with a little perseverance," said Queen +Selina. "Clarence, you will be able to ride through the City now!" + +He managed to get Daphne to himself for a few minutes on the way back to +the Palace. + +"Well, Lady Daphne," he began, "I've done what I could to please you, +and I hope you are satisfied, what?" + +"Indeed I am, Prince Clarence," she said warmly, for he had risen +several places in her esteem during the past hour. "And I congratulate +you most heartily. And now things will be ever so much pleasanter for +you, won't they?" As she spoke she noticed the pendant, which, of +course, she recognised immediately. + +"Ah, you're looking at this," he said. "Daresay it strikes you as funny +my wearing it?" + +"Not at all, Sir," she replied; "it isn't really a woman's ornament." +She did not tell him how she knew it was not, for she had not forgotten +her undertaking to say nothing about it. + +"Well, it was the Mater's," he said. "She's made me promise to wear it +always. Thinks it may bring me luck." + +"I hope it will, Prince Clarence," she said, quite sincerely; and, as +the Queen happened to look back just then and summon her sharply to her +side, that was all that passed between him and Daphne on that occasion. + +She was rather pleased than otherwise that he should be the possessor of +the pendant. As has been said, she had never known her father, so there +were no tender associations attaching to it. And she had been a little +afraid that Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson had only bought it out of +consideration for her. It was some relief that she had found a use for +it. Daphne was, of course, quite unaware who her unknown father had been +or that the pendant was a badge of his princely rank; and both the Queen +and her son had no suspicion of the truth. Nor did either of them +connect it with his suddenly acquired mastery of the whole art of +horsemanship, Queen Selina believing that his reports of previous +unsuccess had been intended to increase the surprise of his triumph, +while Clarence naturally found it easy to persuade himself that he had +been learning more from his disheartening failures than he had been +conscious of at the time. He certainly did not hide his new talent in a +napkin, but organised riding excursions of the lords and ladies of the +Royal household, at the head of which he made a very gay and gallant +appearance on a prancing bay palfrey. Only there was one thorn in his +luxuriously padded saddle. He had hoped that he might have the pleasure +of commanding Daphne to ride by his side on these excursions, but, +though she accompanied them, it was never on horseback. Queen Selina, it +seemed, had developed such a preference for her first lady-in-waiting's +society that she was always required to accompany her in the Royal +coach. + +Daphne would willingly have dispensed with this and other signs of the +marked favour with which her Sovereign was overwhelming her just then. +She had no illusions as to the motives. The Queen thought--most +mistakenly, as it happened--that making a favourite of Daphne was the +surest method of snubbing and annoying her other ladies-in-waiting, for +whom she had begun to conceive a hearty dislike. + +The dislike was certainly reciprocated. They resented their Royal +Mistress's insolence as much as they despised her previous +obsequiousness. They accepted the fact that she was their Queen, but, +among themselves, they did not pretend any respect for her, as was +manifest from their habit of referring to her in private as "Mother +Schwellenposch!" Edna, who was scarcely more beloved, was known as +"Princess Four-eyes," in allusion to her _pince-nez_. Daphne found it +hard at times to refrain from joining them in this irreverence, but, +while she saw the Queen's and Edna's weak points as clearly as her +companions--and indeed more clearly than any of them--her sense of +loyalty kept her silent. She might laugh when she was alone, and +frequently did, but that was a relief to her feelings for which she felt +she need not reproach herself very severely. Another reason for Queen +Selina's insistence on Daphne's company in the coach was, as she was +fully aware, the desire to keep her at a safe distance from the Crown +Prince--a needless precaution which had its amusing side for her. + +Still, she often longed to be on a horse instead of being shut up in a +great lumbering vehicle with the Queen and the Princess Royal, even if +Princess Ruby's presence did something to make things less dull. On one +of these expeditions Queen Selina had once more provided herself with a +sack of gold from which she and the Princesses scattered _largesse_. + +"_You_ may throw a little if you like, Miss Heritage," said the Queen +graciously. (She reserved the title "Lady Daphne" for occasions when the +Court was present.) + +"I'd rather not, your Majesty," she replied. "I mean," she explained, +"it's not as if it was _my_ money." + +"I should have thought," said Edna, "that that was all the more reason +for throwing it away." And as she spoke she flung a handful to a stout +old citizen, who glared with indignation--not at her, however, but at +the nimbler and needier persons who had grabbed most of the coins before +he could stoop to pick them up. + +Daphne felt rather ashamed of these proceedings, which seemed to her not +merely undignified, but likely to demoralise the public. But she said +nothing. + +"We're not doing this out of _ostentation_, Miss Heritage," explained +the Queen, who seemed to have divined something of her sentiments. "It's +policy. You may have noticed that we've not been nearly so well received +lately. _Why_, I don't know, unless there's any ill-feeling about those +detestable little Gnomes." + +There was a good deal. The Gnomes, having no employment on the +golf-links, had recently broken out of their compound and found their +way into Eswareinmal, where they made themselves very much at home. They +quartered themselves on several of the householders, and, having +discovered that cooked food was more palatable than earth, they had no +diffidence in helping themselves. In other respects they were +inoffensive and inclined to be sociable, but, even in Maerchenland, the +most harmless and playful Yellow Gnome is not considered a desirable +addition to any respectable family. The citizens one and all regarded +their visitors as intolerable nuisances for which they had to thank +their Sovereigns. + +"It was his Majesty's idea to free them," the Queen went on. "I was +always in favour of keeping them in the mine, where they were out of +mischief. And they certainly mustn't be allowed to run about loose any +longer. They ought to learn some sort of discipline. Perhaps the best +thing would be to train them as Boy Scouts.... Have you caught cold, +Miss Heritage? You seem troubled by a most distressing cough." + +King Sidney himself had begun to doubt whether the enfranchisement of +the Yellow Gnomes was quite one of his happiest inspirations. Such +Maerchenlanders as had been induced to enter the mine were demanding +wages which left but a small margin for profit, especially when it was +considered that, if their methods of working were more systematic than +their predecessors', they somehow got very much less gold. No sacks at +all had been delivered of late, and the shelves of the Royal +Counting-house were beginning to look ominously bare. + +He forced himself to mention this to the Queen after the drive that +afternoon, and point out the necessity for being rather more economical +than they had been hitherto. "I'm sure, Sidney," she protested, "no one +can say _I_ am extravagant! It was absolutely necessary to have the +whole Palace done up--I had to order some new dresses, as I couldn't be +expected to wear ready-made robes in my position, and one or two tiaras +and things from the Court Goldsmith, whose charges certainly were +disgracefully high. Then the household expenses come to several sacks a +week, try as I _may_ to keep them down!" + +"I daresay, my love, I daresay--but I hear there was another sack +emptied only this afternoon--and we really can't go on like this!" + +"Then I shall have to give up driving out altogether, Sidney. You've no +idea how unpopular you've made us all by releasing those wretched little +Gnomes. The people object to having to associate with them--and I'm sure +I don't wonder. You simply _must_ find some way of getting rid of them!" + +"The Court Chamberlain tells me a certain number could be taken on the +Palace Kitchens as extra scullions." + +"And we shall have them getting upstairs and running about all over the +Palace!" + +"Oh no, my dear; there will be strict orders against that. But, to +return to our expenses, I'm afraid Clarence hasn't been as careful as he +might have been, and I shall have to speak to him very----" + +"No, you will not, Sidney. I won't have you scolding Clarence just when +he's doing so well--riding and going out hunting and making himself a +social leader. You can give him a hint to be less extravagant if you +like--but no more. But the _first_ thing you have to do, is to settle +the trouble about those Gnomes. You'd better ask the Marshal if _he_ can +suggest anything." + +The Marshal's solution was simple but practical. There was, it seemed, a +marshy tract at a considerable distance from the capital which needed +draining and reclaiming--a work which the more able-bodied of the Gnomes +could carry out under strict control. So the majority were deported to +the Maerchenlands, the remainder being employed in the Royal Kitchens as +supernumerary and highly incompetent scullions. + +Whether a damp climate would suit the Gnomes' constitutions was not +a matter of general concern. Most of them had been supplied with +jerseys, which, if they made them look more hideous little objects +than ever, had been knitted expressly for them by the Queen and her +ladies-in-waiting--and what more could they possibly want? + +The citizens of Eswareinmal witnessed the exodus of the gnomes with +profound relief, but without any outburst of gratitude to their +Sovereign. It had somehow been allowed to transpire that they owed their +deliverance entirely to the statesmanship of the ex-Regent. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE + + +King Sidney's remonstrances to Clarence on his extravagances were put in +too mild a form to offend. "Perhaps I _have_ got through rather a lot +lately," the Crown Prince admitted. "Not that I spend much on +myself--precious little chance in a bally place like this. It mostly +goes in tips. You see, the peasants about here think anything under a +purse of gold stingy. But it certainly struck me the last time I went to +the Counting-house that what sacks there were looked a bit flabby. When +do you expect some more in?" + +"The Lord Treasurer thinks one or two may be delivered in a week or +so--but we shall want considerably more than that to pay our way, and I +don't see myself where it's to come from." + +"I suppose," said Clarence, "it wouldn't quite do to have the gates +melted down, or the thrones; but there's any amount of other gold +furniture knocking about--what's the matter with coining that?" + +"It _did_ occur to me," confessed King Sidney, "but the Court +Chamberlain says they're only silver gilt, and that's no good _here_, +you know." + +"Well," said Clarence, "it's pretty clear that we shall all be in the +cart if we can't find some way to raise the wind." + +A day or two later he burst into the Royal Parlour where his father was +sitting disconsolately alone. "I've found it, Guv'nor," he announced +triumphantly. + +"Eh, my boy, found, what?" + +"The way to raise the wind. I've been in to see little Pop-Eye--_you_ +know, the Astrologer Royal." + +"Xuriel? I haven't seen him since that--er--match I played with the +Marshal." + +"I daresay not. The _Marshal_ saw him, though--and he hasn't been fit to +be seen in public since. Well, it seems he's been pottering away at +Magic all this time on the quiet--and quite lately he's come upon an old +spell-book of his father's and tried some of the formulas in it. And +he's turned out one little thing that's simply _it_. I bought it of him +on the spot. I'll have it brought in here for you to see." + +When it was brought it was not much to look at, being just an ordinary +round table of the plainest design. + +"Ah, but you wait," said Clarence. "Just say to it 'Little table, be +laid.'" + +"Really, my boy," protested his father, who had evidently forgotten his +Grimm's Fairy Tales, "I can't bring myself to----" + +"Try it, Guv'nor--and see what happens." + +"Oh well, it's all nonsense--all nonsense--but--er--'Little table be +laid.'" + +Instantly the table was covered with a snowy linen cloth and laid with a +daintily prepared meal for one person, including a small flagon of wine +and a knife and even a two-pronged fork. + +"Neat, isn't it?" remarked Clarence. "The little joker wouldn't part +with it at first--afraid of getting into more hot water about it." + +"I don't suppose for a moment the food's genuine," said the King. +"Well," he pronounced, after trying it, "I'm bound to say it's quite +tasty--really very tasty indeed. I think I'll have a little more--ate so +little at lunch. The wine isn't at all bad either--sort of Moselle +flavour. It would be awkward if your mother were to come in just now, +eh?" + +"If you've done," said Clarence, "all you've got to say is: 'Little +table, be cleared.'" + +The King repeated the words, and the table became bare as before. + +"Highly ingenious," he said; "but all the same, my boy, considering the +_cuisine_ we have in the Palace already, it seems a waste of money to +buy it." + +"But there's money in it, Guv'nor--money enough to make us all +millionaires if we go the right way to work it! Listen to me. Xuriel +says he could easily make any quantity of these tables--produce 'em in +all styles and sizes, to dine any number, if you and the Mater will only +give him a free hand." + +"I think you're forgetting, my boy," said King Sidney with dignity, +"that there is a law--a law which your mother and I think a very wise +and salutary one--against the practice of anything in the nature +of--ah--Magic in our dominions." + +"Oh, I know _that_," said Clarence. "But you can alter it easily enough, +can't you?" + +"No doubt we could. But why _should_ we?" + +"Do you mean to say you don't see why? And you've been a business man +all your life! Of course, we shouldn't give Xuriel such a concession as +this except on our own terms. He's willing to let us take two-thirds of +the selling price of every table he sells. And they'll sell like hot +cakes! Why, there won't be a family in all Maerchenland that can afford +to be without one. They'll pay any price we like to put on such an +article as this. Just _think_ of it, Dad! No expenses--no risk--and a +bigger income than we could ever hope for from any bally mine. You +_can't_ let a chance like that slip through your fingers!" + +"I quite see the possibilities, my boy!" said the King; "and in +fact--but I can't decide one way or the other till I know what your +Mother thinks of it." + +Queen Selina took an unexpectedly broad-minded view of the scheme as +soon as she fully understood its advantages. + +"Of course," she said, "nothing would induce me to encourage any +enterprise that was based on Sorcery. But the Astrologer Royal is far +too respectable a little man to have anything to do with _that_. And +these tables would be such a boon to so many hundreds! We cannot leave +that out of consideration. The dear people will be so grateful to us for +allowing them to be placed within the reach of the humblest. I daresay +Mr. Xuriel would supply them on the hire system. And as for there being +any Magic about the process--if there _is_, it's quite harmless, and +it's much more probable that it can be accounted for by purely natural +causes which unscientific persons like ourselves can't be expected to +understand. After all, who really _knows_?" + +"And who really _cares_?" added Clarence, "so long as the tables sell. +It's lucky the Guv'nor and I have had a business training. We shall be +able to check Master Xuriel's accounts--he'll do us in the eye if he +can, I'll bet. We'd better start it as a private company. The Patent +Self-supplying Tables Co., Limited. Under Royal Patronage, what?" + +"I cannot have any in the Palace," objected the Queen. "The _chefs_ +would make such a fuss if I did. And another thing, Clarence--it mustn't +on any account be known that _we_ take a share of the profits. A Royal +Family has to be so very careful that its actions are not +misinterpreted." + +"We'll be sleeping partners, Mater," said the Crown Prince, "and I don't +fancy Master Xuriel will be such a fool as to give us away. So far as +the Public'll know, we're interested in the venture on strictly +philanthropic principles." + +"And that will be quite true," added Queen Selina, "for I can +conscientiously say that I wouldn't be connected with it if I didn't +feel it was for the general advantage." + +Thus was the "Patent Self-supplying Tables Co., Ltd.," founded. A large +disused granary in the City was adapted as an Emporium, and the +Astrologer Royal, after working day and night for a week, filled it with +an extensive stock of dining-tables which were graduated to suit the +needs of every class of purchaser. + +As Clarence had predicted, they met with a ready sale, for, although +Maerchenlanders had a tradition of the existence of such tables, they had +never expected to be able to procure one for themselves by cash payment. + +It was obvious to all that an article which simplified housekeeping by +rendering both cook and kitchen fire superfluous was cheap at almost any +price, and the demand was so great that Xuriel had to work harder than +ever to keep pace with it. + +And everybody expressed the greatest satisfaction with the tables when +delivered--except, indeed, those citizens who earned their livelihood as +provision-dealers. They protested that they were being ruined by what +they chose to call unfair competition, and even sent a deputation to the +Palace to represent their grievances. + +"Show them into the Hall of Audience," said King Sidney, when he was +told of their arrival, "and tell them I will be with them presently and +hear anything they may have to say." + +After he had done so he addressed them in a paternal manner, but with +sound common-sense. It was very unfortunate, he admitted, but it was one +of these cases where a small minority had to suffer for the benefit of +the community at large. As a constitutional and democratic Monarch, he +could not interfere to restrict the production of articles that +increased the comfort and well-being of the vast majority of his beloved +subjects. The deputation had his sincere sympathy, but he could do no +more than offer them his advice, which was to escape the starvation they +seemed--a little unnecessarily, if he might say so--to apprehend by +immediately investing their savings in these self-supplying tables. He +added that, from all he could hear, he thought it very probable that the +prices would go up very shortly. + +The deputation then thanked him and withdrew. Such dealers as could +afford the outlay followed his advice, and very soon the sacks in the +Sovereign's Counting-house were fuller than ever, and all danger of a +Royal bankruptcy was happily at an end, while the Family had the +additional pleasure of finding themselves popular once more. + +Strictly speaking, the Astrologer Royal had not been authorised to +employ his occult skill in producing any objects but the self-supplying +dinner-tables, though it was rumoured that his industry was not entirely +confined to these. He certainly sold the Crown Prince a sword with which +he could face undismayed the fiercest of bears and boars, while the old +Court Chamberlain bought a silk skull-cap that he found most useful on +occasions when he did not desire to attract attention. But, perhaps from +unwillingness to get Xuriel into trouble, neither of them made any +mention of these purchases. + +Clarence should have been satisfied, for his feats in the saddle and his +daring in the forest, where he slew every wild beast he encountered, had +rendered him a hero in the eyes of the populace, and even of the Court. +And yet he was very far from being satisfied--for what was the good of +his glory if it brought him no nearer Daphne? He hoped it was making an +impression, but he could not be certain, because he never succeeded in +getting a moment alone with her. When she was not in attendance on his +Mother she was either with Ruby or the ladies-in-waiting, or, worse +still, surrounded by courtiers who had not the tact to withdraw on his +appearance. And although she did not seem to show a preference for any +one in particular, that did not prevent him from being furiously jealous +of them all. + +One afternoon Daphne received a message by one of the pages that she was +wanted at once in the Hall of Audience by Princess Edna. But when she +obeyed the summons the only person she found in the hall was the Crown +Prince in hunting costume, with high boots and a plumed hat. + +"It's all right," he called out as she hesitated, "Edna will be here +directly.... You look as if you didn't believe me." + +"I'm afraid I don't, your Royal Highness," said Daphne. + +"Don't you? Well, you're right. It was not Edna that sent for you. It +was me." + +"You might have sent for me in your own name, Prince Clarence." + +"I daresay! And then you'd have got out of coming! I've something I +particularly want to say to you. And I say--_do_ sit down. It's like +this," he proceeded, after Daphne had sat down on one of the benches, "I +never seem to see anything of you now--what with all those Courtier +chaps always hanging about you. I wonder you let 'em. You wouldn't if +you knew as much about 'em as _I_ do. Why, that fellow Hansmeinigel's +ancestor was half a hedgehog--a beastly common ordinary hedgehog, by +Gad!--and as for young Bohnenranken----" + +"Your Royal Highness may spare yourself the trouble of going on," said +Daphne. "I know all about their descent already--from themselves. +They're not in the least ashamed of their ancestors--indeed they're very +proud of them." + +"More than I should be if they were mine. Anyhow, there isn't one of 'em +that's fit for you to make a pal of." + +"You would have more right to say that, Prince Clarence, if I had ever +shown the slightest inclination to treat them as 'pals.'" + +"You can look higher than bounders like them. And I must say I feel a +bit hurt, that you haven't taken more notice of all I've been doing to +please you. I mean, learning to ride as I've done, and leading an active +life, and all that." + +"I really thought your Royal Highness was doing it for your own +pleasure. But of course I've noticed the change, and if I've had any +share in bringing it about, I'm very glad." + +"And is that all I'm to get by it? I want a lot more than that. I want +_you_!" + +"Don't be absurd, Prince Clarence," said Daphne. "You know very well you +would never be allowed to marry _me_, even if _I_----" + +"Oh, of course, I know that. But--but, you see, I--er--well, I wasn't +thinking of _marriage_ exactly." + +"Then," said Daphne, with ominous quietness, "would your Royal Highness +be good enough to explain what you _were_ thinking of exactly?" + +"Well," he said, "_my_ idea was something more in the nature of a--what +do you call it?--a morganatic alliance. Of course even that would have +to be kept dark because of the Mater, but----" + +Daphne rose. "Prince Clarence," she said, "is it because I have been +your sister's Governess that you think you have the right to insult me +like this?" + +"It isn't an insult," he protested; "you don't understand. I assure you +it's quite the usual thing in cases like ours. You'd be none the less +thought of--rather the other way about. So why take this narrow-minded, +prudish view of it? I didn't expect it--from _you_, you know!" + +"Probably," said Daphne, "you don't expect to get your ears boxed--but +you will, if you dare to say any more." + +"Oh, do you think you'd better?" he asked. "I mean--smacking a Crown +Prince's head--well, it's a jolly serious offence, you know--what?" + +"I suppose," she said scornfully, "you think I should deserve to be +_executed_ for it." + +"It would make a good 'par' in the papers," he replied, "if we had any +papers here. Something of this sort: 'The execution of Lady Daphne took +place yesterday in the Market Square. There was no hitch, everything, +including Lady Daphne's head, going off with the greatest _eclat_. The +Crown Prince was expected to be present, but was unavoidably detained +out hunting.'... Ah, you're laughing! You're not so very angry with me +after all!" + +"I was," said Daphne; "but, after all, you don't know any better, and it +really isn't worth while. Still, as it seems I can't expect any +consideration from your Royal Highness, it will be impossible for me to +remain in her Majesty's service." + +He began to realise at last how deeply he had offended her, and to +desire a reconciliation on almost any terms. + +"No, I say," he pleaded, "don't take it like that. I--I made a mistake. +I'll never do it again. I swear I won't! _Now_ won't you stay?" + +Daphne looked at him for a moment before she replied. "I wouldn't stay, +Prince Clarence," she said, "if I didn't believe you really are a little +sorry and ashamed of yourself. And I will only stay now on condition +that you never try to speak to me again except in public." + +He had a sudden sense of what this would be to him--he might almost as +well lose her altogether. There was only one way of obtaining her full +forgiveness and the privilege of being alone with her as often as he +wished. Of course he would have to pay pretty dearly for it--but, hang +it, she was worth making some sacrifice for! He might be able to get +round his people after all.... Yes, he'd take the plunge, whatever it +cost him. + +"But--but look here," he began desperately, "suppose--suppose I ask +you"--he was on the point of adding, "to be my wife," when the words +died on his lips as he saw that his mother had just entered the Audience +Chamber. "Not now," he broke off heartily, "some other time." + +Queen Selina regarded Daphne with cold displeasure for a moment or two +before speaking. "I was not aware, Miss Heritage," she said, "that your +duties required you to be in this part of the Palace at _any_ time." + +"I had a summons, your Majesty," explained Daphne, "which I understood +was from the Princess Royal, to come to her in the Hall of Audience, or +I should not be here." + +"If her Royal Highness had required you at all, Miss Heritage, I think +it more likely, on the whole, that she would have sent for you to my +Bower, where she has been sitting with me all the afternoon. But I will +find out if the message came from her." + +Daphne bit her lip. + +"It did not, your Majesty," she said; "I know now that it was given to +me--by mistake." + +"A mistake, Miss Heritage, which I trust will not happen again. And, as +it is the hour when you should be in attendance on Princess Ruby, I will +ask you to go to her at once." + +"_She_ wasn't to blame, Mater," said Clarence, after Daphne had left the +Hall. "It was all my fault. _I_ sent her that message." + +"It's very chivalrous of you, Clarence, to take the blame on yourself," +replied his Mother; "but don't imagine you can deceive _me_. I know very +well you are much too clever and wideawake to do anything so +compromising. That girl is doing her best to entrap you into some rash +promise. I've suspected it for some time." + +"No, I don't think so, really, Mater. Just before you came in she was +asking me to promise not to speak to her again, except in public." + +"And didn't you see that was just her artful way of leading you on? But +of course you did! As if you could fail to see through such an obvious +trick as that." + +Now Clarence came to think of it, it _was_ pretty obvious. He shuddered +to remember how very nearly he had been taken in by it. But the +shrewdest man is liable to lose his head for the moment. Fortunately he +had recovered his in time. + +"Well, Mater," he said, "I wasn't born yesterday, you know. I flatter +myself I'm up to most moves on the board. And you may depend upon it if +she's had any designs on me--mind you, I don't say she _has_--but _if_ +she has, she sees now that they'll never come to anything. She's given +me up as a hopeless proposition." + +This statement was inspired less by any personal conviction than by the +dread that without such reassurance his anxious Mother might dismiss +Daphne on the spot. + +Queen Selina did not dismiss Daphne, whose powers of keeping Ruby amused +and the ladies-in-waiting in good humour were too valuable to be +dispensed with unless it was absolutely necessary. But she was allowed +to see in many ways that she had fallen from favour. One of these was +she was no longer invited to take part in the daily drives, a +deprivation which would alone have consoled her for much worse +penalties. + +And she was freed from any further importunities from the Crown Prince, +who kept his side of the compact by maintaining a cold and lofty +dignity. Clarence intended this to convey that his eyes were at last +open to her designs, and that it would be useless for her to seek to +beguile him any longer. But as Daphne was quite guiltless of any designs +at all, she was merely grateful to him for leaving her in peace. + +Queen Selina generally left it to the Marshal to direct her excursions, +and he always rode beside the Royal coach. One afternoon he had +conducted her and her eldest daughter by a road across a fertile plain +dotted with pleasant villages and isolated farmhouses, towards the +outlying spurs of a range of mountains. + +On one of these spurs the Queen happened to notice a large castle, whose +grim-looking keep and towers were surrounded by a high and far-extending +wall, while at its rear rose a frowning black crag. + +"Tell me, Marshal," she said, "whose place is that, and who lives +there?" + +"That is Castle Drachenstolz, your Majesty," he said. "It has belonged +for many centuries to a Count who chose, at some time during the +previous reign, to change the original family name to that of von +Rubenfresser. It's present occupant is the last of the race, the young +Count Ruprecht." + +"Really!" said the Queen, "considering the Count is so near a neighbour +of ours, he _might_ have had the civility to call, or at least leave +cards, on us before now!" + +"He would no doubt be happy to present himself at Court, Madam, if he +were not under strict orders never to go outside his Castle walls." + +"But why not?" + +"His parents were accused, whether justly or not I cannot say, of +certain malpractices, and the late King, your Majesty's gracious +grandfather, ordered them both to be put to death. Burnt alive, if I +remember rightly. This youth, being a mere infant at that period, was +allowed to live, but in semi-confinement within his ancestral walls, +with a custodian (who is now removed), and a few old family retainers, +who are the only persons he has ever been permitted to see." + +"And is there anything against the young Count himself?" + +"Nothing whatever," replied the Marshal. "He has been brought up in the +simplest manner and on the strictest principles, and by all accounts, is +a most amiable and excellent young man." + +"It seems rather hard that he should have been a prisoner all these +years," said Princess Edna, "for no fault of his own." + +"It does seem hard, your Royal Highness, and, in fact, while I was +Regent I was on the point of ordering him to be allowed at large, +when--when I was relieved of all responsibility. However, his lot is not +a very severe one. The estate is large, and he can drive or walk +anywhere within its boundaries. I understand that he spends much of his +time in his kitchen garden, where he has brought the art of forcing +certain vegetables to truly wonderful perfection." + +The young Count did not sound from this description particularly +exciting, even to Edna, but still she could not get him and his +undeserved captivity out of her thoughts, and, as soon as she got back +to the Palace, she attacked the King on the subject. + +"It's all very well, father," she concluded indignantly, "but in these +days you simply _can't_ keep that young man shut up for life just +because my great-grandfather chose to have his parents burnt alive--most +likely for no reason at all." + +"_I_ don't want to keep him shut up, my dear. Never heard of him before. +I am quite willing to set him free if I am satisfied that it's the right +thing to do." + +"Of course it's the right thing to do, Sidney," said his wife; "and, +what's more, it will be very popular. Just one of these gracious little +acts of clemency that go home to people's hearts. The Marshal quite +agreed with me about that." + +"Oh, very well," said the King, "I'll send a herald over to tell him he +needn't consider himself a prisoner for the future." + +"We owe him more than that, Sidney," said the Queen; "we ought at +_least_ to ask him over to lunch." + +"Yes, we might do that," agreed Edna; "not that he's likely to accept." + +"He cannot refuse a Royal command, my love," said her mother. + +The Count did not refuse. On the appointed day Clarence and his sisters +saw from one of the windows a dilapidated sable coach drawn by eight +very ancient coal-black horses turn into the Courtyard. + +"Only wants a few undertaker's men in weepers to be a really classy +funeral!" was the Crown Prince's tribute to this equipage. "'Come to +bury Caesar, not to praise him,' as Hamlet or some other Shakespearian +Johnny says, what?" + +When the young Count von Rubenfresser was ushered into the Royal +presence his entrance made a slight sensation. Nobody had been prepared +for the fact that he was much nearer seven than six feet in height. +Otherwise there was nothing alarming about him; he wore his flaxen hair +rather long and arranged over the centre of his head in a sort of roll; +his china-blue eyes (which Ruby said afterwards was "plain all round, +like a fish's eyes") were singularly candid; he had a clear, fresh +complexion, full red lips, and magnificent teeth. He wore a rich suit of +sable as deep as his coach. "Magog in mourning," Clarence christened him +in an undertone. + +It was curious that he should have inspired Daphne at first sight with a +vague repulsion, and that Ruby should have felt a similar antipathy, +though, with her, it took the form of a violent fit of the giggles--but +so it was. Daphne was thankful that she was able to remain at a distance +from him, as she was not lunching at the Royal Table. + +He was shy at first, as most persons would be if the first meal they had +ever eaten away from their own home had to be consumed in the presence +of Royalty, but he had been evidently trained to observe the ordinary +table etiquette, and as he became more at ease he talked fluently +enough, though at times with a _naivete_ that was almost childlike, and +increased Clarence's resolve to pull his leg whenever he saw an +opportunity. + +"Your Majesties must pardon my asking the question," he said, in his +thin, piping voice, as he helped himself to a cutlet, "but is this what +is called _meat_?" + +"So we're given to understand by the butcher, Count," replied Clarence. +"Why do you want to know?" + +"Because," he replied, "I've often _heard_ of meat, but this is the +first time I've ever _seen_ it. Do you know," he went on presently, "I +_like_ meat. I shall have some more." + +"I should, if I were you," advised Clarence; "it may make you grow!" +which reduced Ruby to silent convulsions. + +"Do you really think it _will_?" inquired the Count, either not +noticing, or tactfully disregarding, Princess Ruby's lapse from good +manners. "It might. My poor dear Father and Mother were both great +meat-eaters, I believe, before they took to vegetarianism, which was +quite late in life. I cannot remember seeing them, but I've always +understood that they were much taller than I am." + +"You don't say so," returned Clarence. "Must have been most interesting +people to meet." + +"They were, your Royal Highness. Though, unfortunately, I cannot speak +of my own knowledge. As your Majesties may be aware, during the short +time they were spared to me I was too young to appreciate their +society." + +"Well, well, Count," said Queen Selina, perceiving that this was +delicate ground, "it's all very sad, but you must try not to think about +it now. The Marshal tells me you give a great deal of your time to +growing vegetables. How do tomatoes do with you?" + +"I don't pay any attention to tomatoes, your Majesty," he replied, with +a blush that few tomatoes could have outdone. "My efforts have been +chiefly directed to pumpkins. I have reared some particularly fine ones. +I am very fond of pumpkins." + +"Jolly little things, ain't they?" put in Clarence. "So playful!" + +"_Are_ they?" said the Count with perfect simplicity. "I did not know +that. But then I have never attempted to play with _my_ pumpkins." + +"Haven't you?" said Clarence. "Well, you get 'em to play +kiss-in-the-ring with you, and you'll find out how frisky they can be!" + +"I do not know anything about kissing," he confessed, "except that it is +very wrong." + +"Not _pumpkins_," said the Crown Prince. "There's no harm in that! Ask +the bishop!" + +"I say, old girl," he remarked to Princess Edna, after their visitor had +taken his departure, "what on earth induced the Mater to tell that lanky +overgrown lout we should be pleased to see him any time he cared to drop +in? We shall have the beggar running in and out here like a bally +rabbit, you see if we don't!" + +"Not if you intend to go on insulting him, Clarence, as you did to-day +at lunch," replied Edna coldly. + +"Why, I was only ragging him. Who could help ragging such a champion mug +as that?" + +"There is more--far more--in him than you are capable of seeing, +Clarence. And, even from a physical point of view, he is immeasurably +your superior." + +"I admit I shouldn't have a look in with him if we were both candidates +for a Freak Show," he conceded. "On the other hand, no one can say I'm +gone at the knees." + +"It's a pity, Clarence, that you're so narrow as you are!" she said. + +"D'you mean round the chest or calves?" he asked. "Because I'm quite up +to the average measurements." + +"I meant, so insular in your prejudices. You were almost _rude_ to the +poor Count. When he was our guest, too!" + +"I expect," he said, "that if he's ever our guest again, I shall be a +bit _more_ insular. I can't stick the beggar, somehow!" + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE BLONDE BEAST + + +The Count was not slow to take advantage of his _permis de circuler_; +his coal-black horses and coach were soon a familiar spectacle in the +streets of Eswareinmal, where he had discovered the delights of +promiscuous shopping. He ordered a self-supplying dinner-table of the +best quality--to be paid for by monthly instalments--from the Astrologer +Royal, with whom he struck up a sort of friendship. Nor did he neglect +to avail himself of his general invitation to the Palace, where he +dropped in so frequently as almost to justify Clarence's prediction. +Queen Selina gave him occasional hints that she had not expected him +quite so often, but hints were thrown away on the Count's ingenuous +nature--he seemed to take it for granted that he was always welcome. + +Princess Edna certainly never discouraged his visits. She had been +struck from the first by his great stature and powerful physique, which +were just what she imagined that Nietzsche's ideal Superman would +possess. It has already been mentioned that she had been attending +lectures on the Nietzschean philosophy. + +Those were the days--not so very long ago, though they seem remote +enough now--when a certain class of high-browed and serious persons +accepted works of modern German philosophers as containing a new gospel +which none who desired intellectual freedom, enlightenment, and +efficiency could afford to neglect. The theories of "the Will to Power" +and of Might being equivalent to Right are already hopelessly +discredited in this country by recent exhibitions of the way in which +they work out in practice. But it was not so then, and Edna, who liked +to feel that she was one of the elect and in the advance guard of +Culture, readily imbibed as much of the Nietzschean doctrine as could be +boiled down for her in a single lecture. She would not, of course, have +thought of regulating her own actions on such principles, any more than, +in all probability, did their author himself. But she was very anxious +to see some one else do so, and the young Count seemed to have been +formed by Nature for Nietzsche's typical "Blond Beast," if he only chose +to divulge his possibilities. Unfortunately, he did not seem even to +suspect them; he remained quite oppressively mild and amiable. She very +nearly gave him up in despair once when he timidly presented her with a +pair of mittens which he had knitted for her himself. However, a day +came when she saw him under a less discouraging aspect. + +They were at lunch, to which he had invited himself as usual, and Ruby +had asked her brother how it was that in all his hunting expeditions he +had never managed to slay a dragon. + +"Never saw one to slay, Kiddie," he replied. "They seem scarce about +here." + +The Court Chamberlain, from behind the King's chair, took it upon +himself to explain that there were no longer any dragons in existence, +the few that remained having been exterminated by the late King's +orders. + +"Oh!" exclaimed Ruby, "I _did_ so want to see a dragon! And now I never +shall!" + +"If you wish it, little Princess," said Count von Rubenfresser kindly, +"you shall see mine." + +"_Yours!_" cried Ruby, quite forgetting her dislike for him in her +excitement. "Have you _really_ got a dragon--a real _live_ one?" + +"A real live one--and almost full-grown," he replied. "My poor dear +Father had a pair, but they were killed. Mine is the last of the breed. +I discovered it myself when I was a child in a cave close to the castle. +At that time it was only an egg." + +"Hatch it yourself?" inquired Clarence. + +"Only partially," said the young Count; "the sun did the rest." (It was +perhaps as well for Daphne that she was not at the table just then.) "I +begged that its life might be spared, and it was. So Tuetzi and I have +grown up together." + +"Tootsie!" remarked Clarence _sotto voce_, "what a dashed silly-ass name +for a dragon!" + +"And will you show us him?" asked Ruby eagerly. "Mummy, couldn't we go +to the Count's castle and see his dragon? This afternoon?" + +"I should rather like to see it myself," said her Father. "No idea there +_were_ such things. What do you say to our driving back with the Count +and having a look at it, eh, my love?" + +"I think, Sidney," replied the Queen, "we certainly ought to do so." + +So, to Ruby's delight, the State coach was ordered to take the Royal +Family to Drachenstolz, and the party set out shortly after lunch. +Clarence accompanied them on horseback, while the Count followed in his +sombre vehicle. Daphne was left behind, and the Court, although invited +to join the party, begged with singular unanimity that they might be +excused. + +On arriving at the Castle the visitors were first taken over the +interior, which was ill-lighted and rather depressing, after which the +Count led them through a spacious courtyard to the kitchen-garden, where +the Queen deigned to compliment him on the huge size of the vegetable +marrows and pumpkins that were ripening in the sun. + +"If there _should_ be a Harvest Festival at the Church, Count," she said +graciously, "I'm sure some of those would come in very nicely for it!" + +They then passed over a rough tract of ground towards a rocky cliff that +formed part of the Castle boundary. In this cliff was a deep cavern, on +one side of which was a stout staple with a chain attached, only a +portion of which was visible. Here their young host stopped and gave a +low whistle. Instantly there was a rattle of the chain, and the next +moment all but the Count and Ruby hastily retreated as a great horny +head with distended nostrils and lidless eyes was protruded from the +opening. + +"Don't be alarmed!" said the Count, calmly unfastening the chain and +leading the creature out into the open. "Tuetzi is perfectly tame, as you +can see." + +It may or may not have been full-grown, but it was large enough at all +events to be a fairly fearful wildfowl, with its huge leathery wings, +crested spine, formidable talons, and restless tail. The colour of its +scales was extraordinarily rich, ranging from deepest purple and azure +through vivid green to orange and pale yellow, and fully justified King +Sidney in remarking--from a safe distance--that "it appeared to be in +very good condition." + +But there was no doubt about its tameness. It suffered Ruby, who showed +no fear of it whatever, to stroke it on its plated beak, and even to +scratch it behind its bristly ears, with every sign of satisfaction. + +"Ruby!" shrieked the horrified Queen, "come away at _once_! I'm sure it +isn't safe to tease that dreadful thing!" + +"I'm _not_ teasing him, Mummy," replied Ruby, whose eccentric _penchant_ +for reptiles was now being gratified beyond her wildest dreams. "He +_loves_ being tickled. Can't you hear him purring?" + +As the noise the brute was making would have drowned that of the most +powerful dynamo, the question was almost unnecessary. Count Ruprecht +next made his dragon exhibit the few accomplishments it had learnt, +which were of the simplest, consisting in sitting up, rolling over and +shamming death, and reviving to utter three terrific snorts, supposed to +be loyal cheers, all at the proper word of command. He concluded by +mounting its back and riding it several times round the enclosure, after +which he lay between its forepaws, while it licked his face with its +huge flickering forked tongue. + +"Capital!" cried Clarence, apparently unimpressed, though he did not +venture very near the beast. "You've only to teach it to jump through a +hoop, and you'd make quite a decent Music-hall 'turn' together. What do +you feed it on, eh? Sop--or canary-seed?" + +To which the Count did not vouchsafe any reply. + +"I've been most interested, I'm sure, my dear Count," said the Queen, +after he had chained it up again. "And it's quite a thing to have +seen--once. But we really can't allow you to go on keeping such a +creature as that--_can_ we, Sidney?" + +"Certainly not, my love," said the King. "It's against the law, you +know, Count, against the law." + +"Is it, your Majesty?" said the Count. "I--I had no idea of that--no one +ever told me so!" + +"Well, it _is_, you know. You must put an end to it--have it destroyed. +Painlessly, if you like, but--well, you've got to get rid of it +somehow." + +"In your own interest, Count," urged the Queen. "Just think how +unpopular you would be with your neighbours if it broke loose!" + +"I should not like to be unpopular," he said. "And if your Majesties +insist on slaying the only living creature that loves me----!" + +"What?" put in Clarence unfeelingly, "don't the hearse--I mean the +carriage-horses love you?" + +But again the Count took no notice of the question. + +"It's too bad of you, Father!" cried Edna indignantly; "yes, and you +too, Mother! To come here at Count Ruprecht's invitation, to see his +dragon and then tell him to destroy it! I think it perfectly disgraceful +of you, and you will get a very bad name in the country when people hear +of it. When you happen to be Sovereigns you might at least _behave_ as +such!" + +"Well, well, my dear," said her Mother, who had not considered the +question from this side before, "we merely threw it out as a +suggestion--nothing more. And if the Count will undertake to keep his +dragon under proper control, that is all we shall require of him." + +The Count willingly gave this undertaking, and the visit ended without +any loss of cordiality on either side. + +"We've seen the dragon, Miss Heritage!" Ruby announced with sparkling +eyes on her return. "And he is such a darling! Do you know, I don't +think the Count can be quite so horrid after all, or Tuetzi wouldn't be +fond of him. Only fancy, Mums and Daddy wanted the Count to have him +killed! But Edna made them say he needn't. _Aren't_ you glad?... Oh, I +forgot--you never really loved my newts. But you _would_ Tuetzi--he's +quite _dry_, you know--not the least bit clammy.... Do you think there's +time before dinner for me to run down and play with the Gnomes?" + +"My dearest!" cried Daphne, "surely your Mother doesn't approve of your +doing that?" + +"She wouldn't mind if she knew. They're yellow--but quite nice. Much +better fun than those fat little muffs of pages, who are too afraid of +spoiling their clothes to play at anything rough. You don't mind my +having a game of 'I spy' with the Gnomes--just till it's time to dress +for dinner--do you, Miss Heritage?" + +"Well, darling," said Daphne, "I'm not allowed any authority over you +now, you know. But I'm quite sure that if her Majesty ever hears of your +running about with Yellow Gnomes, she will blame me for it, and probably +send me away." + +"Oh, then I won't any more. Only it will be rather dull without them. I +almost wish sometimes I had lessons to do. But there's nothing for me to +learn. I can understand everything everybody says, and they understand +me. And there aren't any pianos, and History and Geography are no +earthly good here, and I know more Arithmetic as it is than I shall ever +want now I'm a Princess. Princess Flachspinnenlos promised to show me +how to work a spinning-wheel some day, but she's not very good at it +herself, and anyhow, I'm sure it will be frightfully boring. Still, I'd +rather give up the Gnomes than lose _you_, Miss Heritage, dearest!" + +She spoke with feeling, for it meant abandoning a cherished scheme of +hers for inciting them to steal up during dinner and pinch the pages' +legs. + +Daphne was sorry for the poor little tomboy Princess, of whom she had +grown to be really fond. There was little she could do for her, however, +beyond being with her as often as she could; and the Queen had shown a +tendency of late to discourage even this. + +Edna looked forward with interest to the Count's next visit; his +performances with the dragon had impressed her greatly in his favour, +and she had begun to think that he might have the makings of a Superman +in him after all. It might be time to begin his education, and she +prepared herself for the task by running through her lecture notes on +Nietzsche once more. + +When he called he was shown by her command to the chamber which served +as her boudoir, where, rather to the scandal of some of the Court +ladies, she received him in private. + +He looked taller than ever as he sat doubled up on a low seat. "I came +to thank you, Princess," he began, "for persuading your exalted parents +to spare my poor dear Tuetzi. Of course I don't want to break the law, +but he is chained up, and besides, he is such a good dragon that I'm +sure nobody _could_ object to my keeping him." + +"Why are you so anxious not to break the law?" + +"Because it's wrong to break laws." + +"And do you never do anything wrong?" + +"Never. My tutors taught me that people who do wrong are always punished +for it. I shouldn't like to be punished at all." + +"Still, you must have _wanted_ to do bad things now and then." + +"Now and then I have," he confessed. "Especially lately. But I never +_do_ them. You see, bad people are never really liked." + +"Do you know, Count, what the great German philosopher Nietzsche would +call such goodness as yours? He would say it was 'slave-morality.' You +only do what other people tell you is right because you're afraid of +what they would think of you if you didn't. You have courage enough to +master Tuetzi, but you daren't defy what Nietzsche so finely terms 'the +Great Dragon of the Law,' which says: 'Thou shalt'--'Thou shalt not.'" + +"What?" he said in surprise. "Is there another dragon besides Tuetzi? And +one that can talk, too! I never heard of _him_!" + +"Nietzsche was speaking metaphorically, of course," said Edna +impatiently. "He meant the human laws and customs and prejudices which a +true Superman should soar above. I think you ought to be more of a +Superman." + +"Ought I?" he said, open-mouthed. "What sort of things does a--one of +those gentlemen--do?" + +"Well," said Edna, after refreshing her memory by her notes, "you should +begin by 'hating and despising the ideals of the average man'! You +should create your own Truth--your own Morality. Obey only your +primordial instincts--the Will to Power." + +"I wonder if I could do all that." + +"Of course you can, if you are strong enough--and I believe you are." + +"And what _else_ ought I to do, Princess?" + +"Well, let me see--oh, yes, you should 'act towards slave or stranger +exactly as you think fit.' You should be 'an intrepid experimentalist, +ceaselessly looking for new forms of existence.' You must 'be able to +bear the sight of others' pain, remembering that you cannot attain the +height of greatness----'" + +"I've grown taller lately," he interjected, "a great deal taller; +haven't you noticed it?" + +"'Attain the height of greatness,'" resumed Edna severely, "if you do +not feel within yourself both the will and the power to inflict great +suffering! And 'through it all you must exhibit the joyous innocence of +a child that is amusing itself.' Do you understand?" + +"I think I do. It means I must do whatever I feel inclined, without +minding what people say. Shall you be pleased with me, Princess, if I do +that?" + +"I shall at least respect you more than I can do while you form your +conduct entirely on Sunday School standards." + +"Then I'll try," he said. "Yes, I will certainly try. Do you know, I +think I shall rather like being what your great teacher with a name like +a sneeze calls a Superman." + +"Then make yourself one," she said, "for I am quite sure that you have +the power." + +Probably she did not know herself exactly what she wanted him to be; it +did not mean much more than the admiration for the prehistoric male +brute to which the more advanced type of young woman seems peculiarly +prone. But when he left she felt that she had made a most promising +convert, and had every reason to be satisfied with the success of her +afternoon. + +As much could not be said with regard to her Mother, who remonstrated +with her after the Count's departure as strongly as she dared. + +"I shouldn't see him alone like that, again, my love," she said +anxiously. "It might put ideas into people's heads. Indeed I'm not sure +that, as it is, some of the Court don't think there must be something +between you." + +"It's perfectly indifferent to me _what_ they think, Mother," was the +lofty reply. "As a matter of fact, there is nothing whatever between us. +I am merely doing what I can to make him a little more civilised." + +"There would be no objection to that, my dear. Only it _does_ look so +very like _encouraging_ him, you know. And it's so necessary to be +careful just now. I'm afraid the People think we are making far too much +of that young man. I noticed they looked very black that day we drove +over to Drachenstolz. I really think it would be better if the next time +he calls you would be 'not at home' to him." + +"My dear Mother," returned Edna, "I am old enough to have the right to +choose my own friends, and I shall certainly decline to drop them just +because the Court chooses to make my friendships a subject for foolish +gossip." + +Queen Selina did not venture to pursue the conversation any farther, but +she was more relieved than she would once have thought possible when she +heard that the Court Godmother had returned from Clairdelune. According +to strict etiquette, it was for the Fairy to attend her Mistress and +report herself, but the Queen waived all ceremony by paying the first +visit. She went at once, and unattended, to the apartments in one of the +towers that had been assigned to the Court Godmother, who, without +seeming at all overwhelmed by such condescension, received her with more +benignity than usual. "Thank you, my dear," she said, in answer to the +Queen's inquiries, "I am tolerably well, and feel no ill effects from my +journey. And I think," she added complacently, "you will agree that I +have spent my time at Clairdelune not altogether unprofitably. But you +shall hear all about it presently. Tell me how things have been going on +here while I have been away. As satisfactorily, I trust, as possible?" + +"Oh, quite--quite--that is, I've been just a little worried lately about +that young Count Rubenfresser. He has taken to coming here oftener than +I think quite desirable." + +"Coming here?" repeated the Fairy, with surprise. "Why, I thought he was +never allowed outside his Castle!" + +"Not till lately. My poor dear Grandfather seems to have been very +severe both on him and his parents. But the Marshal spoke so highly of +the poor young man, and recommended so strongly that he should be given +his freedom, that his Majesty and I decided to do it." + +"Oh," said the Fairy. "Well, of course, if the Marshal thinks it safe!" +She suspected the ex-Regent of cherishing some resentment against her +still for the part she had taken in bringing back the Sovereigns to +supersede him, and she had no wish to run counter to him again. So, +whatever she might think of the wisdom of his advice, she was far too +prudent an old person to express her doubts. "But I gather," she went +on, "that you don't approve of the young Count yourself, my dear?" + +"Oh, he seems gentlemanly enough--though rather taller than the average. +The only reason that I disapprove of him is that I'm afraid he comes +here so often on Edna's account." + +"You don't mean," said the Court Godmother, in some alarm, "that she +shows any----?" + +"Oh, _dear_ me, no! Not the slightest! She thinks he requires +civilising, and is trying to do it for him, that's all. But I can't get +her to see that the notice she takes of him is liable to be +misunderstood. Not only by him--but by everybody, you know." + +"Oh well, my dear, if it's no worse than that, you needn't trouble +yourself about it. And now for _my_ news. You've heard me speak of +Prince Mirliflor of Clairdelune, King Tournesol's only son?" + +Queen Selina had heard her speak of him so often that she instinctively +prepared herself for half an hour of _ennui_. + +"A charming young man. I don't say he hasn't his faults, but I shall +make it my business to cure him of them all in time. I was one of the +three Godmothers at his christening--the other two have gone years +ago--I forget what _their_ gifts were--Courage and Good-looks, I think. +_I_ gave him what I still consider a most useful present for any infant +prince--a complete set of the highest ideals." + +"How _nice_!" murmured Queen Selina absently, for her attention was +beginning to wander already. "Most neat and appropriate, I'm sure." + +"They _would_ have been," said the old Fairy, "if he'd made use of them +sensibly, as I intended. But that is just what he _hasn't_ done. For +instance, although he's been of an age to marry these three years, he's +refused to look at every eligible Princess that has been suggested to +him because, if you please, she doesn't happen to come up to his ideal +of beauty!" + +"Dear me," said the Queen, concealing a yawn, "you don't say so, Court +Godmother!" + +"My dear," said the Fairy irritably, "it's nonsense to tell me I don't +say what I've just said! And, as I was about to tell you, his conduct +caused the greatest disappointment and annoyance to his father, who is +naturally anxious that his line should not die out. So he begged me to +use _my_ influence. Well, I saw, of course, that the only way was to +appeal to _another_ of the ideals I had given him--his ideal of Duty. I +put it to him that he owed it not only to his father, but his country, +to choose a bride without any further shilly-shallying." + +"And what did he say?" asked the Queen, with more interest, as she had +begun to see what was coming. + +"Don't be in such a hurry," said the Fairy; "I haven't finished what _I_ +said yet. I told him that personal beauty was of very little consequence +in a bride, and that what he needed was a sensible girl who would be +clever enough to keep him from having too high an opinion of +himself--which, I may say, has always been one of his failings. I added +that your Edna was just the very person for him." + +"How kind of you to put in a word for her!" said Queen Selina. "And--was +it any _good_?" + +"So much so that, to his father's great joy, he recognised that it was +his imperative duty to seek the hand of such a paragon of wisdom and +learning. And I am empowered by him to prepare you for his arrival in +the course of a day or two, in the character of the Princess Royal's +suitor. So you see," she concluded, "I haven't been at Clairdelune all +this time for nothing." + +"Indeed you have not, dear Court Godmother; and I'm most grateful, I'm +sure, for all the trouble you must have taken. Fancy our Edna the Queen +of Clairdelune some day! Not that she isn't fitted for any position. How +pleased she will be when she hears of this, dear thing! So will his +Majesty--and Clarence too! He and dear Prince Mirliflor will be able to +go out hunting together. For--I forgot to tell you--since you have +deserted us, Clarence has learnt to ride most beautifully!" + +"Has he indeed?" said the Fairy. "Then I was right after all. I thought +it just possible that, if you could persuade him to wear that jewel----" + +"Do you mean that pendant of mine? He _does_ wear it, but that has +nothing whatever to do with his riding. He'd taught himself to ride long +before I gave it to him. He was only pretending he couldn't, as a joke." + +"He may say so, my dear--but, all the same, if it hadn't been for that +jewel----" + +"Really, Court Godmother," said Queen Selina, who naturally resented +anything that detracted from her son's credit, "it astonishes me to +find anyone so--so clear-headed as you are in most things still clinging +to these superstitious ideas. As if the mere fact of wearing a piece of +jewellery could suddenly make anyone into a good rider!" + +"It depends upon what the piece of jewellery is," said the Fairy. + +Queen Selina saw her way to an absolutely crushing rejoinder. "Well, +this particular piece of jewellery," she said, "happens to be a paltry +ornament which I bought from Miss Heritage before I ever heard of +Maerchenland." + +Her shot had certainly told. "What?" faltered the Court Godmother, +obviously out of countenance. "Did I understand you to say you _bought_ +that jewel--and from the Lady Daphne?" + +"I prefer to call her Miss Heritage--the other is merely a courtesy +title. Yes, I did buy it from her. She was in difficulties at the time, +and I gave her thirty pounds for it, which was a good deal more than +anybody else would have done." + +"And--and--have you told this to any other person--the--the Marshal, for +instance?" + +"My dear Court Godmother, I am not in the habit of _proclaiming_ my acts +of charity--for it _was_ an act of charity!" + +"An act of charity," said the Fairy drily, "which I should strongly +advise you to keep to yourself." + +"I intend to," replied the Queen, as she rose with much dignity, though +her face was redder than usual. "I should never have mentioned it at +all, even to you, Court Godmother, if I hadn't felt it necessary. Of +course, in my present position, I should never _dream_ of buying +jewellery from one of my own ladies-in-waiting. But it was different +then. I hadn't come into my Kingdom, and Miss Heritage was only my +governess; and anyway, it was a perfectly fair bargain, so my conscience +is absolutely clear. Still," she added, turning on the threshold, +"perhaps you will admit _now_ that you were just a _little_ mistaken in +attaching any importance to wearing that pendant?" + +"Yes," said the Fairy, completely crestfallen and subdued, "I made a +mistake--a great mistake--I admit that." + +"I thought you would!" returned the Queen triumphantly. "And now I must +go to dear Edna and tell her the news about Prince Mirliflor." + +She had no suspicion of the state of mind in which, by her unconscious +revelation, she was leaving the unhappy Court Godmother, who was so +stunned that it was some time before she could think out the situation +at all clearly. + +The present Sovereigns of Maerchenland, it seemed, were nothing but +impostors! Innocent impostors, no doubt--but that did not lessen her own +responsibility for helping to place them on the throne. If she made the +truth known, would the people--worse still, would the ex-Regent--believe +that she and the Baron and the Astrologer Royal had not been deceiving +them from the first? She recognised now that they had been too ready to +accept the wearer of Prince Chrysopras's jewelled badge as the +sought-for Queen without some further inquiry--and yet who in all +Maerchenland would have dreamed of making any? How could anyone have +supposed that Queen Selina had merely become the possessor of the jewel +by purchasing it from that little Lady Daphne? It seemed to follow that +Lady Daphne must be the true Queen. The Fairy remembered now that she +had taken her to be so at their first meeting. If only she had thought +then of asking a question or two, the mistake might have been discovered +before matters had gone too far--but, in her unfortunate anxiety to see +a legitimate sovereign ruling Maerchenland once more she had taken +everything for granted. How could she put it right now without appearing +either a traitress to the Kingdom, or at least a foolish old Fairy who +ought to have known her own business better? That was a bitter +reflection for an autocratic dame who had long been accustomed to +consider that age and experience had endowed her with a wisdom which was +absolutely infallible. + +There was just one faint hope to which she clung. She had been mistaken +once--why should she not be mistaken again? Lady Daphne might herself +have bought the pendant from some third person. In that case she would +have no better claim to the throne than Queen Selina, and matters could +be left as they were--which would relieve the Fairy of the unpleasant +necessity of having to admit that she was liable to error. + +She could not rest till she knew more, and so, as soon as she felt equal +to any action, she took her crutch-handled staff, hobbled down the +winding steps, and then up more stairs and along a succession of +corridors, until she reached the door of the chamber she had been told +was Daphne's. + +"I shall know very soon now!" she told herself. "And, after all, there's +nothing to be uneasy about. Whoever this girl may be, it's most unlikely +that she will turn out to be any relation of poor Chrysopras'." + +But, in spite of these reassurances, it was a very tremulous hand that +rapped at the door, and the Court Godmother's heart sank as she heard a +clear sweet voice inviting her to enter. + +It would have been such a relief, just then, to find that Daphne was not +in her room. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +A WAY OUT + + +Daphne was rather surprised to see the Court Godmother enter, for she +had not honoured her by any special notice since her first arrival. But +she was pleased, and touched as well, by a visit which she knew must +have cost the old Fairy considerable effort. + +"I thought I'd come up and see how you were getting on, my dear," began +the latter, after sinking into the chair Daphne had brought forward for +her, and recovering her breath. "I hope you are happy here--and--and +well treated?" + +"Quite, thanks, Court Godmother," said Daphne. + +"But you shouldn't sit moping here by yourself like this." + +"Her Majesty doesn't like me to come down until she sends for me," +explained Daphne; "and she hasn't to-day. But I haven't been moping, +Court Godmother; I've been listening to the swallows. They're discussing +their plans for the winter, and they _can't_ make up their minds where +to go, poor darlings!" + +"That's only what you _fancy_ they're talking about," said the Fairy +sharply; for the gift of understanding bird-language is comparatively +rare, and only possessed by those who have a strain of Fairy blood in +their descent. "You can't possibly _know_!" + +"I didn't till I came here, and then I suddenly found I could. Princess +Ruby declares I make it all up--but I don't. I can even understand what +some of the animals have to say, and its rather fun sometimes. The other +morning in the Gardens I heard a tortoise telling a squirrel----" + +"I daresay, I daresay," interrupted the Court Godmother, who had not +come there to hear the small talk of any tortoise; "I find their +conversation wearisome myself--and so will you when you've been here a +little longer. And so you're comfortable here, are you?" she went on, +looking round the chamber, which had walls of mother-o'-pearl with +hangings of delicate shimmering blue-green at the window and round the +small ivory four-post bed. "Well, this room looks very cool and +pleasant. And you've pretty dresses to wear, it seems. I like that one +you have on--most becoming, though it wants an ornament of some kind to +set it off. But perhaps you don't care for jewellery?" + +"I do," said Daphne, "very much. But I haven't any now, you see." + +"But you had once, hadn't you? I seem to recollect the Queen telling me +she bought something--a pendant, I fancy she said--from you before you +came to Maerchenland. Or was it somebody else?" + +"No, it was me," said Daphne. "It was very decent of her, because I was +in rather a hole just then--with a debt I couldn't possibly have paid +otherwise--and the pendant was no use to _me_, you see--not a thing I +could ever have worn." + +"So you wasted your money in buying an ornament which was unsuited to +you, eh?" + +"I didn't buy it, Court Godmother," said Daphne, and proceeded to +explain--much as she had done at "Inglegarth"--how it came into her +possession. The Fairy questioned her about her father, but she had +little information to give. Even his name was uncertain, as it seemed he +had only moved into his last rooms shortly before his death. All his +landlady could say was that it was something foreign which she could not +pronounce. But she had gathered from certain things he had let fall that +he had led a wandering life as a musician, and had at one period been a +riding-master. She believed that, in the latter capacity, he had met his +young wife, Daphne's mother, and that it had been a runaway marriage. +She died soon after giving birth to Daphne, and left him so +broken-hearted that he did not care to make any fight against illness +when it came to him, but rather welcomed a death that meant re-union. +"But all I _really_ know," concluded Daphne, "is that that pendant +belonged to him, and that my adopted Mother took care of it for me till +I was grown up. And I think he would not have minded my selling it when +I wanted the money so badly." + +"Well, whether he would have minded or not," said the Fairy, "you _did_ +sell it--and a sorry bargain you made of it, too! I'll be bound, now, +that you've told the whole Court about it long ago!" + +"I have told no one, Court Godmother," said Daphne. "Why should I tell +them about my own private affairs? I shouldn't have said anything to +_you_, if you hadn't heard of it already from her Majesty." + +"You were wise to hold your tongue," remarked the Fairy, greatly +relieved. "For I may tell you that, if the Court once heard that the +Queen bought that jewel from you, it would prejudice them very seriously +against her. And I am sure you would not wish _that_." + +"Of course I shouldn't wish it," said Daphne, a little haughtily. +"Though how I could prejudice her Majesty by telling anybody of an +instance of her kindness to me, I really don't know. She's scarcely worn +the pendant herself, and now she's given it to Prince Clarence. But +nobody knows that it was once mine, and you can be quite sure that +nobody ever will, from me." + +"In a Court like this, my child," said the Fairy, almost apologetically, +"one cannot be too careful. But I can see you are to be trusted." And, +after some conversation on less dangerous subjects, she retired. + +Her worst fears had been confirmed; she could no longer doubt that +Daphne was Prince Chrysopras's daughter. She wondered now how she could +ever have doubted it. But this constituted her Daphne's official +Godmother. As such, was it not her duty to see that she had her rights? + +If she did her duty to her godchild it might entail very unpleasant +consequences to herself--consequences from which she felt herself +shrinking as much as ever. Might they not be avoided? Daphne evidently +had no suspicion of her claims. And, as the Fairy reminded herself, +"What the eye does not miss the heart will not grieve for." The child +was quite happy and contented as she was. If the Marshal still had any +ambition to resume his power, he would have no scruples about removing +any rival. + +"I should only be exposing her to danger," thought the Court Godmother. +And there were the poor King and Queen to be considered, and the Baron +and the Astrologer Royal, who would all go down in the general _debacle_ +if the truth were allowed to come out. She was bound to think of +_them_. So far as she could see, the only result of disclosure would be +to establish the Marshal as Monarch--and they had had quite enough of +him as Regent. + +So, as it is seldom difficult to discover insuperable objections to any +course that one has strong personal reasons for avoiding, the Fairy +easily persuaded herself that she owed it to others to remain silent. +The secret was safe enough. Both Queen Selina and Daphne could be +depended on not to betray it now. It was better for everybody +concerned--particularly the Court Godmother--that it should remain +unknown for ever. + +Still, her conscience smote her a little with regard to Daphne. She was +so well fitted to be a Queen--it seemed hard that she should forfeit the +crown that was rightfully hers. "But that's entirely her own fault!" the +Fairy told herself. "Xuriel read the stars quite correctly. He foretold +not only the very spot where she would be discovered, but the sign by +which she was to be recognised. If she chose to part with the jewel to +another, she must take the consequences. _I_'m not responsible!" + +And yet, after all, Daphne _was_ her god-daughter, if she could not be +openly acknowledged as such. Something must be done to make up to the +poor child for all she had lost. And here the Fairy had a positively +brilliant idea--why not marry her to Mirliflor? But almost immediately +she remembered with dismay that she had been making a very different +matrimonial arrangement for him. That, however, was before she knew what +she knew now. The case was entirely altered--she could not possibly +allow him to commit himself to an alliance with a daughter of these +usurpers. That must be prevented at all hazards, and fortunately he had +taken no irretrievable step as yet. "Unless I'm much mistaken," she +thought, "he will forget all about Princess Edna if he once sees Lady +Daphne. She ought to be lovely enough to satisfy even _his_ ideal. But +if he doesn't see her soon, it may be too late to save him." + +Like most Fairy Godmothers, she possessed the power of impressing any +_protege_ of hers who was not more than a couple of hundred leagues away +with a perfectly distinct vision of anybody or anything she chose. She +had made not a few matches by this means in her best days, and some of +them had not turned out at all badly. But it was a long time since she +had last exercised any of her occult faculties. To do so demanded a +concentration of will-power and psychic force which told on her more and +more severely as she advanced in years, and she had resolved to abstain +from any practices that might shorten the life to which she had every +intention of clinging as long as possible. + +"But I must risk it--just for this once," she decided. "Yes, I'll make +him dream of her this very night." + +Meanwhile Queen Selina had informed her daughter of the brilliant future +that awaited her, and was not a little annoyed at Edna's failure to +express the least enthusiasm. + +"I wish Godmother wouldn't meddle like this in my affairs," she said. "I +suppose I shall have to see this Prince Mirliflor now if he comes; but +it is not at all likely that he will have any of the qualities that +appeal to _me_." + +"My love!" remonstrated Queen Selina. "He will be the King of +Clairdelune some day!" + +"He may be, Mother," returned Edna. "But that is a consideration which I +shall not allow to affect me in the slightest." + +"Of course not, my dear," said her Mother, feeling that Edna could be +safely trusted to look after her own interests. "You are free to decide +exactly as you please. I shall put no pressure on you whatever." + +"My dear Mother," returned Edna, "you would gain nothing by it if you +did." + +That night the Court Godmother retired early, and spent a long and +strenuous vigil in calling up a vivid recollection of Daphne as she had +seen her that afternoon, and imprinting the vision on her godson's +sleeping brain. She was unwell in consequence all the next day, but she +was easier in her mind after having prevented any untoward effects her +counsels might have had upon Mirliflor. It was rather a strain upon her +to face the Royal Family again, but she forced herself, for her own +sake, to treat them with as much outward respect as before. + +She had begun to think that the worst was over when an envoy suddenly +arrived in hot haste from Clairdelune bearing a formal proposal from +Prince Mirliflor for Princess Edna's hand, and the information that he +was following shortly to plead his suit in person. + +He had also entrusted the messenger with a short despatch to his +Godmother, which she read with impotent fury. It was a somewhat involved +and incoherent letter, expressing his thanks for the vision, for which +he could not doubt he was indebted to her, but intimating that she had +convinced him so forcibly that Princess Edna possessed qualities +infinitely more precious than the most exquisite beauty, that his +determination to win her had already been irrevocably fixed. + +"Prefers her to Lady Daphne, does he?" she said to herself, as she +realised that she would be forced to speak out now if he was to be saved +from such an alliance. "Then he must _marry_ her, that's all! I can't +and won't turn all Maerchenland topsy-turvy on _his_ account! I've done +all I could for him, and I shall leave him to go his own way. I'll go up +to bed before he arrives, and I expect it will be a long time before I'm +able to come down, for I feel sure I am going to be ill--and little +wonder!" + +Queen Selina was so elated by the Prince's message that she ordered it +to be publicly announced at once. The Court, whom she informed herself, +expressed the greatest delight, and, as for the old Court Chamberlain +von Eisenbaenden, he was almost lyrical in his jubilation. + +"This is indeed a glorious day, Madam!" he cried. "It has long been my +dream to see the reigning houses of Maerchenland and Clairdelune united, +but of late I had begun to despair that it would ever be accomplished! +And from all I have heard of Prince Mirliflor, her Royal Highness is +almost as much to be felicitated as he!" + +"Thank you, Baron," replied the Queen. "We are all most pleased about +it. Though I shall be very lonely without her. You see," she added, +raising her voice for the benefit of such of her ladies-in-waiting as +happened to be within hearing, "there is no one else here who is any +companion for me. I can't make intimate friends of any of my ladies, as +I could of the dear old Duchess of Gleneagles, for instance, or even +the Marchioness of Muscombe. Ah, my dear Baron, our English aristocracy! +You've nothing to approach them in a country like this--nothing!" + +"I can well understand," he said, "that your Majesty must feel the loss +of such society." + +"I miss it, Baron," Queen Selina confessed, without untruthfulness, +seeing that she always _had_ missed it. "It is only natural that I +should. The Duchess is such a sweet woman--a true _grande dame_! And the +Marchioness, though only a peeress by _marriage_, _such_ a clever, +talented creature! They would both have so rejoiced to hear of our dear +Edna's engagement--she was such a favourite of theirs, you know! I +remember the Duchess always prophesied that she would make a brilliant +marriage." + +These particulars were thrown in mainly for the edification of the +Court, but Queen Selina had almost brought herself to believe them, and, +in any case, none of her own family was at hand just then, so she was +safe from contradiction. + +The announcement of Prince Mirlinor's proposal had no sooner reached +Count Rubenfresser's ears than he drove over to the Palace, to ascertain +from Edna herself whether the report had any truth in it. He succeeded +in obtaining a private interview, and at once put his question. + +"It is only true so far as that the Prince has proposed to me by +letter," Edna informed him. "Whether I shall accept him when he appears +will depend entirely upon circumstances." + +"You _won't_ accept him, Princess," said the Count, drawing himself up +to his full height, which was now well over seven feet. "Or, if you do, +he will never wed you. _I_ shall see to that!" + +"Really, Count!" protested Princess Edna, feeling secretly rather +pleased. "I don't quite see what it has to do with _you_." + +"Don't you?" he replied. "I _might_ want to marry you myself. I've been +thinking of it lately." + +"Have you?" said Edna, not so pleased. "That is very good of you. But +has it never occurred to you that I might have a voice in the matter?" + +"You would _have_ to belong to me, if I wanted you badly enough," he +said calmly. + +"And you're not sure yet if you do want me badly enough, but, in the +meantime, you would prevent anyone else from marrying me if you +could--is _that_ it?" + +"That's exactly it!" he said, gratified at being so thoroughly +understood. + +"Well, can't you see how _selfish_ that is of you?" + +"It's splendid being selfish," he said, "and not really so difficult +after all--when you _try_." + +"And how do you suppose you could prevent me from marrying Prince +Mirliflor if I thought proper to accept him?" + +"Oh, that would be easy. I should only have to unchain Tuetzi, and send +him to kill the Prince for me. Tuetzi's so intelligent and obedient that +he'll do everything I tell him." + +"I think you forget, Count, that it's against the law to let that dragon +loose." + +"I know," he said; "but I've no respect for human laws any more. I'm not +going to obey anything in future, except my own instincts." + +"I'm sure you don't mean that. And if you really sent that dragon to +kill anybody--especially anyone who had done nothing to offend you--it +would be very wicked indeed." + +"Other people might think so," he said. "I shouldn't myself--and that's +all that really matters. I'm going to make my own morality for the +future. I want to be a Superman, like that learned man you told me about +with the odd name. Aren't you glad I'm taking your advice?" + +"Of course I am pleased," said Edna, "that you should be more +independent and unconventional and assert yourself--which is all that +Nietzsche really meant. You mustn't carry it too far, you know." + +"But you said I couldn't be really great unless I felt the will and the +power to inflict great suffering," he said; "and that's just what I _do_ +feel." + +"Yes, but you can feel the will and the power without actually +inflicting suffering," said Edna instructively. "Nietzsche never +intended _that_. And if you set that horrid dragon of yours at the +Prince, you _would_ inflict very great suffering indeed." + +"I shouldn't mind _that_," he said. + +"Perhaps not--but Father and Mother would. And you would be imprisoned +again, and lose your dragon as well. But I don't suppose for a moment +you are serious. It would be too absurd of you to threaten violence to a +Prince before I've ever seen him or made up my mind to accept him--which +most likely I shall not do." + +"That is true," he said, rather as if he were glad of an excuse for not +taking any immediate action. "Yes, I will wait till I hear whether he is +betrothed to you or not. But if I find he _is_, I shall have to clear +him out of my path somehow or other." + +He left Edna with the consciousness that she had been more than usually +interested. The Count was certainly developing. She liked his new air of +self-confident domination. It would be rather thrilling, she thought, to +be wooed in this masterful way. But he had taken some pains to let her +see that he was not sure yet whether she was worth the trouble of +wooing! That was insulting, of course, but he might alter his opinion in +time--and then she would know how to avenge herself. She wondered if +Prince Mirliflor would be ardent and domineering enough to carry her by +storm, and caught herself hoping he might be. + +But when, shortly afterwards, she heard that he was just entering the +Courtyard of the Palace with his suite, she was seized by a sudden +panic. "_You_ go down and speak to him, Mother," she implored the Queen. +"I--I can't see him just yet. And make him understand that I must get to +know him better before I can give him a definite answer." + +Queen Selina bustled down to the State Reception Hall, where she arrived +in a highly flurried condition, just after the Prince and his brilliant +retinue had been ushered in. + +"My dear Prince!" she began. "This is really _too_ kind! So delighted by +your proposal--we _all_ are--dear Edna especially. We feel it such a +compliment. My husband--his Majesty, I mean--will be in directly, but +Edna has asked me to make her apologies for not coming down for a few +minutes. The poor child--naturally--is feeling a little shy and +overcome." + +"Madam," said the Prince, whose comely face and gallant bearing had +already won him the sympathies of those of the Court who were present, +and particularly the Court Chamberlain's, "I count each minute a month +until I have the happiness of looking upon the enchanting face that has +haunted me constantly from the moment I beheld it in a vision." + +"In a vision?" cried the Queen. "How very odd! But how did you know, +Prince, it was our Edna?" + +"I will attempt to describe my vision, Madam," he replied, "and, though +my poor words cannot hope to do it justice, they will at least convince +you that it was indeed the Princess whom I was permitted to see." + +He described her as well as he could, though with a growing bewilderment +that the lady of his dream should have a Mother who so little resembled +her. + +Queen Selina listened to his rhapsody with misgivings. With every +allowance for the fervour of a lover who was also a Fairy Prince, even +maternal partiality could not blind her to the fact that his description +would be far less incorrect as applied to that Heritage girl than to the +Princess Edna. + +"It certainly _suggests_ dear Edna, Prince," she remarked, with a mental +note that Daphne must be kept out of his way. "Except, perhaps in one or +two respects; but then you can't expect to see people in dreams looking +_exactly_ like themselves, _can_ you? I'll run up and bring her down to +you--and, if a Mother may say so, I _don't_ think you'll be _very_ +disappointed." + +But it was to Daphne's chamber that she went first. "Oh, Miss Heritage," +she began, quite pleasantly, "I'm going to ask you to do something for +me. I don't at all like the effect of those jewels they've sewn on to +the front of my satin-brocade. I'm sure they would look much better on +my cloth-of-gold skirt. _Would_ you mind getting both skirts from my +wardrobe and just making the necessary alterations for me? You had +better set to work at once, as I may be requiring the cloth-of-gold very +shortly. And as time is pressing, I will tell them to bring all your +meals up here till the work is done. It's so important that I can't +trust any of the regular ladies-in-waiting with it." + +"That disposes of _her_ for at least a week," she reflected, as she went +on to Princess Edna's apartments. "And everything ought to be settled +long before _that_!" + +When, a little later, she smilingly re-entered the Reception Hall with +one arm affectionately placed round her reluctant daughter's waist, it +cannot be denied that the Prince was very much disappointed indeed. The +vision had not prepared him for Edna's _pince-nez_, among other matters, +and altogether he felt that his Godmother had exaggerated the Princess's +personal attractions to a most unscrupulous degree. But this he had +sufficient self-command to conceal. In fact, he rather overdid it, +though it was only to himself that his courtly greeting sounded fulsome +and insincere. + +But if Edna detected no extravagance in his homage, she was none the +more pleased with it. It made her feel awkward and self-conscious. She +set him down in her own mind as "too finicking," while his good looks +did not happen to be of a type that appealed to her. + +Still, they got through the first interview fairly well, though both +were relieved when a message came from the Court Godmother that she was +feeling too indisposed to leave her apartments, but would be glad to see +him as soon as he was at liberty. He had himself conducted to her at +once, and was not a little aggrieved, as well as surprised, by the +asperity of his reception. + +"Well," she said peevishly; "so you've seen your Princess, have you? +And now I suppose it is all settled between you?" + +"Not yet," he said stiffly. "I believe she is reserving her answer till +we are better acquainted." + +"But you don't expect it will be unfavourable, do you?" + +"Do _you_, Godmother? I can't think you would have urged me to present +myself here to be publicly humiliated." + +"Oh, there's no doubt she will accept you," she said, with a sharp +twinge. "You need have no apprehensions on that score. And, as you no +longer consider beauty indispensable, I daresay she will be as +satisfactory a helpmate as you could wish." + +"I daresay," he agreed dully; and then his pent-up grievance suddenly +broke out in spite of him. "With all respect to you, Godmother +Voldoiseau," he said, "I don't consider you've treated me fairly over +this! You persuaded me that it was my duty to marry at once, and that +there were better and more permanent qualities than beauty. I'm not +complaining of _that_--I am quite ready to believe that the Princess +Edna is as learned and admirable a lady as you gave me to understand, +while she is not without good looks of a kind. But why send me a vision +representing her as a miracle of loveliness? That is a deception which I +can't understand, and I confess I find hard to forgive!" + +How could she have foreseen that he would be foolish enough to imagine +that the vision represented Edna? But the worst of it was that the Fairy +could not explain her real intention just then without landing herself +in fresh difficulties. So she sought refuge in prevarication. + +"_I_ send you a vision!" she said. "I don't know what you're talking +about, Mirliflor. A vision, indeed!" + +"Didn't it come from _you_?" he asked lamely. "I--I made sure it must +have." + +"You had no business to make sure of anything of the kind. And if you +choose to dream that your future bride is more beautiful than she +happens to be, I don't see why you should put the blame on _me_! But the +truth is you're longing for some excuse for getting out of this +marriage. Come, Mirliflor, you know you are--and you had better say so +frankly." + +"It is not so, Godmother," he replied; "I'm quite prepared to obey your +wishes. After all, since I _must_ marry, I am not likely to find a more +advantageous match than this. Besides, I couldn't possibly back out of +it now--even if I desired." + +"And what," asked the Fairy, "if you actually meet the Princess of your +dreams?" She was ignorant of the Queen's man[oe]uvre, and so thought he +could not well fail to come across Daphne that very evening. + +"That is so likely!" he said bitterly. "A mere creation of my own +mind--an ideal that I ought to have known would never be realised! No, +Godmother, since there is no hope of that, it matters little to me whom +I marry!" + +"Listen to me, Mirliflor," said the Fairy impatiently. "I--I'm not so +bent on this alliance as I was. Never mind _why_--but I'm not. +And--and--if you would rather withdraw, it's not too late. _I_ see +nothing to prevent you." + +"Nothing to prevent me!" replied Mirliflor indignantly. "There is my +honour! What Prince with any sense of honour at all could propose to a +Princess and then inform her that he finds, after a personal interview, +that he has changed his intentions? You of all people, Godmother +Voldoiseau, should know that we cannot _do_ these things!" + +"Those ideals again!" said the exasperated Fairy. "You'll drive me out +of all patience directly! But there--I've said all I could, and if you +_will_ be pig-headed, you must. And now I'll ask you to go away, as I'm +really not well enough to bear any more conversation." + +He had not been gone more than ten minutes when there was another knock +at her door, and this time it was Princess Edna herself who entered. + +"So it's _you_, is it?" snapped the Court Godmother, with none of her +customary urbanity. And then, recollecting the necessity of keeping up +appearances, threw in a belated "my dear." "Well, I hear you are taking +time before you put Mirliflor out of suspense, but I presume you've +already decided to accept him?" + +"That's what I came to consult you about, Court Godmother," replied +Edna. "I don't feel that I--he is at all a person I could ever be happy +with. He is not on the same intellectual plane with me--we should have +nothing whatever in common. He seems to have none of the qualities that +would make me respect and look up to a man." + +Relieved though she was, the Fairy still resented any disparagement of +her favourite godson from such a quarter. + +"Hoity-toity!" she exclaimed--an expression which, if it ever was +popular, is no longer used by anyone but Fairy Godmothers--and even the +Fairy only indulged in it under extreme provocation. "Let me tell you +that Mirliflor is not generally regarded as ineligible. But, no doubt, +my dear," she added acidly, "you have every right to be fastidious." +She was greatly tempted to let her know that Mirliflor would be anything +but broken-hearted by a refusal, but prudence warned her that she had +better not. "And may I ask what you propose to say to him?" + +"Oh," said Edna, "I suppose I shall have to tell him to-night that I +find I don't like him enough to marry him." + +"And give everybody to understand that he is personally displeasing to +you! Indeed you will not!" said the old Fairy imperiously. "_Other_ +persons' feelings have to be considered as well as your own. _Mine_, for +one. Mirliflor would never forgive me for exposing him to such +humiliation. Nor would his father, King Tournesol, for that matter, and +I can't afford to quarrel with either of them. You can't get rid of an +unwelcome suitor like that--at all events, not in Maerchenland!" + +"Can't I?" said Edna. "Then how _am_ I to get rid of him?" + +"A Princess of high breeding," replied the Fairy, "finds some means of +tempering her refusal so as to avoid wounding her suitor's pride; and I +may tell you Mirliflor has more than his share of that. The usual method +here is to accept him, on condition that he succeeds in answering some +question so difficult that it is no disgrace if he fails to answer it." + +"Do you mean something in the nature of a riddle?" asked Edna. + +"Well, a riddle will do. Yes, there are precedents for that. A riddle +would be quite in accordance with Court etiquette. Ask him a riddle if +you like." + +"I'm afraid I am not very familiar with riddles," said Edna. "I have +never found them particularly amusing myself. But I must try and +remember one. It needn't be so very difficult, because he doesn't seem +to me clever enough to guess _any_ riddle." + +"Quite clever enough not to try!" was on the tip of the Fairy's tongue, +though she did not say it. "I've no doubt, my dear," she replied, "that +any riddle you may ask Mirliflor will be quite beyond his power to +answer." + +"Thank you very much for your advice, Court Godmother," said Edna. "I +daresay I shall be able to remember a riddle of some sort by this +evening." + +The Fairy felt that she had extricated herself from her dilemma with +considerable tact and ingenuity. Not only had she delivered her godson +from the slight of being summarily rejected by this upstart girl, but +she had saved herself from all necessity to make any compromising +disclosures. + +"Yes," she told herself complacently, "I've really got myself and +Mirliflor out of it very neatly indeed. I mayn't be quite as +quick-witted as I was in my prime--but I'm not in my dotage _just_ +yet!" + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +UNWELCOME ANNOUNCEMENTS + + +Princess Edna took the earliest opportunity of acting on the Fairy +Vogelflug's suggestion. At the conclusion of the banquet that evening, +she requested King Sidney to order the silver trumpets to be flourished, +and when this had been done and an expectant hush fell upon the +assembly, she rose. After regarding the Prince, who sat on her right, +with a graciousness which, enhanced as it was by her _pince-nez_, struck +terror into his very soul, she began in a high, clear tone: + +"You all know, I think," she said, "that his Royal Highness Prince +Mirliflor of Clairdelune has done me the great honour of asking me to be +his wife, and that I have promised him my answer this evening. That +answer I am now about to give. Prince Mirliflor, you have impressed me +so favourably that, although I had previously no thought of marrying, I +have decided to accept you." At this the whole Court broke out in +frantic and rapturous applause, for they had been most anxious for the +Prince to succeed in his project--if only for the reason that it would +entail the removal of Princess "Four-eyes" to Clairdelune. The King +exclaimed, "Quite right! Sensible girl!" and Queen Selina assured the +Prince that he had won a treasure. Clarence, who had taken a liking to +his new brother-in-law, which was not entirely reciprocated, rose and +clapped him heartily on the back, while the old Court Chamberlain could +scarcely contain his pride and joy. Edna held up her hand for silence. +"Wait, please!" she said; "I haven't finished. I said I would accept +you, Prince Mirliflor, and so I will--on condition that you are able to +give the correct answer to a question I am about to ask you." + +There was a murmur of disappointment at this, though it was generally +recognised that the Princess's action was quite _en regle_. The Prince, +feeling that it was at least a reprieve, begged her to put the question +without keeping him in any further suspense. + +"My question is this," said Edna: "Why did the sausage roll?" + +"Hang it all, Edna!" cried Clarence, "you're not going to chuck him +unless he can guess a rotten riddle like that!" + +"Of _course_ not!" said her anxious Mother. "Don't be alarmed, dear +Prince Mirliflor. She doesn't mean it _seriously_. It--it's a little +joke, that's all!" + +"It's not a joke, Mother," said Edna; "I'm perfectly serious. I am sure +Prince Mirliflor is so clever that he will have no difficulty in +guessing the riddle. If he can't--well, I shall be very sorry, but--I +shall not be able to marry him." + +"Alas, Princess!" said Mirliflor, "but it passes my poor wit to discover +why the sausage rolled." + +"Will your Majesties pardon me," struck in the Court Chamberlain, "if I +humbly offer a suggestion. Such a problem as her Royal Highness has +propounded cannot be solved in a moment. It is only just to his Royal +Highness Prince Mirliflor that he should be given a night to reflect +before delivering his answer." + +"Certainly," said the King; "you must see that yourself, Edna. Give him +a chance--every chance!" + +"I have no objection, Father," said Edna. "The Prince shall have till +to-morrow morning to think it over--but I can give him no longer." + +"It's an infernal shame, Mirliflor!" said Clarence. "I haven't an idea +why the bally sausage rolled, or I'd tell you, dear old chap!" + +"I am sure you would, my dear Prince Clarence!" Mirliflor assured him; +"but, believe me, I am none the less grateful to you." + +Queen Selina did all she could think of to persuade her daughter to +alter her decision, and, when this failed, to extract the answer to the +momentous conundrum, which Edna knew her mother too well to confide to +her, so that at length she was obliged to take up her bedroom taper and +retreat, with a Parthian prediction that such folly would be bitterly +repented in the future. + +Edna's next visitor was the Court Godmother, on whose entrance she at +once informed her waiting-women that she would not require their further +services that night. "Well, Godmother," she began, as soon as they were +alone together, "I did as you advised, you see. And--you don't think +Prince Mirliflor can possibly find out the answer, do you?" + +"My good girl," said the Fairy, "I'd defy the Astrologer Royal himself +to find it out, if he consulted all the stars and all his mystic books +into the bargain! How the dickens did you come to invent such a riddle +as that?" + +"I didn't invent it," said Edna; "I heard it a long time ago--at the +Theatre--in some silly play. I've forgotten what the play was +about--but I remembered the riddle." + +"Are you sure you remember the answer? I have heard of sausages +_talking_ occasionally, and I daresay they can roll, but I fail to see +what intelligible reason _any_ sausage could give for doing it." + +"It's a catch," explained Edna. "It's like this. Why did the sausage +roll? Because it saw the jam-_turnover_. _Now_ do you see?" + +"I can't say I do, my dear. It seems senseless to _me_. But that's all +the better--the more idiotic it is, the less chance of its being +guessed. Yes, on the whole, I don't think you could have thought of a +better one." + +Shortly afterwards Prince Mirliflor, just as he was about to extinguish +the flambeaux and turn into bed, was startled to see his door opening by +some mysterious means. He was more startled still when the figure of the +old Court Chamberlain suddenly materialised in the centre of the room. + +"Your Royal Highness will forgive my intrusion," said the Baron, "when I +explain the object of this visit. My reason for suggesting that the +Princess should grant you a night to answer her question was that I felt +convinced that she would be unable to refrain from telling it to some +person--her mother, most probably. So I resolved by means of this" (and +here he exhibited a small skull-cap of purple silk) "to penetrate unseen +to the Princess's apartments and overhear her conversation. To my +disappointment, she would reveal nothing to Her Majesty, but by-and-by +the Court Godmother paid the Princess a visit, in the course of which I, +remaining, of course, invisible, succeeded in learning the secret on +which your Royal Highness's happiness and the hopes of all Maerchenland +depend. The answer, it seems--though I must admit I can make little of +it myself--is----" + +"Stop, Baron!" interrupted Prince Mirliflor, "I refuse--do you hear?--I +refuse to take advantage of any information obtained in such a +disreputable manner--I insist on your leaving this room at once without +another word!" + +"But, sire, hear me! This is not a case for being over-scrupulous. In +love, as in war, all is fair. And the answer is--'Because----'" + +"_Will_ you get out?" cried the Prince, stopping both his ears. "I won't +hear you. I can't, as you can see. And if you don't clear out at once, +I'll strike this gong for the guard!" + +The Baron, seeing that he could do no more, hastily put on his cap again +and disappeared. "What a pity," he thought, "that such a fine young +Prince should be so priggish when his own interests are concerned!" + +But although Mirliflor's code of honour was undoubtedly high, it is +quite possible that he might not have stopped his ears quite so +hermetically if Princess Edna had only borne a closer resemblance to his +vision of her. + +As it was, even if the Baron had forced him to hear the answer, it would +have made no difference, since he had not the least intention of +profiting by it, and so he slept soundly, with no apprehensions +concerning what the morrow might bring him. + +Shortly after breakfast the next day the Court filled the body of the +Hall of Audience, on the dais of which the King and Queen presently +appeared and took their thrones, Prince Mirliflor and the members of +the Royal Family being accommodated with lower seats on the same +platform. + +"Now, Prince Mirliflor," remarked Edna sweetly, "you have been given a +night to consider the answer to my question. I hope you have found it?" + +The Prince was about to confess his utter inability to do so, when, to +his extreme annoyance, he found that the Baron, who had stationed +himself behind his chair, was whispering discreetly into his ear. "Will +you be kind enough to leave me alone, Baron?" he said in a savage +undertone. "I've told you already that I don't desire any interference +in my affairs. Oblige me by holding your tongue!" + +"Certainly, your Royal Highness," said the Baron obsequiously, "your +wishes shall be obeyed.... His Royal Highness, Madam," he said aloud, +"begs me to make his excuses. He feels too much agitated to speak for +himself, but instructs me to say that he believes the reason why the +sausage rolled was because it had seen the jam pasty. And," he added +confidently, "your Royal Highness will, I am sure, be gracious enough to +admit that Prince Mirliflor has answered her question with absolute +correctness." + +Mirliflor's attempts to deny that he had offered any solution whatever +were unheard in the tumult of acclamation which followed the Court +Chamberlain's announcement. + +"He _hasn't_ given the correct answer!" declared Edna, as soon as +silence could be obtained. "He ought to have said 'the jam +_turnover_'--not the 'jam _pasty_'!" + +"Oh, come, my dear!" said her father. "That's splitting hairs, you know. +He was near enough. What's the difference?" + +"None that _I_ can see," pronounced the Queen. "Both are pastry, and +both contain jam. Yes, Prince Mirliflor, you have won the dear child, as +I'm sure you richly deserved to!" + +"How _can_ you say that, Mother?" cried Edna, scarlet with vexation. +"When his answer utterly missed the point? And, anyhow, it was given by +proxy, so it doesn't count!" + +"H'm--ha!" said King Sydney, "that's rather a ticklish question! What do +_you_ think, my love?" and he consulted the Queen in undertones for a +minute or two. "Well," he announced presently, "her Majesty and myself +both consider that the Prince's answer should be adjudged correct, and +that its having been given by proxy is--ah--no disqualification +whatever. Still, to avoid all appearance of favouritism, we propose to +refer the case to the final decision of our Council." + +"I say!" protested Clarence in a horrified whisper, "you're never going +to leave it to those old pumps?" + +"It's quite safe, my boy," said the King. "_They_ won't give it against +him!" + +So, after the Councillors had filed out to deliberate, Clarence devoted +himself to keeping up Mirliflor's spirits, though the latter could not +be induced to see that he had no cause for uneasiness. + +But King Sidney had not been mistaken in his prediction; after a short +absence the Councillors filed in again and reported that they were +unanimously of opinion that Prince Mirliflor had succeeded. + +"There, my dear," said the King to the Princess Royal, as soon as the +shouts of joy had quieted down, "you've got the Council's decision. Give +the Prince your hand, and let's have no more bother about it." + +"I won't!" declared Edna, losing all self-control in her rage and +disappointment. "He hasn't won me fairly. I've been tricked into this, +and it's all the Court Godmother's doing!" + +No accusation could well be more unjust, but it was difficult for the +Fairy to disprove it without declaring that she had done her utmost to +hinder the match--and this would have been impolitic just then. + +"_My_ doing, forsooth!" she repeated. "If you really believe that, you +were never more mistaken in your life!" + +"Oh no, I'm not mistaken!" said Edna. "It was _you_ who suggested my +asking the riddles--and you were the only person I told the answer. If +you did not tell him, I should like to know who _did_!" + +"May I remind you, Princess," said Mirliflor, "that the answer was not +made by me?" + +"You let the Baron answer for you, which is just as bad!" retorted Edna. +"And I absolutely refuse to be trapped and cheated into marrying +anybody!" + +"_My_ conscience at least is clear," he said. "But I am to understand +that you decline to marry me, Princess--is that so?" + +"Certainly I do. Nothing would induce me to accept you after this! I +don't care what Father and Mother or the Council or anyone says! +When--if--I marry I intend to choose for myself. And you are about the +last person, Prince Mirliflor, I should ever dream of choosing!" + +"I am desolated to hear it, Princess," he replied, with admirable +patience and resignation. "But since I have the misfortune to be so +obnoxious to you, the only service I can render you now is to relieve +you of my presence as soon as possible." + +Queen Selina implored him to stay to lunch, and even held out hopes that +Edna might relent in time--but all her entreaties were in vain. To her +infinite chagrin and the general lamentation, he insisted on leaving the +Palace within an hour. He said no farewell to his Godmother, who for her +part was glad to escape a private interview with him, but he took his +leave of his host and hostess with all due outward courtesy, though +inwardly fuming with rage and impatience to quit a place where he +considered he had been so wantonly insulted. + +Count von Rubenfresser must have got wind from some quarter of the +Prince's discomfiture, for on the very next day he turned up at the +Palace about lunch time, according to his previous habit, and Queen +Selina, though far from delighted at his appearance, could hardly avoid +inviting him to remain. His manner at table was considerably more +assured, and his appetite, if anything, heartier than usual, but even so +he seemed, to all but Princess Edna, an indifferent substitute for the +Prince whose departure they were still mourning. + +Edna, however, seemed to make a point of treating him with marked +favour, so much so that, when lunch was over and the Royal Family had +removed to the Terrace, it was rather with disgust than surprise that +they discovered that the Princess Royal and the Count had stolen off +together to a secluded part of the gardens. + +Whether _amour propre_ had incited her to make a special effort to +overcome his hesitation, or absence and jealousy had quickened his +somewhat lagging ardour, none could say with any certainty, but when +they eventually re-appeared, Queen Selina observed with positive horror +that they were walking hand-in-hand. + +"It's quite all right, Mother," said Edna, as they came within speaking +distance; "Ruprecht and I are engaged." + +"Engaged!" spluttered King Sidney. "You've got to get your Mother's +consent for that, you know. And we couldn't hear of it. Not for a +moment! Eh, my love?" + +"Of course not!" said the Queen. "Entirely out of the question!" + +"We expected this," remarked Edna calmly. "But no amount of opposition +will make the slightest difference to _us_--will it, Ruprecht?" + +"Not the slightest," he replied. "At least--to ME." + +"But think, my dear, only _think_!" the distressed Queen entreated Edna. +"After you've just made us all so unpopular by refusing a Prince, you +simply _can't_ go and engage yourself to some one whose position is so +far beneath your own!" + +"Ruprecht is above me in every sense," said Edna; "and because I'm a +Princess by no wish of mine is no reason why I should sacrifice myself +for reasons of state. I utterly and entirely deny that any parents, no +matter what their position in life, have the right nowadays to dictate +to their children whom they should marry or not marry. Of course, I +would rather you were sensible enough to recognise our engagement, but +if you aren't, I shall simply marry Ruprecht just the same." + +Queen Selina reflected. If she refused consent, it would only end in a +still worse situation. And, after all, she would have been proud enough +in her Gablehurst days to be able to announce her daughter's engagement +to a real Count with a fine and ancient castle. + +"Well," she said, "if it's understood that there must be no thought of +marriage for at least a year----" + +"Oh, Ruprecht will wait a year for me--won't you, Ruprecht? But the +engagement must be proclaimed at once--we insist on _that_. And now you +may kiss Mother, Ruprecht, and tell her that you already look on +yourself as her son." + +The Count stooped to give his prospective Mother-in-law an amateurish +embrace, while Ruby fled, fearing that her own turn would come next. +"Good Lord, Edna!" said Clarence, drawing her aside, "have you gone +dotty or what? To go and chuck a real good sort like Mirliflor, and then +take this overgrown bounder--it beats me what you can see in the +beggar!" + +"I see a man, Clarence, whom I feel I can really look up to." + +"You'll have the devil of a way to look up, if he goes on growing much +longer. He's shot up lately like a bally beanstalk!" + +"You are jealous because he makes you feel so small. I glory in his +being so big. He is just my idea of a superman!" + +"Strike out 'man' and substitute 'swine'!" said Clarence, "and I'm with +you!" + +"There's no need to descend to vulgarity, Clarence. And it seems a pity +you should be so prejudiced against him when he is only anxious to prove +the affection he feels for _you_!" + +"Oh, _is_ he? Well, if he comes pawing me about, he'll find out what +_my_ sentiments are!" + +"I should advise you to be civil to him--for your own sake," said Edna +coldly, "because he's rather a powerful person." + +Queen Selina had no option but to inform the Court of the engagement +without delay, and the general consternation it caused could only find +expression in chilling silence. + +To the Court Godmother she tried to present the matter as favourably as +possible. "I don't pretend," she said, "that it is quite all we could +desire from a mere worldly point of view. But in a case of true love on +both sides such as this, his Majesty and I both feel that it would not +be _right_ to interfere. And you know what dear Edna can be when she's +once set her mind on anything. Besides," she concluded, "we've insisted +on their being engaged for a year--a good deal may happen before then." + +"It may," agreed the Fairy; "and I shall be very much surprised if it +doesn't. But, so far as I am concerned, Princess Edna may bestow her +hand as she pleases. I shall never go out of my way to find her a suitor +again, I can assure you!" + +It had already occurred to her that the Royal Family might very shortly +find Maerchenland too hot to hold them, which would relieve her of all +responsibility for them. So she saw no reason for interfering with any +of their proceedings. + +Ruby rushed excitedly up to Daphne's chamber, where she had been hurting +her pretty fingers by laboriously unpicking the innumerable jewels from +one of the Queen's robes and sewing them on to another. "Oh, Miss +Heritage, dear," she began, "it's such _ages_ since I've seen you, and +I've such lots to tell you about. Just fancy! Edna's engaged!... No, +not Prince Mirliflor! She sent _him_ away the day before yesterday. I +can't think why--when he was so perfectly ripping. It's Count +Rubenfresser." + +"Oh, Ruby!" cried Daphne in dismay. "Not to _him_! How _can_ she?" + +"I don't know--but she is. Mums doesn't like it, of course, but she's +had to give in, and they'll be married in a year. Isn't it awful? +There's only _one_ advantage about it that _I_ can see--Tuetzi will be +one of the family now.... Oh, and you needn't go on sewing any more. +Mummy said after lunch that she'd forgotten to tell you she won't want +the skirt altered after all, and that you might come down again as usual +now." + +So Daphne made her re-appearance that evening, and was welcomed by the +Court with as much effusion as if they had not seen her for weeks. The +Count was there, his towering form more splendidly apparelled, as became +his new _role_ of an accepted suitor, and she soon learnt that she was +by no means alone in loathing the thought of the engagement. Princess +Edna was in such high good humour that she not only deigned to single +out Daphne by her notice, but actually offered to present her to her +_fiance_--an honour from which Daphne had the courage to beg that she +might be excused. + +"I see how it is, Miss Heritage," said Edna, with a frown, "You can't +understand my rejecting a Prince and preferring some one of so far +inferior a rank. I really should not have thought you would be quite so +snobbish as that!" + +"It isn't that, Princess Edna," said Daphne desperately. "It's +because--I'm sure--I can't explain why, but I am sure he's bad--_really_ +bad!" + +"If you mean by that--that he is not a pattern of virtue like Prince +Mirliflor," said Edna, "he is none the worse for it, in _my_ eyes!" + +"I meant more--much more than that. But I ought not to have said +anything." + +"Oh, pray go on. In fact, I _insist_ on it." + +"Well, then, Princess Edna," said Daphne undauntedly, "not only I, but +almost everybody at Court, think that a marriage with Count von +Rubenfresser would be a horrible mistake." + +"So _you_ have joined the league against him, have you, Miss Heritage?" +said Edna. "But, of course, you would condemn anyone who failed to +conform to your prim, governessy little notions of right and wrong. I +might have known as much! I am only sorry I should have gone out of my +way to offer you a privilege you are so incapable of appreciating. You +may now retire." + +Daphne retreated accordingly. She knew very well that she would have +been wiser in her own interests to hold her tongue, and she had +certainly done no good by speaking. But for no earthly inducement would +she have allowed herself to be presented to that detestable Count. She +had been almost forced to speak plainly, if only in the faint hope of +opening Edna's eyes to a sense of what she was doing. And though she had +failed, she did not in the least regret having spoken. If the other +ladies-in-waiting had known of her protest she would have been more +idolised by them than ever, but a lingering sense of loyalty kept her +from saying anything that might increase their disaffection for +"Princess Four-Eyes." + +Perhaps the person in the Royal Household who felt the engagement most +acutely was the old Court Chamberlain. Queen Selina, returning from a +drive the next day, discovered him weeping, or rather absolutely +blubbering, in a darker corner of one of the passages. "I can't help it, +your Majesty," he said, almost inarticulate with emotion. "That the +Princess should have scorned such a consort as Prince Mirliflor for one +whose parentage--it's too much to bear! I think my old heart would break +if I had not once more put a hoop around it. If your Majesty only knew +how your subjects detest such an alliance as this!" + +"I don't see what it has to do with _them_, Baron," said the Queen. "But +they have certainly been less respectful lately. I'm afraid we shall +have to take a sack of gold out again on our next drive. I was most +alarmed this afternoon by a rude person throwing something into the +coach which I quite thought at first was a bomb. However, it turned out +to be only a particularly fine turnip, though it very narrowly missed +his Majesty's nose. Of course, as the Marshal assures us, it _may_ have +been intended merely as a humble sort of offering, but I should like to +feel surer about it than I do. And--strictly between ourselves, Baron--I +should be only too thankful if this engagement was broken off. But what +can I _do_? The Princess won't listen to _me_!" + +"Perchance," said the Baron, "she would allow herself to be influenced +by the noble ladies whom your Majesty spoke of." + +"The Duchess of Gleneagles and the Marchioness of Muscombe? Ah, my dear +Baron, she might, if they were only here! I know they would do their +best to persuade her. But what is the use of thinking of that, when they +are both so far away?" + +"And doubtless your Majesty is in ignorance of their very whereabouts." + +"Oh, they would be in London just now," said the Queen, not displeased +to exhibit her knowledge. "The dear Duchess travelled down from the +North sometime ago to her town residence in Stratford Place--had her +tiara stolen on the journey, Baron--and came to tell me about it at +once, poor soul! And--yes, the Muscombes must be back in that cosy +little flat of theirs in Mount Street by this time. They always spend +Easter in London, you know." + +"In London!" sighed the Baron. "That is truly a far cry from our +Maerchenland! But your Majesty can see that, in my present spirits, I +should make but a sorry figure at Court. Have I your leave to absent +myself for a brief period!" + +"By all means--as long as you like," said the Queen, who rightly +considered that a Court Chamberlain in constant floods of tears would do +little to relieve the prevailing depression. And so the Baron did not +appear that evening, which might have excited some remark if anyone had +happened to notice his absence. + +On the following morning Queen Selina paid a surprise visit to the +Tapestry Chamber, where her ladies were more or less busy in +embroidering "chair-backs" (she was too much in the movement not to know +that the term "antimacassars" was a solecism). It was an industry she +had lately invented for them, and they held it in healthy abhorrence. + +She had not had at all a good night, and was consequently inclined to be +aggressive. "Good morning, girls," she began, "I fancy I heard, just +before I came in, one of you mentioning a person of the name of 'Old +Mother Schwellenposch.' The speaker, if I'm not mistaken, was Baroness +Bauerngrosstochterheimer." + +"It was, your Majesty," admitted the Baroness, rising and curtseying. + +"And who, may I ask, is this Mother--whatever-her-name is? Some vulgar +acquaintance of yours, I presume?" + +"If your Majesty is so pleased to describe her, it is not for me to +protest," was the Baroness's demure reply, followed by suppressed but +quite audible giggles from her companions. + +"Why you should all snigger in that excessively unladylike way is best +known to yourselves," said Queen Selina. "But I can make allowances for +you, considering who your ancestresses _were_! It's true I _had_ hoped +when I first came here that, if I could not expect quite the sort of +society I had been accustomed to, I should at least have people about me +of ordinary refinement! As it is, I often wonder what my dear friends +the Duchess of Gleneagles and the Marchioness of Muscombe would say if +they knew the class of persons I have to associate with. I can fancy how +they would pity me. When one has enjoyed the privilege of intimacy with +really great ladies like them, one is all the more apt to notice the +difference.... Is that you, Baron? Returned so soon? But you shouldn't +come bursting in like this without asking for an audience. That is +_quite_ against my rules!" + +"Your Majesty will, I feel sure, pardon the intrusion when you hear my +tidings," said the Baron. "I have the honour to inform your Majesty that +your high-born friends, the Grand Duchess of Gleneagles and the +Margravine of Muscombe, are now in the Palace!" + +"The--the Duchess? And the Marchioness?" cried the Queen. "Nonsense, +Baron! It must be some silly mistake of yours. How could they possibly +get _here_?" + +"In the stork-car, your Majesty," he explained. "I brought them myself. +As they are still sunk in sleep, I have had them laid on couches in one +of the vestibules, and instructed the Lady Daphne to remain in +attendance." + +"Good gracious!" said Queen Selina faintly. She was painfully conscious +that her face must be expressing dismay rather than delight, and that +her ladies-in-waiting had not failed to notice it. "What a--what a +delightful surprise! And Lady Daphne with them, did you say? I--I'll go +to them at once!" + +If the poor Court Chamberlain had expected any gratitude from his +Sovereign when they got outside, he received none. She did not speak to +him at all--possibly because she could not trust herself, and she +hurried towards the great Entrance Hall at a pace which left him +hopelessly in the rear. As she went she vainly endeavoured to think of +any possible excuse or apology that she could offer her distinguished +visitors, but her chief anxiety was that she might not arrive until +after they had awaked, and Miss Heritage had anticipated her +explanations. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +WHAT THE PIGEON SAID + + +Daphne was passing through the upper gallery, on her way to join the +other ladies-in-waiting in the Tapestry Chamber, when she heard a +commotion in the great hall below, and, looking down over the +balustrade, was astonished to see two inanimate female forms being +carried by attendants into the vestibule. Baron von Eisenbaenden, who was +directing them, caught sight of her and beckoned. On descending the +jasper staircase, she found him beaming with satisfaction, surrounded by +a host of courtiers, guards, and pages. + +"All will be well now, my Lady Daphne," he whispered confidentially. "I +have brought hither two noble dames to persuade the Princess to renounce +this ill-omened alliance--the Grand Duchess of Gleneagle and Margravine +of Muscombe, her Majesty's dearest and most intimate friends. She will +surely be overjoyed when I announce their arrival." + +Somehow Daphne could not share his certainty. Queen Selina had been +careful not to dwell too much, in her presence, on these aristocratic +acquaintances, and they certainly had not visited "Inglegarth" while she +had been an inmate of the household. + +"If I were you, Baron," she said diplomatically, "I should send away all +these people before I told her Majesty. I am sure she would rather +welcome her friends in private." + +He accepted the suggestion, cleared the hall, and bustled away, after +committing the still unconscious visitors to Daphne's care. + +She found them laid side by side on couches in the vestibule, which was +a lofty chamber, panelled in ivory and ebony, with inset opals of +enormous size and a ceiling of dull silver. The Duchess was a short, +spare, grey-haired and rather homely-looking woman in a black +_demi-toilette_ with priceless old lace. Lady Muscombe was about +twenty-six, tall, with a beautiful figure and a pale, piquant face; she +wore a rose _charmeuse_ gown that scintillated with _paillettes_; her +luxuriant, but just then slightly dishevelled, chestnut hair was +confined in a sparkling band, from which drooped a crushed pink plume. + +As they seemed on the point of awaking, Daphne, thinking that they would +probably prefer to do so unobserved, discreetly left them to themselves. + +Lady Muscombe was the first to recover. She sat up, stretched her white +and shapely arms, and yawned widely, revealing her perfect teeth, as she +regarded the Duchess with sleepy brown eyes. + +"I suppose you are the Duchess of Gleneagles?" she said. "And, if you +don't mind, I should rather like to know why you've brought me +here--wherever it is." + +"I?" said the Duchess. "I've had nothing to do with bringing you. Don't +even know who you are--though you seem to have got hold of my name." + +"Why, I married Muscombe--the Marquis, don't you know. I dare say you +knew before that I was Verity Stilton of the Vivacity. I was working my +way up to quite important parts. You may have seen me in some of them?" + +"I have not had that advantage. I seldom visit a theatre, and when I +do----" + +"You like to go and see something stuffy? _I_ know. And I expect you've +got quite a wrong idea of Musical Comedy. Most of us in the Chorus at +the Vivacity were ladies by birth. And we didn't mix with the others, +off the stage. We were most particular, too. I assure you I never went +to sup alone with Nibbles--I call Muscombe 'Nibbles,' you know--he's so +exactly like a white mouse--I never supped with him alone till after we +were regularly engaged." + +"That is most interesting," said the Duchess, "and entirely to your +credit, but it doesn't explain how we came to be here together." + +"All I can say is that a queerly dressed old freak suddenly burst into +my flat, just as I was going to dine at the Carlton, and told me you +were waiting outside in a car to take me on a visit to the Queen." + +"And did not that strike you as slightly improbable?" + +"Oh, for anything _I_ knew, you might be another of Nibbles's aunts. I +haven't nearly worked through all his relations yet. But I said at once +that I couldn't throw over my Carlton party to oblige any Duchess on +earth. And then the old creature put on a cap and vanished. And the +_next_ thing I knew was that a cloak was thrown over my head and I was +being lifted up and bundled out kicking--and that's all I remember. I +don't know what they thought of me in Mount Street, or why nobody +interfered." + +"Much the same thing happened to _me_," said the Duchess. "Only I was +told that the Queen wished to see me at once on an urgent matter. Of +course, as the messenger's appearance did not inspire me with +confidence, I insisted on seeing his credentials. And then he +disappeared, and I found myself caught up and carried off. I suppose +none of my people were in the hall, or else they were too afraid to come +to my rescue. And Stratford Place is very quiet, so my smothered cries +attracted no attention. Besides, I fancy I must have been chloroformed." + +"I expect we both were. Nibbles would be furious if he knew--luckily he +doesn't. We had a tiff, and he went off to Monte, all on his little +lone. But I wish I had any idea where we are." + +"I have certainly no recollection of ever having been in such a place as +this before in my life," said the Duchess. + +Daphne returned in time to offer what explanations she could. + +"I know it must seem a little strange at first," she said, coming +forward, "but this is the Palace of the Queen of Maerchenland." + +"Maerchenland?" repeated the Duchess. "And where may _that_ be? Never +heard of such a country!" + +"Well," said Daphne, "it's a long way from everywhere, and it's the +place where most of the stories one used to think were only Fairy Tales +really happened." + +"I never expected to find myself in Fairyland," the Duchess remarked. +"Tell me--are you the Queen of this country? You look as if you might +be." + +"Oh no," replied Daphne, with a little laugh. "I'm only one of her +ladies-in-waiting. She hasn't long been Queen. We were all carried here +from England in a big car drawn by flying storks--the one that brought +_you_, I expect. I don't know, of course," she added dubiously, "but +you may have met Queen Selina when she lived at Gablehurst--her former +name was Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson." + +"Wibberley-Stimpson?" repeated the Duchess thoughtfully. "No, I can't +say I remember anyone of that name." + +"Nor I," said Lady Muscombe languidly. "Don't know _any_ one at +Gablehurst." + +"But if she is half as charming as you, my dear," added the Duchess +graciously, "it will give me much pleasure to make her acquaintance, +though I am curious to know why she seems to have taken so much trouble +to cultivate mine." + +At this moment Queen Selina herself arrived, very much out of breath. +"Your Grace!" she began, "My lady Marchioness!" + +"Ah, here is the housekeeper!" said the Duchess, before Daphne could +enlighten her. "Can you tell us, my good woman, when and where her +Majesty will receive us?" + +"I--I _am_ her Majesty!" said Queen Selina, wishing she had devoted more +pains to her morning toilet. + +"Oh, to be sure," said the Duchess. "You must forgive my blunder, Ma'am, +but my sight is not what it was." + +"It is of no consequence, my dear Duchess--pray don't mention it. Miss +Heritage, I find I _shall_ require that skirt after all. You will be +good enough to see to it at once, and not come down till it is +finished," said the Queen sharply, feeling it more imperative than ever +to prevent any account of this meeting from being communicated to the +Court.... "No, Baron, I shall not require _you_," she went on, as he +appeared at the entrance. "You have done quite enough." And Daphne and +the Baron withdrew accordingly. + +"I'm so distressed, your Grace, by this unfortunate--er--_contretemps_," +said Queen Selina, as soon as she had her guests to herself. "I really +hardly know how to apologise. I'm afraid my old Court Chamberlain has +taken a most unpardonable liberty." + +"Well, Ma'am," said the Duchess, "there's no doubt he kidnapped both +myself and this lady here. On false pretences, too! I don't know yet +whether he was acting on _your_ instructions?" + +"Most decidedly not! Indeed I should never have ventured. The fact is, +he must have confused you with two other ladies of title who are great +friends of mine. I expect he heard me mention them, and--it was most +stupid and careless of him, I know--but he must have concluded I wanted +to see _them_, and brought _you_ by mistake." + +"I see," said the Duchess; "though I don't understand how he came to +know our names and addresses, as he must have done to find us." + +"Oh," said Queen Selina, with much presence of mind, "you're both of you +public characters, you know. He's such an old blunderer, he probably +couldn't find the right people, and thought you would do as well." + +"I can only say," replied the Duchess, "that that impression of his has +put me to a great deal of personal inconvenience." + +"I was carried off without a chance of ringing them up at the Carlton, +where I ought to have dined last night!" complained Lady Muscombe. + +"If your Majesty will get a new Chamberlain--one who isn't an absolute +idiot," said the Duchess severely, "your house-party would be in less +danger of being recruited in this irregular manner." + +"But I assure you I'm delighted to see your Grace, and you _too_, of +course, Lady Muscombe! I hope, now you _are_ here, you will stay as long +as ever you can. Such a pleasure always to his Majesty and myself to +welcome any of our own country-women! And now I will take you up to your +rooms, and you will no doubt be glad of a little rest before you come +down to lunch and meet the family." + +"I cannot possibly appear at lunch in this dress," said the Duchess; +"but I shall be glad if you will send me up some food, and then I must +really start for home." + +"So must I," declared Lady Muscombe; "there'll be a fuss if I'm not back +soon--and I simply _couldn't_ stay in any house without a single trunk, +or a maid either! It isn't giving me a fair chance!" + +"I'm afraid the storks won't be fit for such a long return journey just +yet," said their hostess; "and it would be a pity to leave without +seeing something of Maerchenland, so I hope you will remain for at least +a night, as a favour to me. I see no one of any real distinction _now_! +And as for clothes, I can lend you all you require. You will excuse +their being out of the fashion--we don't get the latest Paris models +here." + +"You're very kind," said the Duchess. "Then I will accept your +hospitality for the present." + +"So will I--er--your Majesty, thanks," said Lady Muscombe. "It will be +something to tell Muscombe--when we're on speaking terms again." + +"So very nice and friendly of you both!" said Queen Selina as she +escorted them across the hall to the foot of the immense staircase. "I +must apologise for asking you to come up all these steps, but there's +no such thing as a lift here. The Astrologer Royal offered to try and +procure us a flying carpet--but, of course, I wouldn't hear of that." + +"Well," said the Duchess, as she toiled up, "this is certainly a +wonderful Palace you live in--I have never seen one so splendid in my +life!" + +"Ah, my dear Duchess, it's much too large to be really comfortable, +and all the arrangements, too, so unlike our English ways! I'm afraid +I shall never get things done here according to _my_ ideas.... This +is _your_ room, dear Duchess, and yours is next, Marchioness. I will +send some of my waiting-women to you with everything necessary. You +will find us assembled in the Throne Room before lunch.... Oh, and +there's just one thing. My Court have got an impression--I'm sure +I don't know why--that we're quite old friends. If you _wouldn't_ +mind--er--addressing me as 'Selina' now and then.... Not at all, I +assure you, I should consider it a compliment--from _you_.... Then I +shall hope to see you later on in the Throne Room.... It's in the left +wing, down the great corridor; you can't miss it because of the +trumpeters at the doors." + +After an interval the two visitors made their appearance in the Throne +Room, arrayed in magnificent but rather fantastic robes of velvet and +brocade with long hanging sleeves lined with ermine--a costume which +suited Lady Muscombe better than the Duchess. + +Queen Selina advanced to welcome them effusively. "So you've found your +way here!" she said. "How very well you both look in those dresses! Most +becoming, I assure you. By the bye, my dear Duchess, did you ever +recover that tiara you lost in the train?" + +"I never _did_ lose it," replied the Duchess, "I believe some story got +into the papers, but it was a down-right lie." + +"So glad! I must tell you that I don't as a rule wear my crown at lunch, +but I thought, to-day being a gala occasion--" + +"Quite right!" said the Duchess. "And quite regal!" + +"I could lend both of you tiaras, if it would make you feel more at your +ease." + +"I feel perfectly at ease as I am, thank you," replied the Duchess +shortly. + +"Nibbles gave me one of the family fenders," said the Marchioness, "but +I never wear it--it gives me such a headache." + +"Ah, dear Lady Muscombe, I can sympathise with you--but I have to put up +with _my_ headaches. I want you to come and shake hands with my +husband--His Majesty, you know." + +"Charmed," said the Duchess. "Is that His Majesty with the--er--auburn +whiskers and moustache? I thought it must be.... How d'you do, sir?" + +"Thank you, your Grace, I'm very tolerably well," said King Sidney, who +was not entirely at his ease in welcoming such distinguished +guests--especially as he was far from clear as to how and why they came +to be there. "Glad you found time to--er--look us up. Hardly had time to +settle down here ourselves yet--so you must take us as you find us." + +"I never expected to find you all so magnificent, I can assure you," +replied the Duchess. + +"Oh, well," he said, "my wife likes living in style. And of course when +you are Royalties, so to speak, you've got to do the thing well." + +"That is my eldest daughter, Edna, Duchess, the Princess Royal ... yes, +over there, with the eye-glasses. Edna, my love, come and tell her Grace +how delighted you are to see her, and Lady Muscombe too." + +"How do you do, my dear? You're looking well," said the complaisant old +lady, preparing to embrace her hostess's daughter.... "Oh, if you prefer +me to kiss your hand, ma'am----" + +"You shouldn't be so formal, Edna!" said her mother. "Not with such an +old friend as the Duchess. This, Duchess, is my son, the Crown Prince +Clarence, and here is my youngest daughter, Princess Ruby." + +"I must tell you about Edna, my dear Duchess," said Queen Selina, +drawing her apart after these presentations had been effected. "She has +only just become engaged--to a neighbour of ours, young Count von +Rubenfresser. From a merely worldly point of view she might have done +much better. In fact, Prince Mirliflor of Clairdelune came here to +propose to her, but she rejected him. Wouldn't hear of anyone but the +Count! So as His Majesty and I do not approve of forcing our children's +hearts, we have let her have her own way." + +"It seems quite a romance," observed the Duchess. + +"Quite. And of course the Count comes of a very old family. I forget +what the original title was, but they've had Castle Drachenstolz for +centuries. _Such_ a picturesque old place! And--actually, +Duchess!--Count Ruprecht has a pet dragon there--it's the only one left +in Maerchenland now, and as it's rather a curiosity in its way, and +quite inoffensive, we see no objection to his keeping it. You will +probably meet the Count to-day, he generally drives over to luncheon +now--so devoted to dear Edna! And such a height, too!" + +"I shall be interested to meet him," said the Duchess. "He must be +rather a remarkable person." + +Meanwhile Clarence was engaged in making himself agreeable to Lady +Muscombe. "Funny thing, Marchioness," he remarked, "but I seem to know +your face quite well." + +"Perhaps you've seem me on picture-postcards," she said, "or else at the +Vivacity. Before I married I was Verity Stilton, you know." + +"Oh," he stammered in confusion, "I--I wasn't aware--or else--of course. +Sorry!" + +"Why on earth _should_ you be? You don't suppose I'm ashamed of having +been on the stage? I should soon have got to the front if I had stayed. +I was offered one of the best parts in 'The Girl from Greenland,' and I +threw it up to marry Muscombe. His people know perfectly well that I +sacrificed my career for his sake." (It might be added that if they did +not, it was no fault of Lady Muscombe's.) + +"I remember you," he said. "I used to go to the Vivacity before the +Mater came to the throne." + +"Ah, you haven't been a Royalty long, have you? Weren't you a +Wobbly-something or other before that?" + +"Wibberley-Stimpson was the family name," he corrected. + +"I knew it was something like that. And when you were--one of those, +what did you do with yourself?" + +"I was in Finance," he replied largely. "In the City, don't you know, +what?" + +"Really?" she drawled. "That accounts for my not remembering you. +Somehow, at the Vivacity, we didn't know any City men. All this must be +rather a change for you, isn't it?" + +"It was a bit, at first, but we soon got into it. Except the Guv'nor, +who's never taken very kindly to it--hasn't had the training, what?" + +"And you _have_? I see. And what does a Fairy Crown Prince have to do?" + +"Well," he said, "I do a lot of riding and hunting. Mostly boar about +here. The Guv'nor don't ride, nor does Edna. Can't induce them to get on +a horse. So _I_ have to represent the family." + +"I expect you're no end of a nut here," she said. + +"Oh, really, Marchioness, you're pulling my leg!" + +"Am I? I've never pulled a Fairy Prince's leg before, so it's quite a +new experience for me. But one _expects_ new experiences in +Fairyland--if this really _is_ Fairyland, which I can't quite believe!" + +"Oh, it's Fairyland right enough, though, mind you, it isn't the place +it _was_. Nothing like the magic that there used to be. Most of it died +out. Still, we've got a sort of old Fairy Godmother, as part of the +Palace fixtures--goes about in a car drawn by doves--give you my word +she does! She has another old turn-out, with storks. We came here in +that--and I expect _you_ did." + +"Yes, and I see the old gentleman over there who carried me off by main +force. He doesn't _look_ as if he was such a good hand at abductions!" + +"He looks pretty much the blithering old idiot he is," said Clarence. +"If I'd only known he was going to London I'd have told him to get me a +few thousand cigarettes--they've none here of course. But I expect he'd +only have brought 'Woodbines,' or the wrong sort anyhow!" + +"Does he _always_ bring the wrong sort?" inquired Lady Muscombe. + +"Well," said Clarence, crudely enough, "he didn't make much mistake +about _you_, Marchioness!" + +"That's exactly what I expected from you!" she said. "By the way, what +has become of the lovely person who was with the Duchess and me when we +first woke up? I think your mother called her Hermitage. I don't see her +anywhere here." + +"Heritage--Lady Daphne, as we call her now. She used to be my +kiddie-sister's governess." + +"Oh? Well, she's quite the sweetest thing I've seen--don't you think she +is, yourself?" + +"Not since _you_ came!" was his gallant reply. + +"It's lucky Muscombe can't hear you paying me compliments of that sort," +she said. "If he did he'd want your blood. And why isn't that Lady +Daphne here? I'm dying to see her again. Duchess," she added, as the +elder lady, having escaped from her hostess, came towards them, "I've +been asking the Prince why that charming little Heritage creature isn't +here. You would like to see her, wouldn't you?" + +"Certainly," said the Duchess. "Where is she?" + +"We'll ask the Court Godmother," said Clarence (it had already struck +him that it might give Daphne a higher opinion of him if she could see +the terms he was on with a real English Marchioness). "She'll know." But +the Fairy could only say that she supposed Lady Daphne was remaining in +her own rooms for some reason. + +"I wish you'd get her to come down, Court Godmother," said Clarence. +"These ladies would like to see her." + +"I will go and fetch her myself," said the Fairy, who was pleased, in +spite of herself, that her unacknowledged god-daughter should be in such +request. + +She found Daphne engaged in sewing the great pierced jewels in an +intricate pattern on the skirt of the royal robe. + +"Why, how's this?" exclaimed she. "At work! When they will be sitting +down to table directly! The Prince and our two noble guests have asked +me to come and see what is keeping you." + +"This," said Daphne, touching the skirt on her knee. "Her Majesty has +sent me up to finish it, and forbidden me to come down till it's done." + +"Then," said the Fairy, "she ought to be ashamed of herself!" + +"Oh, I don't mind a bit, Court Godmother. They'll bring me something to +eat presently, and I'd much rather be here than have to meet that odious +Count Ruprecht! Court Godmother," she added, with a little anxious line +on her forehead, "I'd better tell you, though I dare say you'll think it +silly--but I'm rather worried by a conversation I overheard just now +between two pigeons on the roof." + +"You shouldn't pay any attention to anything pigeons say--it's generally +love-talk; and very foolish at that." + +"They weren't making love. They were talking about the Count. The first +pigeon said, 'The Count has come here again. I have just seen his big +coach in the courtyard,' and the second pigeon said, 'There is nothing +in that.'" + +"Well, _one_ of them had some sense, anyway!" remarked the Fairy. + +"Ah, but wait. 'Indeed there is something,' said the other bird. 'There +is a big sack in the coach, and I know what is _inside_ the sack, too.' +'And what may that be?' the second one asked. 'All I can tell you,' said +the first, 'is that, if the Princess only knew as much about it as I do, +there wouldn't be any marriage!' They flew away after that, but I've +been wondering ever since whether he mayn't have murdered somebody." + +"If he had," said the Fairy, "he wouldn't be very likely to bring the +body out to lunch with him. You shouldn't be so uncharitable, my child. +And, as for birds, I should have thought you knew what busy-bodies they +are, and what scandals they make out of nothing at all." + +"Then you think it's all right?" said Daphne, relieved. "But all the +same, I can't trust the Count." + +"Nobody asks you to. I don't trust him myself, if it comes to that. But, +whatever he may or may not be is no affair of yours or mine. Princess +Edna will find out in time what a mistake she has made." + +"If only she doesn't find it out too late!" said Daphne. + +"She'll have herself to thank, whatever happens. _I_ shan't interfere +again. I'm tired of trying to help anyone. I never get anything but +ingratitude for it." + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +BAG AND BAGGAGE + + +The Court Godmother returned to the Throne-room. She had not attached +much importance to what Daphne had told her, but, even if she had, she +would have belittled it in her extreme desire to avoid any action that +might entail inconvenience to herself. + +In the Throne-room, Count Rubenfresser had just been announced. + +"Yes, Duchess," said Queen Selina, in answer to an astonished inquiry. +"That is dear Edna's fiance. A fine young man, is he not?" + +"Heavens! I should think he _was_! I should call him a giant myself," +replied the Duchess bluntly. + +"I _told_ you he was _rather_ tall. I think he's grown since his +engagement. How do you do, my dear Ruprecht? Come and be introduced to +my old friend the Duchess of Gleneagles, who is _so_ very anxious to +make your acquaintance." + +"I don't much care about knowing old women," said the Count, who had no +great love for his future mother-in-law, and had become much less +deferential of late. + +"But this one's a _Duchess_, Ruprecht!" whispered the agonised Queen. +"Edna, my love, perhaps _you_ had better----" and eventually he +submitted with a slight scowl to be led up and presented by his fiancee. + +"I hear I am to congratulate you--er--Count Fresser," said the Duchess. +"You are certainly a fortunate man to have won a Princess." + +"Not more fortunate than she," he replied. "She wanted a Superman, as +she calls it. I am doing all I can to become one." + +"If she isn't satisfied with you as you are, she must be hard to +please." + +"_She_ is satisfied enough," he said. "Now it is for her to _please_ me. +She knows that by this time--don't you, Edna?" + +"Yes, Ruprecht dear, yes," said Edna, hastily. "Of course I do. This is +how he's taken to bullying me, Duchess," she added lightly. "Don't you +think it's too bad of him?" + +"It seems a little early to begin. You shouldn't allow it." + +"Oh, but I _like_ him to!" said Edna, pressing the Count's great arm. + +"In that case, my dear," said the Duchess, "you have every prospect of a +happy future!" + +A blast from the silver trumpets here proclaimed that luncheon was +served. + +"Lunch, at last, eh?" said King Sidney, bustling up to the Duchess. +"Permit me to offer your Grace my arm. Clarence, my boy, you take in her +ladyship here. Selina, my love, if you will lead the way with the +Marshal." + +The Count followed with Edna, and the Fairy Vogelflug arrived in time to +bring up the rear with Princess Ruby. + +"It's a most extraordinary thing," said the King, after they had sat +down to lunch in the hall with the malachite columns, "a most +extraordinary thing, that, when we have company like this, there should +be no more than six pages to wait on us! We generally have at least a +dozen. What's become of all the rest of you?" he asked a page. + +"I cannot say, sire," answered the boy. "They were waiting in the +courtyard to receive His Excellency the Count, but have not yet +returned." + +King Sidney told the Court Chamberlain to send for them at once, but the +messenger returned with the information that the missing pages were +nowhere to be seen. + +"Must have run off before I arrived," said the Count, laughing +boisterously. "Played truant, the young rascals!" + +The Fairy, however, recollected Daphne's story of the sack, and was +seized with suspicion. Was it possible that the royal pages--? If so, +she felt something ought to be done--though not by her. She was too +cautious an old person to take unnecessary risks, and decided to employ +a deputy. + +"Ruby, my child," she whispered to the little Princess, who was sitting +next to her, "I believe the Count has brought a present for you. It's in +a sack in his coach. Ask him what it is." + +"I don't want to know," objected Ruby, "I wouldn't take any present from +_him_--except Tuetzi, perhaps." + +"I may be wrong," said the Court Godmother, "perhaps it isn't for you +after all. But I'm sure it would make him very uncomfortable if you +asked him, before everybody, what he happens to have in that sack of +his." + +"If I was sure of that," said Ruby, "I'd ask him like a shot!" + +"You may depend on it. And more than that, Lady Daphne is particularly +anxious to know." + +"Oh, if _Miss Heritage_ wants me to, all right!" said Ruby. "I say, +Count Rubenfresser," she called across the table, "I want to ask you +something." + +"If it's a riddle, little Princess," replied the Count, with his mouth +full, "I give it up beforehand." + +"It isn't a riddle. It's this: What have you got inside that sack?" + +"Sack?" said the Count blankly. "I don't understand. I have no sack +here." + +"I don't mean here. I mean the sack that's inside your coach." + +"Ruby, my dear," interposed her mother, "you mustn't be so inquisitive. +It's very rude." + +"I know he has got a sack there, Mummy," insisted Ruby, "and I do want +to know what he's got in it." + +"Hear me rag my precious brother-in-law," said Clarence aside to Lady +Muscombe. "A sack, eh?" he said aloud. "What do you bring a sack out to +lunch for--scraps?" + +"For shame, Clarence!" cried Edna. + +"It's not a sack, as it happens," said the Count sulkily. "It's a long +bag--and what I use it for is entirely my own business." + +"I don't know so much about that," retorted Clarence. "With such a lot +of plate in the Palace!" + +"Clarence!" cried Edna again. "This is too outrageous of you!" + +"Much!" put in Lady Muscombe. "As if the Count couldn't bring his clubs +with him if he's going on to golf somewhere!" she said to Clarence in an +undertone. "And of course he'd want a very long case for them! You +really _must_ behave more decently!" + +"I mean having this out with the beggar," he replied. "Count, her +ladyship suggests that you may have golf clubs in that bag of yours. Is +that so?" + +"And if I have," said the Count. "Why shouldn't I?" + +"Because you don't play golf. No one does here--now, and I'll take my +oath you can't tell a brassey from a putter. You never owned a set of +clubs in your life!" + +"Really, my boy!" said King Sidney nervously. "A scene like this! Before +our guests! It won't _do_, you know. Drop it!" + +"Yes," said Lady Muscombe, laying her pretty but slightly over-manicured +fingers on Clarence's sleeve. "You're only making everybody +uncomfortable. Talk to me instead!" + +"Presently," he said. "If you really have got golf clubs, Count, I +should like to have a look at them after lunch." + +"I never said I had got those things," replied the Count, with a +wonderful command over his temper. "And if you want to know what _is_ in +the bag, I don't mind telling you--only a few pumpkins from my own +gardens." + +"You mean to say you make such pets of your bally pumpkins that you take +'em out driving with you? That's such a likely story!" + +"Clarence," said the Queen, "I will not have poor Ruprecht badgered like +this. If he chooses to carry pumpkins with him--as we do gold +sometimes--and distribute them to deserving persons, it is so much the +more to his credit." + +"He'd get 'em buzzed back at his head pretty soon, if he did!" replied +the impenitent Clarence. "He's not exactly the object of general +adoration in these parts, as he jolly well knows.... Anything upset you, +Marchioness?" he inquired of Lady Muscombe, who was giggling with a +quite un-peeress-like lack of restraint. + +"Nothing," she said faintly. "Only the--the pumpkins. You really are +_rather_ a funny Royal Family, you know!" + +"I'm sorry to make myself unpleasant, Mater," said Clarence, returning +to the charge. "But I can't swallow those pumpkins. I want the sack +brought in so that we can satisfy ourselves what there _is_ in it." The +Court Chamberlain, in the hope that the contents, whatever they might +be, would at least serve to compromise the Count, instantly despatched +one of the pages to fetch the bag. + +"Baron," said the Queen angrily, "it is for Us to give orders--not you!" + +"Your Majesty must pardon my presumption," he said, as the pages had +already obeyed him. "I was merely carrying out the wishes of His Royal +Highness the Crown Prince." + +"I shall die if this goes on much longer! I _know_ I shall!" gasped Lady +Muscombe. + +"Ha!" cried Clarence, as the pages staggered in with a huge distended +sack. "Leave it alone, I'll open it myself." + +"Surely not without asking the owner's permission?" said the Duchess, +who had hitherto witnessed the scene in silent and dignified amazement. + +"You can open it if you like!" said the Count, with a confident smile. +"And then you will see what a fuss you have made about nothing." + +Clarence cut the cord, and opened the sack. The moment he did so his +jaw fell. "I own up," he said. "I was wrong. They _are_ pumpkins!" + +"And if you are a gentleman, Clarence," cried Edna, "you will apologise +to Ruprecht at once!" + +"There may be something else underneath," he said, lifting a pumpkin +suspiciously in both hands. "Hullo! My hat! What's this I've got hold +of?" he exclaimed, as the vegetable suddenly developed, the moment it +was clear of the sack, into one of the chubbiest of the royal pages. +"Very odd!" he remarked, as he set the boy down. "Let's have the lot +out." He tilted the sack, and as each pumpkin rolled out upon the +sardonyx pavement, a bewildered page sprang up in its stead. + +"Quite a clever trick!" said Lady Muscombe. "Even Maskelyne and Devant +couldn't beat that!" + +"After all, it wasn't so very much of a change!" was Ruby's comment. + +"What do you boys mean by playing at being pumpkins in this way?" +demanded King Sidney. "I must have an explanation of this. Speak out, +one of you!" + +"If it please you, sire," said the first page, sinking on one knee, +"When His Excellency the Count arrived he invited us to get inside the +sack, at the bottom of which he told us we should find sweetmeats. And +we crawled in--and I don't remember any more till I fell out just now." + +"Just count these boys, Baron, will you?" said the King. "The whole +dozen correct? Good. And now, sir," he added, turning to the Count, "I +should like to hear what _you_ have got to say." + +"Allow me, sire," interrupted Marshal Federhelm, as Count Ruprecht +seemed content to smile blandly. "His Excellency no doubt intended to +afford your Majesties a little harmless diversion." + +"That was all," said the Count. "This is a magic sack which has the +property of turning anything inside it into whatever its owner wishes. I +thought it might amuse you." + +"Liar!" struck in Clarence. "You wouldn't have said a word about it but +for Ruby! You meant to take those pumpkins--I mean _pages_--away with +you. You _know_ you did! I don't know what the Guv'nor and Mater think +of it--but I consider myself it was a confounded liberty!" + +"Well, well," said the King, "it was a mistake no doubt. But there's +been no harm done, so perhaps we'd better leave it at that--for the +present, you know, for the present." + +But the Court Chamberlain could not allow such an opportunity to escape +him. "Forgive me, sire," he said eagerly, "but your Majesties are +evidently unacquainted with his Excellency's family history. The motive +for his indiscretion will perhaps be better understood when I mention +that his parents' title was formerly Bubenfresser, and that they were +executed by command of the late King as being notorious ogres." + +"So _that_ was his game, was it?" cried Clarence. "Bagged our pages, +meaning to gobble 'em up when he got 'em home! Am I to have an Ogre for +a brother-in-law?" + +At this there was a general cry of horror. + +"Marshal," said the King, "you must have known all about this--and you +gave that fellow an excellent character!" + +"I had no reason to believe otherwise, sire," replied the ex-Regent +smoothly. "He had been brought up as a strict vegetarian, and I cannot +think that, if he had not acquired a taste for meat at your Majesty's +table, he would ever have developed these--er--hereditary proclivities." + +"He hasn't developed them!" declared Edna. "It's false! Ruprecht, deny +it! Tell them you are no Ogre!" + +"Really, ma'am," said the Duchess to Queen Selina, "I must ask your +permission to leave the table. I don't feel as if I ought to be present +at a family dispute of this intimate nature." + +"Pray don't go, my dear Duchess!" the Queen implored her. "Not till +you've heard what the Count has to say." + +The Count rose and folded his arms in proud defiance. "I'm not an Ogre," +he said sulkily. + +"I knew it--I knew it!" cried Edna. "Appearances were against him, +that's all!" + +"Not an Ogre yet," went on the Count. "But I hope to be one as soon as I +get the chance." + +"No, no, Ruprecht!" protested Edna. "You don't mean it--you _know_ you +don't!" + +"What!" said the Count, scowling at her. "Are you going to turn round on +me like this, after encouraging me as you did?" + +"You will not find it easy to persuade me," said the Duchess, "that the +Princess would ever have urged you to become an Ogre." + +"_Urged_ him, indeed!" cried Edna wildly. "I had no suspicion--I never +said a single word that could possibly----" + +"Didn't you say I was to follow the teachings of your great master with +the name I never can pronounce?" he demanded. "Didn't you tell me to +make my own morality and obey my own instincts, without caring what +people thought or what suffering I inflicted? You know you did! And +that's all I've done. My instincts told me that those pages were my +natural provender. I had a perfect right to take them if I could. The +only people who would condemn me would be just those average +conventional persons for whom you have such a contempt. I expected +better things from _you_!" + +"I cannot sit here another moment," declared the Duchess, rising. "It is +making me positively ill!" + +"And me!" added Lady Muscombe. "I've been on the point of fainting +several times. I must say," she told Clarence, "this is _quite_ the +weirdest lunch I _ever_ sat through!" + +"We will _all_ leave, Duchess," said the Queen. "I assure you I entirely +share your sentiments, and perhaps by this time even Edna----" + +"I loathe him, Mother!" she said, shuddering; "I only hope I shall never +see his face again!" + +"You hear that, sir?" said King Sidney, with more firmness than he +usually showed. "And, as the Princess Edna--er--voices the general +feeling, perhaps you'll see the propriety of getting out of this at +once?" + +"It seems to me," said the Count, "that you are all making a great fuss +about nothing. If I'd eaten any of your pages I could understand it. But +I haven't--I never got the chance." + +"Thanks to Clarence!" put in Queen Selina. "He saved the poor boys!" + +"It was Miss Heritage, _really_, Mummy!" corrected Ruby jealously. +"_She_ wanted to know about the sack, or I shouldn't have asked." + +"Miss Heritage!" muttered Edna. "Ah! I might have _known_ it!" + +"Now just you be off to that castle of yours," said the King, addressing +the discomfited but quite unrepentant Ogre. "And mind you keep inside it +for the future. _You_ will see that he does that, Marshal? I don't want +any scandal about this business, but if I have any _more_ trouble from +you, I shall be forced--well, to take some very strong measures." + +"I'm just going," said the Ogre calmly. "May I have my bag?" + +"Confound your impudence, no!" returned the King, "I shall have the +beastly thing destroyed." + +"Then I think you ought to give me back some of the money I paid for +it," said the Ogre. "I bought it from Master Xuriel, and I know you get +two-thirds the price of any article he sells. He told me so." + +"You--you infamous scoundrel!" cried King Sidney, turning extremely red, +perhaps with anger. "Marshal, see this ruffian off the premises--and +look here, just send for that rascally astrologer, will you? I'll make +short work of _him_!" + +"Farewell, then, to your Majesties," said the Ogre, with a jaunty wave +of his big hand. "And farewell to _you_, Princess Edna. If I have not +been as much of a Superman as I could wish, you may still find that I +have profited by your teachings." + +The old Court Chamberlain's chest gave a loud crack as the Count +swaggered out. + +"Thank goodness he's gone!" said Queen Selina. "Really, my dear Duchess, +and you, dear Lady Muscombe, I simply can't _say_ how distressed I am +that anything so unpleasant should have occurred while you were under +our roof. I do _hope_ you won't blame _me_. I always disliked the Count +myself--but I should never have dreamed of asking him to meet you if I +had known the sort of person he really _was_!" + +"Indeed, Ma'am," said the Duchess, "I can quite believe _that_." + +"And, after all," said Lady Muscombe languidly, "I dare say there are +lots of people in town--in houses where they don't keep a page, I +mean--who'd be glad enough to get him to come and dine. Society is so +much less exclusive than it used to be." + +"That," remarked the Duchess, "entirely depends on what you mean by +'Society.' And now, Ma'am," she continued to her hostess, "as the +birds--I think you mentioned that they were storks--which brought us +here should be rested by this time, I shall be obliged if you will order +the car to take me back as soon as I have changed my dress." + +"And me, too, if you don't mind," said Lady Muscombe. "I _must_ get home +before Nibbles does." + +"Oh, but you mustn't leave us so soon!" protested Queen Selina in +dismay. "To come all this way for such a miserable little visit!" + +"A flying visit, let us call it," said the Duchess. "But, candidly, this +country of yours doesn't suit me. I don't feel safe with characters such +as Ogres and Giants and Dragons about." + +"But I assure your Grace there are very very few--hardly any, in fact!" + +"There are more than my nerves can stand," said the Duchess, firmly, and +Queen Selina, though deeply mortified by her guests' eagerness to go, +found that she could no longer detain them. + +The Court Chamberlain and his attendants brought the stork car to the +palace door by the time the visitors had resumed their former costumes. + +"Good-bye, dear Duchess!" said the Queen. "So charmed to have seen you, +even for so short a time. I hope some day you will come again." + +"I think it improbable," was the grim reply. "And if you'll allow me to +say so, Ma'am, when I do stay anywhere, I prefer a house where I can be +sure of the sort of people I am likely to meet." + +"I say, Marchioness," cried Clarence, as he joined them on the steps, +"you're not really going, are you? I wish you'd stay on a bit. We were +getting on thundering well together, you and I!" + +"Very sad, isn't it?" she answered, with a charming but slightly mocking +grimace. "But Nibbles wouldn't like me to stop here philandering with +Fairy Princes--even if they _aren't_ quite the real thing. Good-bye, +Ma'am," she added, with a gay little nod, as she stepped into the car, +where the Duchess was already seated. "Thanks so much for having me! +It's a wonderful house to stay in--and a most interesting experience." + +"I have an impression," said the Duchess drowsily, "that I shall wake up +presently and find all this has been a dream. I trust so, but, if not, +would you mind telling this elderly gentleman to set me down in some +unfrequented part--_not_ Stratford Place, where I should attract more +attention than is at all desirable." + +"That's a good idea, Duchess!" said Lady Muscombe. "He can drop us on +Clapham Common, and we can share a taxi home." + +Queen Selina kissed her hand affectionately to them both as the storks +spread their great wings and the car slowly rose. But her salute was +not returned--principally for the reason that both ladies had already +closed their eyes in slumber. + +"And we might have made those two women our friends for life!" she +lamented, as she went indoors. "I hope, Edna, my love, you see _now_ +what comes of getting your own way?" + +"If I have been mistaken for once," said Edna, in a spiritless tone, +"you needn't rub it in, Mother. I can't imagine now what I could ever +have seen in that detestable creature." + +"Nor I--especially as you could see nothing in Prince Mirliflor, who +really _was_--no, my dear, I'm only speaking for your good. If I was +sure you regretted your treatment of him, I might perhaps find some +way----" + +"I dare say I should act differently if he asked me again. But he won't. +This dreadful story is sure to get round to him somehow. Of course I'm +glad Ruprecht has been found out in time. But he need not have been +exposed so publicly! I _do_ resent that. And you heard what Ruby said? +Miss Heritage was at the bottom of it. She deliberately planned this to +humiliate me! And if you have the smallest consideration for me, Mother, +you will forbid her to appear at Court after this." + +"I'm afraid she is a designing young person," admitted the Queen, "and I +have thought more than once lately of sending her home to England." + +"Then do it, Mother. If you don't, I shall simply refuse to appear in +public myself, sooner than meet her." + +"She shall go, my dear. I'll see the Court Godmother about it at once. +And don't let yourself get too downhearted over the other +affair--Prince Mirliflor, I mean. I've great hopes we can put that +right." + +"I've just left poor darling Edna," she began, as soon as she found the +Fairy alone; "all this has been a terrible shock to her, as you may +imagine. But it seems I was right in thinking she never really cared for +that unspeakable man. He _terrified_ her into accepting him. And, +between ourselves, Godmother, I fancy that, if you _could_ induce Prince +Mirliflor to come forward again, he would not be sent away a second +time." + +"So I should imagine, myself," said the Fairy drily. "But, as it +happens, owing to the result of my previous efforts, I have lost all +influence with Mirliflor. He and I have fallen out." + +"But you could easily make it up with him. You might say she was really +in love with him from the first, only she wished to put him to the +proof--something of that sort. Tell him how delighted we should all be +to see him again. There's _another_ little matter I wished to speak to +you about. Edna has taken the strongest dislike to that Miss Heritage, +who I must say has acted most unwarrantably. I have made up my mind to +part with her, and I thought, if you would arrange to have her taken +back to England as soon as the car returns to-morrow----" + +"Stop," said the Fairy, "I must have time to think over that." She had, +it is true, renounced all further interference in anybody's affairs, but +habit was too strong for her. Her old brain was busying itself once more +with the scheme she had abandoned--a scheme that would certainly not be +assisted by Daphne's expulsion from Maerchenland. So she temporised. + +"Yes," she said at last, "I quite see from what you tell me, that Lady +Daphne cannot remain at Court any longer. The difficulty is that I can't +send her back to England just yet. My storks will not be fit for so long +a flight again for a fortnight at the very least. I'm not going to have +them killed on her account. I could do _this_ for you. I could establish +her in a little pavilion in a distant part of the palace grounds and +keep her there, under my own eyes, till the storks are ready for another +journey. It's a very secluded place--almost a wilderness--and none of +the Court ever go near it." + +"That seems an excellent plan," said the Queen. "But I shouldn't care +for them to know that she is a prisoner. They had better be told that +she has resigned her situation and left the Palace. And--you won't +forget my little hint--about Prince Mirliflor, you know?" + +"I will bear it in mind. In fact, if you can spare me for a day or two, +I thought of going over to Clairdelune in the dove-chariot to-morrow and +having a little chat with him." + +"Oh, by all means do!" said the Queen gratefully. "So kind of you to +take so much trouble!" + +"It's more on his account than yours," replied the Fairy, with a candour +that might have been intended as complimentary. "But I don't guarantee +that anything will come of it--at all events for a considerable time." + +"Indeed I quite understand that--that his wound can hardly be expected +to heal just yet." + +The Fairy lost no time in conveying Daphne to the secret pavilion +without the knowledge of any of the Court. It was quite fit for +occupation, and supplied with all that was necessary for comfort; the +Court Godmother provided her with an attendant, and even procured some +ancient volumes of Maerchenland history with which Daphne could beguile +her solitude. + +That night the Court Godmother summoned up all her energies to send +Mirliflor another vision of Daphne. It was the best vision she had ever +transmitted, but it was terribly exhausting work, and she grumbled +bitterly to herself that the scheme she had in hand should demand these +excessive exertions. + +But it was one of the good old-fashioned schemes which have always been +beloved by romantic but didactic Fairy Godmothers. It would test the +characters of Mirliflor and Daphne, and be valuable moral discipline for +both, while, if they came through it triumphantly, they would be amply +compensated for any temporary inconvenience. She had not engaged in an +affair of this kind for at least a century and a quarter, and she was +looking forward to a highly interesting and enjoyable experience. First +she must regain her influence over Mirliflor, but she thought she would +not find much difficulty in doing that. + +The Astrologer Royal had been duly summoned before the King to explain +his dealings with the Ogre-Count. But he not unwisely preferred to +disappear instead, taking with him his books of spells and other +apparatus. It was reported that he had found refuge at Drachenstolz. + +"Gone there, has he?" said King Sidney to the Marshal. "Better send +someone to arrest him." + +"It would need an army, sire," said the Marshal, "and a long siege, to +enter the Castle." + +"Oh, is that so?" said the King. "Well, then, have guards posted all +round to see that they don't get out. After all, so long as we keep +them boxed up there, they can't do any mischief." And the guards were +posted accordingly. + +Poor Ruby was almost broken-hearted on hearing from her mother that her +beloved Miss Heritage had gone back to England without so much as a word +of farewell. The Court received the news with murmurs, and a strong +suspicion that she had not left of her own free will. + +Clarence was in the deepest dejection. It was true that he had made no +advance of late in his pursuit of her, but so long as she remained there +had always been hope. Now that she was gone for ever, even his riding +and hunting became uninteresting and purposeless. What was the use of +excelling in them when she was not there to hear of his prowess? + +Early that afternoon he returned from the forest, and, after spending a +few minutes in his own apartments, came down to his father's private +cabinet with a gloomy and slightly startled expression. He found King +Sidney alone and in better spirits than usual. + +"Back from your hunting already, my boy?" he said. + +"Had enough of it," said Clarence. "Felt a bit off it to-day, somehow." + +"Ah, your mother and I are just in from a drive. There's no doubt +this--er--rupture with that disgusting fellow has brought about an +enormous improvement in the public feeling. We were cheered, my boy, +actually _cheered_!" + +"It may be some time before you're cheered again, Guv'nor," said +Clarence. "I mean, you made a grand mistake in letting that little +perisher Xuriel sell those tables of his 'Under Royal patronage,' and +I'm afraid you'll hear of it before long." + +"Eh, why, what's _wrong_ with them? They seemed to give perfect +satisfaction. Have there been any complaints?" + +"There'll be lots if they all go like mine has. When I came in just now +I was feeling a bit peckish, so I got out my table. It laid itself right +enough, only the wine was stiff with wriggly things like tadpoles--and, +when I lifted the dish-cover, I'm hanged if there weren't a couple of +great fat snakes under it, hissing like tea-kettles! And I paid the +beggar a sack and a half of ducats for that table!" + +"Most untradesmanlike!" said King Sidney indignantly. "Of course you can +make him return the money! No, you can't, though, I forgot--the fellow's +bolted!" + +"I wasn't thinking so much of that," said Clarence, "but suppose all the +_other_ johnnies who've bought tables find they're wrong 'uns, and want +their money back--from _us_?" + +"They wouldn't have a leg to stand on, my boy. It's a clear case of +'Caveat emptor.' But, after all, there's no reason at present to suppose +the other tables are--hem--in a similar condition to yours." + +"It's to be hoped not," said Clarence. "There'll be the devil's own row +if they are." + +Unfortunately it soon appeared that they were, and the numerous persons +in Eswareinmal who had purchased them felt their grievance so strongly +that they sent a large and somewhat turbulent deputation to demand an +audience from His Majesty. + +King Sidney received them, indeed he could not very well avoid doing so, +as they forced their way to his presence. He did his best to reason +with them, pointing out the undeniable fact that no guarantee had been +given that the tables would last for ever, and that it was scarcely +surprising if, after being in constant use, they should begin to show +symptoms of wear and tear--a phrase which had the effect of infuriating +them almost to madness. Nor were they pacified when he quoted his maxim +of "Caveat emptor," and pointed out that, if people _would_ invest in +magic tables, some degree of trickery was only to be expected. His +arguments were lost on them. They had discovered somehow that the +greater part of their purchase money had gone to swell the Royal +revenues, and they clamoured for instant restitution. + +So finally the King had recourse to his usual expedient. "Don't let us +have a row about this little matter, gentlemen," he said. "I'm anxious +to meet you if I can, and I tell you what I'll do. I'll have the Council +summoned at once. You can lay your claims before them, and if they can +see their way to granting you any compensation, we shall be as good +friends as ever again." + +King Sidney's idea had been that the Council, if they decreed any +compensation at all, would do so from funds belonging to the State. It +appeared, however, that they did not consider this to be within their +powers. They decided that, as the Sovereign had enjoyed the greater part +of the profit on the sales of the self-supplying tables, he was bound to +refund the money, proportionate deductions being made for the period +during which each table had been in proper order. This required +elaborate calculations, but the Lord Treasurer had a wonderful head for +figures, and worked them out to such effect that there was only +moderate grumbling on the part of the creditors, all of whom received +rather more than their due, while a good many had never bought a table +at all. + +So, on the whole, the decision satisfied all except the Royal Family. + +"It's easy to be generous with other people's money!" said the King. +"But this business has nearly cleared us out. That confounded Treasurer +hasn't left us more than a dozen sacks or so to go on with. He's +suggested that I might try to get a loan from the King of +Goldenbergenland. I'm told he's wealthy, so perhaps he'd be willing to +oblige a fellow-monarch, if I gave him the mine as security." + +"That mine?" said Clarence. "Why, it doesn't cover its working +expenses--and never will, with the wages we pay those miner-johnnies!" + +"Most exorbitant," said the King; "I've been thinking of--hem--bringing +back those yellow gnomes. They wouldn't want wages--and the mine would +be healthier for them than those marshes they're draining." + +"It might," agreed Clarence, "if there were any of the poor little +beggars left. But I believe the climate has been too much for 'em." + +"Has it, though? I'm afraid they must have neglected to take proper +precautions. Very ungrateful, after all I've done for them! But it's no +use trying to benefit _that_ class of persons. I see that now." + +Clarence still wore his pendant, though he rode less and less +frequently. The Marshal told him that there was excellent carp-fishing +to be had on the Crystal Lake a few miles from Eswareinmal, and he took +up this sport, making solitary expeditions to the lake, from which he +returned in better spirits for a time. But even this occupation soon +palled, and the whole Court were struck by his increasing dejection, +which, rightly or wrongly, they attributed to the absence of Lady +Daphne. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +"RIVEN WITH VAIN ENDEAVOUR" + + +After a few hours' flight the Fairy Vogelflug's team of doves had safely +deposited her at the entrance to the Palace of King Tournesol. She +ascertained that Prince Mirliflor was within and went at once to his +apartments. He received her with his usual respect, but there was a +reserve in his manner which showed that the memory of his late fiasco +was still rankling. His reserve increased perceptibly after she had +explained the purpose of her visit. He altogether declined to consider a +second matrimonial venture on her recommendation, hinting as politely as +possible that her idea of a suitable consort for him was too unlikely to +correspond with his own. "You mean with the ideal of your visions?" she +said. "And you saw her again last night. Now didn't you, Mirliflor?" + +"I did," he said; "but how did you know that?" + +"How did I know? Because I sent you the vision, of course. I sent you +the former one, too, though there were reasons why I couldn't tell you +so till now." + +"And why do you tantalise me by making me dream of an unattainable +perfection?" he asked hotly. "Can you suppose that anything short of it +will ever content me now? Since I cannot hope to find so sweet and fair +a Princess in all the world, I am only the more resolved to live and die +unmarried!" + +"She exists, or I could not have shown her to you in a vision. You have +only to do exactly as I tell you, Mirliflor, and you shall see her, and +win her, if you can." + +"You said all that about the other one, Godmother Voldoiseau," he +replied. "No, it's no good. I really can't trust you again." + +"Don't be obstinate, Mirliflor, or you'll put me in a passion, and +that's dangerous at my age. I grant you I was wrong about Princess Edna. +But I'm not wrong now. I assure you that, if you saw this girl, you +would own that she was no less fair than she appeared in your visions." + +"But if there indeed lives so lovely a Princess," he said, "how comes it +that I have never heard of her existence?" + +"She is no Princess, Mirliflor. Merely a poor friendless girl I have +chosen to protect." + +"So much the better," he said. "She is the less likely to refuse me." + +"Because you are a Prince? Just so--but I don't intend that she shall +accept you for any such reason. I shall not allow you to see her at all +unless you promise not to reveal your rank, or even your real name, to +her until I give you leave to do so." + +"You have my word, Godmother," he replied. "After all, it may be that, +even without rank or title, I shall succeed in obtaining favour in her +eyes." + +"You trust to your good looks--but those, too, you must consent to +sacrifice. Love that is based on mere outward appearance soon passes. I +have to be very careful now how I exercise any magic power +whatever--each time it takes more and more out of me, and even sending +you these visions taxed me most severely. Still, I will make another +effort and change you into a less comely form." + +"I suppose you are proposing to turn me into a beast of some kind?" he +said. "If so, I cry off. I know it succeeded with an ancestor of +ours--but that was centuries ago, and I'm not inclined to undertake the +risk myself." + +"I'm not asking you to undertake it. The form you would assume would be +human, and not in the least repulsive. In strict fairness I ought to +transform the girl as well, but as I know very well that, if I did, you +would never so much as look at her, I must leave her as she is. Only if +you don't consent to be transformed yourself, you will never see her at +all." + +"But what if I let myself be transformed and find out when I see her +that she doesn't resemble my vision?" + +"You need not fear that. But if, when you see her, you wish to withdraw, +I will bring you back here and restore you to your own shape again, and +thus you will be none the worse." + +"Well," he said, "on those terms I agree." Upon which the Fairy began +her incantations, and, after one or two failures, succeeded in +remembering the precise formula and accomplishing the metamorphosis. + +"I knew it would come back to me in time," she remarked, exhausted but +gratified. "I shall suffer for it later--but it's certainly a highly +successful piece of work--as you will see if you go and look at yourself +in that mirror." + +When he looked it was a complete stranger that he saw reflected. A young +man of his own height and figure, but with features that, without being +absolutely plain, were quite ordinary. His own curling brown locks were +replaced by short black hair, and his complexion had deepened from its +original slight bronze to a swarthy hue. Even his silk and velvet suit +had suffered a change and was now a coarse leather jerkin with hose and +sleeves of russet cloth. + +"You might just as well have made a beast of me outright!" he said +bitterly. "I should have been as likely to win the heart of any maiden +as I am now." + +"My dear Mirliflor," retorted the Fairy, "if, as you are now, you cannot +win this girl by your own worth, it will either be because she is not +worth winning or you have not sufficient worth to deserve her." + +"And how," he asked, "am I to set about winning her?" + +"You will start at once for Eswareinmal--on horseback if you like, +provided your horse and his trappings are not too fine. You will leave +him outside the City, and find your way to one of the side entrances of +the Palace, where you will ask an attendant to inform me that +'Girofle'--as you will henceforth call yourself--has arrived in +obedience to my summons. I will arrange that you shall see this girl, +and it will then be for you to say whether you will go any further or +not in this enterprise. You had better leave the Palace without seeing +the King, your father, and I will explain to him that there were good +and sufficient reasons for your secret departure." + +However, when she did obtain an audience from King Tournesol, she saw +that he was not in a mood that promised a favourable reception to any +further matrimonial project on Mirliflor's behalf--at all events from +her. So she merely informed him that Mirliflor had left Clairdelune to +seek a bride for himself, and that he might be absent for some time. She +did not mention his transformation, and was disingenuous enough to +agree with the King that the Prince had behaved most unfilially in +departing without permission. But King Tournesol was too glad that his +son's thoughts had again turned to marriage to be very seriously angry, +and the Fairy left him in tolerable good humour, and got back to +Eswareinmal long before Mirliflor, who reached the Palace at last, after +a journey of entirely unfamiliar discomfort and a total lack of the +deference and attention he had always hitherto received as of right. He +made his way in an aggrieved and rather rebellious frame of mind to a +side entrance and, on inquiring for the Court Godmother, was taken at +once to her apartments. After hearing his tale of hardships, which she +merely said were extremely good for him, she led him down by a private +staircase to the gardens at the back of the Palace, and through them, by +a postern gate of which she had the key, to an uncultivated region of +glades and groves. Here she ordered him to conceal himself behind a +thicket at the edge of a clearing, and to remain there till she gave him +leave to come out. He waited for what seemed an interminable time--and +then his patience was rewarded. The Fairy returned with the very lady of +his visions. _This_ time at least his Godmother had not deceived +him--the living reality was even more radiantly beautiful than his +dream! They passed and repassed him several times, and, if he had not +seen Daphne, the mere sound of her gay sweet voice would have been +enough to enslave him. But he could see her perfectly well, and note the +animation of her every gesture, the easy grace with which she moved, and +her pretty tenderness for the old woman who was leaning on her strong +young arm. When would the Fairy see fit to call him forth and present +him to this adorable being? And yet, inconsistently enough, he was +dreading the moment. How could he hope, changed as he was now, that +those bright eyes would regard him with any interest whatever? But, as +it happened, they did not regard him at all on this occasion, for, after +a few more turns up and down the clearing, the Fairy retired with her +_protegee_, and presently re-appeared alone. + +"Well," she said, as Mirliflor came forward at her summons, "now you +have seen her, what is your decision?" + +"I stay here," he replied, "and will submit to anything as long as there +is a chance of gaining her." + +"I expected as much," she said. "And I have arranged that you shall be +employed here as one of the Royal under-gardeners." + +"An under-gardener!" he exclaimed. "Really, Godmother, that is not +giving me a fair chance! And I've never done any gardening in my life!" + +"Then it is high time you began," she said calmly. "It will not only +give you a greater respect for manual labour, but subdue your pride." + +"You have left me nothing I can be proud of. And what opportunity shall +I have of even seeing her?" + +"You will be given the key which will admit you to the grounds, and the +pavilion in which she lives is not far from here. As to opportunities of +meeting her, you must make them for yourself. Those are my conditions," +said the despotic old Fairy, "and if you don't choose to accept them, +you may as well return to Clairdelune at once, for I shall take care +that you never see her again." + +"Oh, I accept," he said. "I can't help myself. Only, it does seem to me, +Godmother, that if you're really anxious that I should succeed, you +might make it easier for me than this!" + +"No doubt," she said. "But if it was easy there would be no merit in +success. I am putting _her_ to the test, remember, as well as you, and +until I see how you both come through it, I cannot be certain that you +are really fitted for one another." + +She had, as a matter of fact, quite made up her mind that they should +marry, but she could not resist such an opening for one of the practical +moral lessons which, as a Fairy Godmother of the fine old didactic type, +she had often brought to an effectively instructive _denoument_. + +But if she was enjoying herself over the probation, it is more than can +be said for the unhappy Mirliflor. It is true that, owing to the Court +Godmother's protection, he was treated by the Head Gardener with some +indulgence, but, nevertheless, he had to work much harder and longer +than he liked. Sometimes, however, he was sent to the outlying part of +the gardens, where he was under no supervision, and then it was easy to +slip away to the postern gate, which his key enabled him to enter, and +he was not long in discovering the pavilion which sheltered his +divinity. He wore a big apron and carried a pair of garden shears with +which he lopped and trimmed a shrub now and then by way of accounting +for his intrusion, and sometimes he was rewarded by a glimpse of her. +But that was all, for, with a diffidence he had never known before, he +did not venture near enough to speak. The fact was that he was morbidly +self-conscious about his altered appearance. If the Fairy had only let +him retain his own form, he thought, he would not have hesitated a +moment, but her disdain was more than he could bring himself to face, +and so he watched from afar, and when she wandered out would follow at a +distance, keeping her in view, while remaining unseen himself. It was, +as he felt, not precisely the way to conduct a courtship, and he +despised himself for his want of courage. But he always hoped that +something might happen to bring them together, though it seemed less and +less likely that anything would. + +Daphne, meanwhile, was growing resigned to her exclusion from the +Palace, which she chiefly regretted because she could see nothing of +Ruby, the one member of the Royal Family for whom she could feel any +real affection. She expected to hear at any moment that the car was +ready to take her back to England, where she would have to find +employment if she could. + +The Queen had certainly furnished her with a character; "Miss Heritage," +the reference stated, "has been for some months in the service of Her +Majesty Queen Selina of Maerchenland as Governess-companion to Her +Majesty's younger daughter, Princess Ruby. Her Majesty could not +conscientiously recommend Miss Heritage as a teacher for advanced +pupils, but has no doubt that she would be fairly competent to undertake +a situation as Nursery Governess." + +That was all--and Daphne did not think it would do much for her. And +besides, people might want to know who the Queen of Maerchenland +was--which would be awkward to explain. But perhaps the Court Godmother +would see that she was not sent home without funds enough to support her +till she could get an engagement. She would be rather sorry to leave +Maerchenland, which, queer country as it was in some ways, she had come +to look upon her home. However, she did not worry much about the future, +being content to enjoy her present restful life as long as she might. + +She was comfortable enough in the Pavilion, where she was well looked +after by an elderly taciturn attendant, one of the Court Godmother's own +waiting-women. + +The old Fairy herself came from time to time to inquire after Daphne's +health and bring her news of the Court, and her visits were welcome. +When alone Daphne spent much of her time over the ancient Chronicles, +which the Fairy had provided for her, and which she found strangely +fascinating. Or when she was disinclined to read or embroider, she would +explore the grounds about the Pavilion, which were wild and neglected +enough to impart a sense of adventure to her wanderings. Often, as she +walked and worked or read, her thoughts would drift into dreams--the +dreams that come to most girls--of a Prince Charming who would discover +her in her retreat, and be her champion and deliverer. In a country like +this, such a dream was less unlikely to come true than elsewhere, and +yet she always ended by laughing at herself for indulging it. + +The Prince (for of course he must be a Prince!) would have to make haste +if he was to find her still in Maerchenland. But even if he came in time, +she thought, it would be useless--his arrival would be reported at once +to the Queen. For she had lately become aware that she was being watched +by someone who was obviously not the gardener he tried to appear, and +whom she had more than once detected in the act of following her in +secret. He must be either a spy, or a guard with orders to prevent her +escape--as if she were likely to attempt it when there was no place to +which she could escape! She had made no complaint to the Court +Godmother, being unwilling to trouble the old Fairy with a matter of so +little importance. But she took her revenge on the spy by making his +task as difficult as she could. If she detected him in time lying in +wait in the bushes by the front of the Pavilion, she would slip out at +the back, and reach her favourite haunts by a roundabout path screened +by yew hedges, while he imagined her to be still indoors. He was really +such an unsuspicious spy that there was hardly any fun in baffling him. +She had done so with the usual success one hot afternoon, and was making +for a tree under which she often sat. It had great glossy leaves, and +gorgeous flowers with a delicate but penetrating scent, and the thought +of the coolness beneath its spreading branches was particularly +attractive just then. After looking round and satisfying herself that +she had not been pursued, she sat down and opened the book she had +brought--a chronicle of the lives of the Sovereigns of Maerchenland. She +had read most of it already, and instead of reading any more, she found +herself thinking of the contrast between their earlier Kings and Queens +and the present occupiers of the throne. The former Sovereigns had had +their failings; some of them had been arbitrary and wrong-headed, one or +two cruel and tyrannical. But none had ever been vulgar or ridiculous. +She could understand poor Mr. Wibberley-Stimpson's being so hopelessly +out of his element--but it seemed strange that Queen Selina, who was +the daughter of a Maerchenland Prince, should not have inherited any +trace of royal dignity. They were quite incapable of governing the +people, who, as Daphne knew, regarded them with scarcely disguised +contempt. And it was such a pity, for the good Maerchenlanders had been +so loyal at first! They would be loyal still, if only they had a +sovereign for whom they could feel a particle of--. She had got to this +point in her meditations when she was startled by a stealthy rustle in +the branches overhead. The spy had been too clever for her after all! +Well, she thought, with malicious amusement, if he chose to take the +trouble of climbing a tree to watch her, she would keep him employed up +there as long as possible and see which would tire first. He was +evidently getting cramped already, for the branches were cracking quite +loudly, but she would not look up or show that she was in the least +aware of him. And then suddenly a heavy body fell with a flop on the +open book in her lap--and she realised with terror that it was no spy +she had to deal with, but an infinitely more formidable enemy. It was a +huge serpent that had coiled itself swiftly on her knees, which quivered +under the intolerable weight, while its tail twisted round her ankles, +binding them fast, and it reared its evil flat head, crested like a +peacock's, to a level with her chin. Its markings, in alternate rings of +cream, vermilion, black and orange, were strangely beautiful, but she +was in no mood to admire them as she sat there--spell-bound under its +cold tawny eyes. + +Presently it spoke words which made her wish that its speech had been +unintelligible. "Yes," it said, "you are quite right to be afraid of me. +I am here to kill you." + +"Then don't talk about it!" said Daphne, her throat so parched that she +could scarcely speak; "if you must kill me, do it at once and get it +over." + +"Not yet," it said malignantly. "You have an agony of terror to go +through before that. When I see your eyes close I shall know that the +time has come, and I shall strike my fangs into that white throat of +yours, and you will recover just sense enough to feel what pain it is to +die!" Daphne would very possibly have closed her eyes at once and +received the death stroke rather than listen any longer to the +creature's threats, but she had just become aware that help was at hand. +The person she believed to be a spy was stealing up, treading +noiselessly over the velvet turf, his hands already outstretched with +the evident purpose of seizing the reptile from behind. If she could +only engage it in conversation for a minute or two, there was still a +chance for her. + +"I have done you no harm," she said, after moistening her dry lips. "Why +should you hate me like this?" + +"Ask Xuriel, my master," replied the serpent, "who called me into being +for no other purpose than to put you to death." + +"But I have done Xuriel no injury." + +"Then it may be you are an enemy of the Count, whose servant he is. I +know not--nor is it any matter. All I know is that I have been sent here +to--" and here it broke off in a dreadful strangled scream as a pair of +strong hands clutched it firmly by the throat and dragged it writhing +into the open. Daphne sat helplessly looking on as her rescuer struggled +with the thing, which had wound its coils round his waist and leg, and +was trying hard to free its head and strike. He held the venomous head +at arm's-length, gripping its throat tight, while the foam slavered from +its distended jaws, but it was stronger than he, and, as he recognised +this, he urged Daphne to save herself while there was time. + +She had already risen, as she had got over any tendency to faint, but +she had no intention of leaving him to his fate. She had just seen in a +pocket of his leather apron those big garden-shears which she had +noticed him plying with such marked incompetence, and it occurred to her +suddenly that they might be of some real service now. She ran up and, +watching her opportunity, succeeded in whipping them out. Then she +stepped behind the serpent, and forced the blades together just below +the part of its neck that was in her champion's grasp. There was a +highly unpleasant scrunch and jar as they closed, but she pressed with +all her strength, until the reptile's spine was cut through and its body +uncoiled itself from the young man and went writhing and rolling blindly +through the grass. + +Daphne dropped the shears and got out of its way in sudden panic. "It's +not dead! I'm sure it isn't!" she cried to the stranger, whom she had +somehow ceased to think of as a spy. + +"It is harmless enough now, fair lady," he said as he tossed its crested +head into the undergrowth, "thanks to your courage." + +"I never killed anything before," she said. "I hated doing it, and--it +seems such a silly way to kill a snake!" + +"It succeeded," he said, wondering how those small slim hands could have +had the strength. "I could not have held it much longer. You have saved +my life." + +"I couldn't have," she said, "if you hadn't saved mine first. I know now +that you have only been watching and following me about as you have to +see that I didn't get into any danger?" + +"So you were aware that I watched you?" he said. + +Daphne laughed. "How could I help being?" she replied. "And of course I +guessed at once that you weren't a real gardener." + +"What makes you suppose that?" he said. + +"Well," she said, laughing again, "I happen to have seen you at work, +you know." + +"I may have little skill," he said, "nevertheless, I have obtained +employment here as a gardener." + +"I mustn't ask you questions," she said, "but I'm quite sure that, +before you came here, you were in a very different position from any +labourer's." She had noticed a refinement in his speech and manner, and +also the shapeliness of his hands, which the Fairy had been considerate +or forgetful enough to leave unaltered. + +But Daphne's words gave him a sudden hope. Had she detected that he was +a Prince? If so, he was released from his promise of silence! + +"All I may tell you," he said, "is that there were reasons which obliged +me to leave my own country and live here where I am unknown. But I think +you have guessed more than that already!" + +"I will tell you what I think," she said. "I believe you are really a +student, and, whatever you had to leave your country for, it was nothing +you've any cause to be ashamed of. I expect you were accused of plotting +against your Government--and I don't care if you did, because you +wouldn't have if they'd governed properly. Anyway, you escaped, and +thought you'd be safe if you could get a post in the Royal Gardens. +There! it is only a guess, of course, and you needn't tell me whether +I'm right or not." + +He allowed her to think she was, as it was a far more creditable +explanation than any he could have invented for himself. + +"It was rather clever of me to guess all that," she said. "But it would +have been cleverer of you to choose something you knew a little more +about than gardening, wouldn't it? And we can't be strangers after this. +That thing there," and she indicated the headless serpent, which had now +ceased to writhe, and lay limp in the grass, with all its brilliant +colour faded to dingy grey, "introduced us, but it carelessly forgot to +mention our names." + +"Perhaps," he said, quite seriously, "it did not know them." + +"That _would_ account for it, certainly," agreed Daphne, with equal +gravity, though her eyes danced. "Then I'd better explain that I was +Princess Ruby's governess before we came here. Since then I've been a +sort of lady-in-waiting--and now I'm nothing at all. I'm in disgrace, +like you. My name is Daphne Heritage. Now, tell me yours ... Girofle?... +Well, I am going back to the Pavilion now. I don't feel safe anywhere +else.... Yes, you can see me out of this dreadful place--just in _case_ +there should be another snake about," she conceded, for her nerves were +beginning to feel a reaction, and she was glad of his protection. + +So he walked humbly by her side, saying little for fear of saying too +much, till they came within sight of the Pavilion and then she +dismissed him. "We will say good-bye here," she said; "and you mustn't +keep at a distance any more--it would be too absurd, now--you must come +and speak to me, of course. Though I _may_ be sent back to England at a +moment's notice, and then you won't see me again. But if you don't, I +shall never forget how bravely you risked your life for me." + +She gave him her hand; he held its cool silken softness for a moment and +would have raised it to his lips but for this new humility of his. Then, +with a friendly but almost careless little nod, she was gone, leaving +him with the conviction that it was indifferent to her whether they ever +met again or not. + +He felt that the Fates had not been as propitious as they might. They +had permitted him to rescue her--but then he had been rescued by her +immediately afterwards--a most humiliating anti-climax! There was one +service he could still do her, he thought, and, cutting himself a stout +stick, he made a thorough search of the groves, where however, rather to +his disappointment, he discovered no serpents of any kind. But, in his +anxiety for Daphne, he insisted on seeing the Court Godmother at once +and warning her of the dangers to which she was exposing her _protegee_. + +The old Fairy was secretly disconcerted, though she did not of course +admit that there had been any neglect on her part. "I am not at all +surprised, Mirliflor. In fact, I fully expected something of this sort +to happen," she said unblushingly. "But I knew very well that there was +no danger while you were there to look after her." + +"But it may happen again," he urged. "That accursed Xuriel may create +another serpent, and the next time I mayn't be at hand--unless you can +get me excused altogether from working in the gardens." + +"I shall not do that, Mirliflor," said the inflexible old Fairy. "And +what you fear will not happen again. To begin with, that serpent was +never created by Xuriel." + +"But I heard it say that he had called it into being!" + +"And have you ever known a serpent tell the truth? No, no, Mirliflor, +Master Xuriel is clever enough in his way, but he couldn't make a +serpent of that size. From what you tell me, it was evidently a Crested +Serpent which he had got hold of and trained, and I happen to know it +was the last existing.... But I will have a rope of fine silk, woven +with a certain spell, laid round the Pavilion, and no snake, magic or +otherwise, will be able to cross _that_. It's quite unnecessary, and +will be extremely exhausting to me, still I'll do it, just to set your +mind at ease. And I'll tell her not to go about alone in future.... But +I can't have you going in there whenever you choose in future. The Head +Gardener was complaining to me that you are neglecting your work, and it +won't do to excite his suspicion. You must not attempt to see her till +the close of the day, which will leave you ample time for your +lovemaking.... No, she is not going to be sent back to England. _I_ +shall take care of that. So you can keep a good heart, Mirliflor. I +consider you have made an excellent beginning!" + +He was far from sure of it himself, but at least Daphne would be better +protected henceforth, and even if he could no longer look after her by +day, which he fully intended to do when he found an opportunity, he +could at least see her every evening. It was some comfort, too, to feel +that he could rely on her remaining in Maerchenland. + +On her next visit to the Pavilion the Court Godmother heard Daphne's +version of the meeting with Girofle. "I take an interest in the young +man," she said. "Indeed I got him his place here. He seems to have +behaved very creditably--for a mere gardener. Though I dare say you +think him beneath your notice." + +"After he had saved my life!" said Daphne indignantly. "As if I +_could_--whoever he was! But, as you take an interest in him, Court +Godmother, you must know as well as I do that he isn't really a gardener +at all." + +"Oh, indeed," said the Fairy suspiciously. "And how did you find _that_ +out? From _him_?" + +"No, I guessed. And then he had to admit it." + +"And what did he admit?" + +"Well, that he is a student and has had to go into hiding because he was +suspected of being mixed up in some plot or other. He didn't tell me any +more than that." + +"Ah," said the Fairy, concealing her relief, "he told you more than was +prudent as it was. But I suppose he thought he could trust you with his +secret." + +"And don't _you_, Court Godmother?" flashed Daphne. + +"Oh, I don't think you would betray him. You mustn't go and lose your +heart to him, though. That would never do!" + +Daphne laughed. "Court Godmother!" she said, "you're not really afraid +of my falling in love with him, are you?" + +"Well, no, my dear. Fortunately he's not good-looking enough to make me +very uneasy about that. I should be much more afraid that he might fall +in love with you." + +"Oh, I hope he won't do _that_, poor fellow," said Daphne with a sudden +and uneasy recollection of how he had followed her in secret. "But I'm +going home so soon that I mayn't even see him again." + +"You may have to stay here some time longer," said the Fairy, "so it's +quite possible that he will try to see more of you. However, it will be +easy for you to tell him plainly that you don't want to have anything to +do with him." + +"But I don't mind his speaking to me," said Daphne. "I told him he +might. I should hate hurting him like that. And, after all, Court +Godmother, if he _should_ show any signs of--of what you're afraid of, +he will soon see that it's no use, and be sensible about it." + +"I dare say you're right, my dear, I dare say you're right," agreed the +Court Godmother. "And anyhow, it will be time enough to trouble about +that when it happens--which very likely it never will." + +But in her heart she was more convinced than ever that Mirliflor had +made a very good beginning. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +"A CLOUD THAT'S DRAGONISH" + + +At the first opportunity Mirliflor had returned to the pavilion groves, +where he need no longer worship from a distance. Daphne had received him +graciously enough, but somehow he went away with a feeling that he had +lost ground. He saw her every day after that, occasionally in the +daytime, whenever he could evade the Head Gardener's eye, and always in +the evening. She would talk to him from her window, or sometimes she +would consent to come out and stroll with him in the golden dusk along +grass-grown paths bordered with high and ragged walls of yew. And yet he +parted from her with a sorer heart every evening. She had been as +enchanting as ever, but quite as indifferent. It was useless to tell her +how he loved her; whenever he had tried she had made him understand +that, if he said any more, he would spoil the friendship between them. +So he said no more. + +Sometimes she had made him angry. Unfortunately he could never quite +forget his rank, and he resented the airy way in which she treated him +as a person of no particular importance. She would even laugh at his +efforts to assert his dignity--and he was unused to being laughed at, +especially as he often did not even understand why she laughed. For +Fairy Princes have never been noted for their sense of humour, and poor +Mirliflor was certainly no exception. Once, when she had innocently +permitted herself to remark that she thought Prince Mirliflor had shown +very little spirit or determination in his wooing of Princess Edna, he +lost his temper so completely as to tell her that she would be wiser not +to pass judgment on matters of which she knew so little. Daphne's +silence showed how deeply he had offended, but he was too proud to +conciliate her, and so his evening came to an abrupt end in mutual +coolness. On his way back he cursed himself for his folly. He had done +for himself now--she would never forgive him, never speak to him again! +How could he have been so mad when his only happiness was being near +her? But when he ventured back the next evening, prepared for final +dismissal, he found her as frank and friendly as ever; she seemed to +have forgotten that they had ever fallen out at all. Unfortunately this +was rather humiliating than gratifying, since it only showed how utterly +insignificant he was in her eyes. + +But Daphne did not actually consider him insignificant at all. She was +rather interested in this plain, ordinary-looking youth with a lofty +manner and an air of authority that seemed so incongruous, and yet, even +while she laughed at him for them, impressed her in spite of herself. He +was not quick at seeing a joke--especially against himself--and she +enjoyed teasing and provoking him as she would not have done in the case +of anyone she disliked. + +She knew he was absolutely devoted to her, and although she had made him +understand that he must avoid any approach to sentiment, she was touched +by his devotion, and sorry that she could make him no better return. + +"But it's no use," she thought remorsefully, "I simply couldn't care in +that way for any man who hadn't _some_ good looks. I can't be more than +a friend to Girofle--and, luckily, I believe he's beginning to see that +at last!" + +Mirliflor had certainly begun to see that he was too severely +handicapped to have a chance of success, and he paid a secret visit to +his Godmother's apartments to tell her so. But she was deaf to all his +protests, and declined to restore him to his own form until he had +either won Daphne or been refused by her. He came away furious, +regretting that he had ever been such a fool as to put himself at the +mercy of this obstinate old Fairy's whims. If he had not, he would not +have met Daphne--but better a thousand times that he had never seen her +if she was not to be his! + +His visit had one result. Old Baron von Eisenbaenden happened to observe +him leaving the tower, and it struck him as suspicious that so august a +personage as the Court Godmother should have any dealings with an +under-gardener. She must be using the fellow as her agent in some +intrigue or other, he concluded, and, as she had not chosen to confide +in him, it was clearly his duty to his Sovereigns to discover what she +was about. + +His cap of darkness might be of service to him here, but since the +fiasco of the self-supplying tables he had been distrustful of any +article supplied by the Astrologer Royal. However, it seemed as though +the sudden decay of the tables had been due less to any malicious +revenge on Xuriel's part than to some imperfection in his magic--for the +cap proved to be as efficient as ever. So, after satisfying himself of +this, the worthy Baron put it on and prowled unseen about the Court +Godmother's tower. For some days his vigilance was unrewarded, but at +length he saw Girofle hurrying down a gallery that led to the Fairy's +door, and immediately gave chase. Unfortunately he arrived too late to +slip in behind him, and the thickness of the door made it impossible to +overhear anything of the conversation till the very end of the +interview. Then, as the door was open and the Court Godmother had +accompanied Girofle to the threshold, their parting words were perfectly +audible. + +"You are setting me an impossible task, Godmother Voldoiseau!" he heard +the mysterious young under-gardener declare. "I am no nearer her than +when I came. And I never shall be till you restore me to my proper +self!" + +"I shall do that when I see fit, Mirliflor," the Fairy replied, "and not +a moment before. You have only to be patient a little longer and all +will be well. I know her better than you can, remember, and, believe me, +you have no cause to despair." + +"So you have told me before!" he said bitterly. "But I can't and won't +endure this much longer, and if you refuse to make it easier for me, I +shall give up and go back to Clairdelune!" + +"My dear Mirliflor," she retorted, "you won't be such a fool!" + +He left her at that without another word, but the Court Chamberlain had +heard enough to surprise him considerably. So this young gardener, it +seemed, was really Prince Mirliflor transformed! The Baron knew that +such a transformation was within the Fairy's powers, so, in spite of the +total dissimilarity between the Prince and the Gardener, he never for a +moment doubted that they were one and the same. + +But why the Court Godmother should have chosen to act in this arbitrary +manner, and how she supposed it could promote Prince Mirliflor's object, +was incomprehensible. + +It was only natural that he should rebel against her, and the Court +Chamberlain felt so much sympathy for the ill-used young prince that he +resolved to follow him to the gardens and offer his advice and +assistance. + +Mirliflor had already begun to rake a flower-bed with vindictive energy, +when he heard himself addressed from behind, and turned to recognise the +elderly official he had good cause to remember. + +"Hard at work, I see," began the Baron, with a casual air intended for +any witnesses of the interview. "Work," he added, cautiously lowering +his voice, "which, if I may be allowed to say so, Sire, can hardly be +other than distasteful to his Royal Highness Prince Mirliflor of +Clairdelune." + +Mirliflor noticed the purple cap which was still in the other's hand, +and knew it would be useless to deny his identity. "So, Baron," he said, +"you have been eavesdropping _again_, have you? Well, if you were in the +Court Godmother's chamber just now, as I suppose you were, you know how +I come to be in this position." + +"I am aware, Sire," he said, "that your Royal Highness has been induced +to accept it in the hope of obtaining the hand of--of a certain person +whom it would perhaps be inadvisable to name." + +"Certainly we will not name her," said Mirliflor, "nor need we discuss a +matter that so entirely concerns myself." + +"I should not permit myself the indiscretion, Sire, if I did not so +ardently desire that your Royal Highness's suit may prosper. But, so +long as you remain in--in the form you have deigned to assume, I cannot +think you will approach your Princess with the least chance of success!" + +"I agree, Baron, but as the Court Godmother happens to think otherwise, +I'm powerless, you see." + +"She is a most gracious and venerable lady," said the Baron; "but, +though her will is as strong as ever, her mind is evidently weakening. +If your Royal Highness would be guided by me, I will venture to say that +you would find it more to your advantage." + +"Well, Baron, and what is your suggestion?" + +"I have but to inform her Majesty of the facts," he said, "and she will +at once order the Court Godmother Vogelflug to restore your Royal +Highness to your own form, in which, believe me, Sire, you need have no +fear of refusal." + +"Listen to me, Baron!" said Mirliflor, who knew very well how his old +Godmother would treat such an order. "You will say nothing whatever to +her Majesty of my being here--and I'll tell you _why_ you will not. If +you do, she will necessarily have to hear of your method of acquiring +the information. And it's not a very creditable method, Baron!" + +"I have done nothing I am ashamed of," he said doggedly; "her Majesty +will recognise that I have acted solely from devotion to her interests." + +"Possibly--but I fancy she will also recognise that a Court Chamberlain +who uses a cap of darkness to overhear private conversations is an +official whose devotion might be occasionally inconvenient. I really +don't think I should mention it, Baron, if I were you." + +Even he appeared to see the force of this. "Since your Royal Highness +desires your presence here to remain unknown, I will observe the +greatest discretion," he said stiffly; "I have the honour to leave your +Royal Highness to pursue his occupation." And with this he withdrew, +with very obvious affront. He left Mirliflor even more disturbed than +before. The Baron, having been present unseen at his interview with his +Godmother, evidently knew all about his hopes with regard to Daphne, and +seemed--for some reason that Mirliflor could not fathom--anxious for his +success. But, though the Court Chamberlain had promised discretion, +Mirliflor doubted whether he would be able to keep such a secret long. +He was quite capable of thinking that, in Mirliflor's own interests, he +was justified in disclosing it. And then--Mirliflor pictured himself +summoned in his present form before the whole Court--where he had last +appeared as Princess Edna's suitor, the difficulty of explaining his +recent behaviour--the general indignity and humiliation he would be +exposed to--even if the Fairy did not repudiate all knowledge of him, +which she was quite capable of doing! No, he could not stay to face all +that--he must leave the Palace that very night, and without a word to +his Godmother. Why should he see her when nothing he could urge would +have the slightest effect? Perhaps, when she heard he was back at +Clairdelune, it would bring her to her senses. + +Nor would he go through any parting scene with Daphne--what was it to +her whether he went or stayed? If he saw her, he might be tempted to +tell her how passionately and hopelessly he loved her--and she would +only laugh at him. In self-respect he would spare himself that. + +He adhered to this resolution till long past their usual hour for +meeting, and he had made all his preparations for departure, when he was +suddenly seized with an uncontrollable longing to see her once +more--whatever pain it might cost him afterwards. So, with some scorn of +his own weakness, he let himself through the postern gate and went in +search of her. At the end of one of the yew walks was a rusty astrolabe +on a moss-grown marble pedestal, and by this he found her. Her back was +towards him as she faced the western horizon, where clouds of rose and +gold were sailing in a sky of warm apple-green which toned above them to +a luminous silvery blue. On the edge of the slope in the foreground some +cypresses were silhouetted in purplish bronze. She turned as she heard +his footsteps, her face so wondrously fair in the half light that his +heart ached afresh at the sight of her. "I'd quite given up expecting +you, Girofle," she said, with a nonchalance that concealed her _pique_ +at his unusual tardiness--for it must be owned that she had become a +trifle exacting of late. "It's so late now that I shall have to go in +very soon." + +"I shall not keep you long, Daphne," he replied, determined to show +himself no less indifferent than was she. "I had to prepare for my +journey, as I am leaving Eswareinmal to-night, and I have only come to +say good-bye." + +She was not only startled but deeply hurt. If he had really been so +devoted as he had seemed, she thought, he could never have spoken of +leaving her in this casual tone--but she would not let him see how he +had wounded her. "To-night," she repeated, "I'd no idea you meant to go +so soon as this. But I dare say you are only too glad to get away." + +"Is one ever sorry," he said, in spite of himself, "to get away from a +place where one has suffered?" She had turned to the astrolabe again, +and was idly tracing out the incisions in one of its hoops with her +supple forefinger, when she next spoke. "Of course I know it must have +been hard for you, Girofle," she said, "still, I hoped--it was very +foolish and conceited of me, I know--but I hoped that perhaps _my_ being +here made it more bearable." + +"If you had not been here, I should never have come at all," he said; +"you did not know that, Daphne, but I may tell you now. And at first, it +is true, that just to see and be near you now and then, was happiness +enough--but of late the hours I have spent here have brought me little +but the misery of longing for what must ever be denied!" + +She could no longer misunderstand. So far from his devotion having +abated, it was stronger than she had ever imagined, and the discovery +made her sorrier for him than ever. "Girofle!" she cried remorsefully, +"I never knew you felt it like that--I thought you understood, and were +content with--with all that I could give you. Oh, why _can't_ you be?" + +"And what have you given me, Daphne? What am I to you? Nothing! +Nothing!" + +"You are my friend--the dearest friend I have ever had. Is _that_ +nothing, Girofle?" + +"Nothing compared with what I once hoped to be! Hoped--while, even then, +I knew how impossible any hope was. And yet--and yet--what adds to my +torment is that I know--yes, Daphne, I _know_--that--if--if by an evil +fate I had not been what I am, I could have made you love me. I am very +sure of _that_!" + +She was looking at him as she spoke--and somehow she ceased to think him +plain. And suddenly she knew that he had become necessary to her--so +necessary that the thought of losing him was unendurable. + +"And why," she said, "are you so sure that it is impossible now, +Girofle?" + +"Daphne," he cried incredulously, "do you mean that you can love +me--even as I am?" + +She did not reply in words, but her face as she raised it to his was +answer enough; and then he held her in his arms, into which she nestled +with a little sigh of perfect content. He could not understand how so +marvellous and unlooked for a thing could have happened to him, and +Daphne herself might have been at some loss to account for her sudden +surrender. But she did not try--she only knew that she had been quite +powerless to help it, and did not regret it. + +"And you will not go away from Eswareinmal now, Girofle?" she said a +little later, when they were sitting on a stone seat under an ilex, and +the gold and silver stars were beginning to come out in the deep violet +sky. + +"Not alone, dearest," he replied. "But it will not be wise to stay here +long. I was recognised this afternoon by that meddling old imbecile of a +Court Chamberlain." + +"Girofle!" she exclaimed, clinging to him in terror, "will he give you +up--can they do anything to you? If there's danger, let us escape at +once--for of course I shan't let you go alone!" + +"There's no danger," he said. "If he lets out that I am here, it would +be--inconvenient, but no worse. And I think my--the Court Godmother will +see me through it now. I will tell her our news to-morrow morning." + +"I'm afraid," said Daphne, "she won't at all approve of my marrying +you--she may even try to prevent it, but she won't succeed!" + +"She is more likely to be on our side," he said. He refrained, even +then, from telling her why; he might be already released from his +promise of silence, but he no longer rebelled against it, nor had he any +impatience now to regain his own form. And so they talked on far into +the night, discussing their future life together, which Daphne +cheerfully assumed would be humble enough for a time--and he said +nothing to disabuse her. Why should he not enjoy as long as he could the +sensation--denied to most princes and millionaires--of being beloved +"for himself alone?" + +At an early hour the next morning, after carefully ascertaining that the +Baron had not yet risen, he waited on the Fairy, who heard what he had +to tell with high good-humour and complacency. "Most satisfactory, my +dear Mirliflor!" she said. "And everything has turned out exactly as I +always told you it would. I shall visit her this morning and prepare her +for the future in store for her. As for you, you must get to your work +as usual, and at noon you will find us at the end of the yew walk behind +the Pavilion. I shall have to change you back to yourself again, and I'm +thankful to say it will be the last time I shall ever be called upon to +do anything of that sort. Then I shall take you both in the stork-car to +Clairdelune, and we shall hear what your Royal father thinks of the +bride you have chosen. He _may_ consider that an ex-lady-in-waiting is +not----" + +"He has only to see her," declared Mirliflor. "But object as he may, no +thing and no one shall separate us now." + +"Well, well, if it comes to that, I dare say I shall manage to overcome +his objections," she said. She might have been more explicit if she had +not decided to reserve the surprise of Daphne's royal descent until the +final scene at Clairdelune--which would be far more effective, as well +as safer. + +"And don't worry yourself about that foolish old Baron," she concluded. +"We shall be gone before _he_ can give any trouble. Now be off with +you--I shan't want you till noon, and a few more hours' gardening won't +hurt you!" + +There was no need to hurry, so she did not leave her tower till it was +nearly half an hour to mid-day, when she went slowly and by unfrequented +paths through the gardens and thence to the Pavilion. Daphne, who had +been anxiously expecting her, saw her from the Pavilion and came to meet +her, feeling and looking rather guilty. + +"Have you heard?" she asked. "But I can see you have.... _Well_, Court +Godmother?" + +"Well," said the Fairy, bent on prolonging the test to the last moment, +"this is a pretty thing you have done, upon my word! _You_ to fall in +love with a penniless student! If you had only had the patience to +wait," she continued, as she led her towards the yew walk, "I'd have +found a handsome young Prince for you. It's not too late, even now." + +"I used to think I would only marry a Prince, I don't now," said Daphne. +"I wouldn't change Girofle for any Prince in the world. And what am _I_, +after all? Just a Governess!" + +"And when you have married your student, what do you suppose you are +going to live on?" + +"Oh, we shall manage somehow," said Daphne tranquilly. "We shall be +poor, of course, but what does that matter so long as we're together?" + +"Ah," said the Fairy, "but I can't understand what a beautiful girl like +you can see in such an ugly young fellow!" + +"He _isn't_ ugly!" Daphne declared. "And I shouldn't mind a bit if he +_was_! He'd still be Girofle!" + +"All the same," pursued the Fairy, "you wouldn't object to his being +handsomer?" + +"I don't know," replied Daphne, contracting her pretty brows, "I can't +imagine him any different." And then she laughed. "It's not a bit of use +trying to put me out of conceit with him, Court Godmother--so you may as +well give it up!" + +The Fairy was satisfied at last; Daphne had stood the test triumphantly, +and the time had come for her to be told of the reward that awaited her. +"I am far from wishing to lower him in your eyes, my child," she said. +"On the contrary, I may now tell you that he possesses advantages you +little dream of. And though true love may be inspired without the aid of +wealth, rank, or good looks, there was never a maiden yet who--but I +perceive," she broke off with offended dignity, "that I am not so +fortunate as to have secured your attention!" + +They had left the yew walk by this time and entered an avenue of ilexes, +beyond which lay the valley and distant hills. "I'm so sorry, Court +Godmother," said Daphne, whose eyes were fixed on the view, "but--but +doesn't Drachenstolz lie over there?" + +"It does," said the Fairy drily, "though I fail to see why that should +interest you just now." + +"I--I can see something flying," explained Daphne. "It _may_ be only a +vulture--a _large_ vulture." + +"A vulture--where?" cried the old Fairy. "Nonsense. It's your fancy, +child. _I_ see nothing." + +"It _is_ a dragon!" faltered Daphne. "Can't you see it now? It's coming +towards us! And oh, I'm afraid the Count has sent it--like that +snake--to--to kill me!" + +A dragon was a danger which the Fairy, with all her precautions, had +somehow omitted to foresee, and for a time she exhibited about as much +calmness and self-possession as a hen at a fox-raid. "Heaven preserve +us!" she wailed. "If we were but safe at Clairdelune! What can we do?" + +"Hide," said Daphne, trembling. "Quick! In the undergrowth!" + +"It would spy us out from above," groaned the Fairy. "No, we must run +for the Pavilion and shelter there." + +Daphne seized her hand and they ran together, but they had not gone far +before the Court Godmother suddenly collapsed. "My old legs fail me!" +she said, "I can go no further! Run on, child, while you can!" + +"And leave you!" cried Daphne. "No, I shan't do that! But oh, can't you +do _anything_ to save us! Think!" + +The Fairy rose to her feet, shaking all over. "I knew a spell once," she +mumbled. "I never tried it--but if I could only remember it now, it +might--But I can't--I'm too old--too old! That all my plans should have +come to _this_!" + +The dragon was forging along at a tremendous pace. It would soon be near +enough to single out its prey--and still the old Fairy stood there, +racking her memory in vain. + +Close upon noon Mirliflor had thrown away his hoe and torn off his apron +for ever. In a few minutes more he would be with his love--and yet his +heart was oppressed by a certain fear that had been haunting him all the +morning. The Fairy would re-transform him--but could he be sure of the +effect on Daphne? What if he lost, as Mirliflor, the love that Girofle +had won? He was so absorbed in these disquieting reflections, as he +alternately hastened and checked his pace down the broad walks, that he +scarcely noticed a faint outcry, and sounds as though firearms were +being discharged, which seemed to come from the Palace behind him. +Perhaps, he thought, a revolt had broken out, but, if so, it did not +concern _him_. His Daphne was in no danger in those grounds beyond the +wall. He passed through the gate, and presently came to the astrolabe, +and then the stone bench, both hallowed now by the sweetest +associations. And yet it might be that those associations would be his +last with her! It was almost a relief, on reaching the yew walk, to find +it deserted. He went to the Pavilion, and there he elicited from +Daphne's elderly duenna, who was rather hard of hearing, that, as her +young mistress was certainly not indoors, he would probably find her in +the grounds. + +He searched all the yew walks in vain, and then, with a new and growing +uneasiness, turned towards the avenue, but he had got no farther than a +small pool in a marble basin when he heard a strange and dreadful noise +above him. He glanced upwards, and saw the bulk of a huge dragon sailing +high above the tree-tops. It was making swiftly for the valley; one of +its claws held a pendent form in fluttering drapery, and he knew too +well that the captive could only be she for whom he had been searching. +He had saved her once from the malice of her enemies--this time he was +powerless! He raved and cursed in impotent rage and despair while a +sudden gust swept the pool and sent it surging over the brim, and a +slender cypress that stood hard by rustled and shivered as though in +terror. And as he stood there, he suddenly saw the old Court Chamberlain +before him, holding in one hand his silken cap and in the other a sword +and belt. + +"Sire, Sire!" he stammered, "that accursed beast! It is bearing her off +to Drachenstolz! But you may save her yet!" + +"Show me how to get there!" said Mirliflor fiercely. "If I can't save +her I can at least die with her. But those two devils shall pay for it +first!" + +"Follow me," said the Baron, giving him the sword and, followed by +Mirliflor, he ran at a very creditable speed for his years in the +direction of the Palace. + + * * * * * + +A little before noon that morning the Royal Family had collected on one +of the terraces. King Sidney was pacing up and down engaged in private +and apparently important conversation with the Crown Prince. The Court +as usual kept a respectful distance and chattered and gossiped in +whispers. The Princess Royal and Princess Ruby were sitting at a jade +table playing the game that resembled Halma, while the Queen was +confiding her maternal anxieties to the Court Chamberlain's sympathetic +ear. + +"To tell you the truth, Baron," she confessed, "I've not been at all +happy lately about Princess Edna. She _says_ nothing, but I can see +she's fretting over Prince Mirliflor's silence. I hear he hasn't been +seen at Clairdelune lately--taken his dismissal so much to heart that +he can't appear in public, I suppose. But surely if he meant to try +again he would have done so before this!" + +The worthy Baron was too faithful a servant to refrain from saying +something to reassure his Royal mistress, though a salutary recollection +of Mirliflor's warning made him careful not to say too much. + +"I can assure your Majesty from my own personal knowledge," he replied, +"that his Royal Highness has by no means given up his intention of +renewing his addresses to the Princess Edna." + +"Then why _doesn't_ he? There's nothing to prevent him--now." + +"That, Madam," said the Baron importantly, "I am not at liberty to +explain" (as a matter of fact he had no idea why Mirliflor was +conducting his courtship in so eccentric a manner), "but I may say I +have reason to know that at this very moment he may be nearer the Palace +than is generally supposed." + +"Really?" cried the Queen. "I must go and tell dear Edna that. It will +cheer her up." + +"I must beg of your Majesty to treat it as strictly confidential for the +present," said the Baron hastily. "His Royal Highness prefers to take +the Princess by surprise." + +"What a dear romantic person he is!" said Queen Selina. "Then, of +course, he must be humoured and I'll say nothing. But I'm so glad you +told me, Baron. It's taken _such_ a load off my mind!" + +"Well," the King was telling Clarence, "those are old Goldenbergenland's +terms. If you'll marry his daughter, Princess Popanza, he'll let us have +all the gold we want; if you refuse, he won't even advance us a ducat. +Couldn't you see your way to--to meeting him, my boy?" + +"Nothing doing!" said Clarence very decidedly. "Why, Hansmeinigel was +telling me the other day she's humpbacked, with a squint or something. I +couldn't take it on--even if," he added gloomily, "there weren't _other_ +reasons to prevent me." + +"Then," said his father, "I don't know how we're to get a fresh supply +of gold--the mine's stopped working, and the confounded Council won't do +anything for us." + +"What's the matter with selling a few jewels?" suggested Clarence, as +his eye fell on the Halma board in passing, "they must be worth a lot." + +"Not here. Too common. The people think they're of no value except to +kings and queens. Nothing but gold will go down in these parts. So you +see, my boy, that unless you can bring yourself to----" + +"I say, Guv'nor," interrupted Clarence, who seemed to welcome a +distraction just then. "Look over there. That beggar Rubenfresser has +let loose that poisonous dragon of his! Infernal cheek!" + +"He was expressly told to keep it under control," said the King. "Most +irregular!" + +"It's not only loose," said Clarence, "but it's coming straight over +here." + +Ruby had seen it too, and sprang up delighted. "Look!" she cried, +"there's darling Tuetzi! He's got away from his horrid master--and now +he's coming to live with _us_! I _must_ get some cake for him!" and she +darted into the Palace. + +"I'll go and tell those sentry-johnnies to take a pot at it," said +Clarence, as he went down to a lower terrace, where the Palace sentinels +were on duty. By the time he returned with them Tuetzi was almost +overhead, his great wings beating with a resonant leathery clang as he +flew round in ever descending circles, stretching his scaled neck and +horny head in deliberate quest, until he was so low that the sunlit +chalcedony slabs shed a reflected glare on his great burnished belly. +"Now blaze away at it, can't you!" shouted Clarence to the sentinels, +who appeared to have some difficulty in loading their antiquated pieces. +"You mustn't shoot Tuetzi!" cried Ruby, running out at that moment with a +heavily gilded slice of gingerhead, "he's only come for some cake!" + +"Don't encourage the thing!" said the King, dragging her back. "Get +away, you brute! Go home, Sir!" + +As he spoke the monster made a sudden downward swoop at Edna, and, with +a deftness that was quite extraordinary, hooked one of its steely claws +in her girdle and soared rapidly aloft with her. It was fortunate that +the belt, which was of stout jewel-studded leather, was able to sustain +her weight. + +"Stop firing, you fools!" yelled Clarence, as the sentinels opened a +wild fusillade. "You'll only hit _her_!" + +And, even if their bullets could have pierced the dragon's plated hide, +it was soon out of range. + +"It's carrying her off to that wretch!" screamed the distracted Queen. +"Is there _nothing_ we can do?" + +"One thing, your Majesty," said the Baron eagerly. "Offer the Princess +in marriage to anyone who will rescue her. It's the usual course!" + +"To--to _anyone_?" repeated Queen Selina in despair. "Oh, Baron--_must_ +we?" + +"You can safely do so, Madam," he whispered. "Mirliflor will be the +man--and I know where to find him." And with this he rushed off first to +his own chamber, then to the Crown Prince's apartments, and finally to +the gardens in search of Girofle. + +"Sidney," said the Queen, "tell the heralds to proclaim that we will +give our poor darling to anyone who succeeds in delivering her.... Don't +argue about it--do as I tell you!" which King Sidney did. + +As for the Court, they were too paralysed by so unexpected a calamity to +be of the least assistance. The ladies-in-waiting were all in floods of +tears, distressed, not only by the awful fate that had overtaken +"Princess Four-eyes," but by the painful reflection that any one of them +might be the dragon's next victim. + +"This couldn't have happened except in a place like this!" declared the +Queen, now on the verge of hysteria. "And why it should have been +permitted to happen to US!--It _wouldn't_ have, Sidney, if you had only +had the sense to insist on that thing being destroyed! But you +didn't--and this is the result!" + +"My love," said the King, "you forget. The poor girl herself insisted on +its being spared. It--it's most unfortunate!" + +And it certainly was. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE REWARD OF VALOUR + + +If the Fairy Vogelflug could only have known that it was Edna and not +Daphne who was really in danger from the dragon, she would have been +comparatively calm. But since she did not know this, she was, as has +been already stated, entirely unnerved for a time. + +Fortunately--or at least she thought it fortunate then,--just before the +creature was near enough to detect them, the long-forgotten words that +formed the spell recurred to her memory. It was a spell that was +admirably adapted to enable any fugitive to escape discovery, but she +had never had occasion to use it before, and to perform it required an +amount of mental concentration from which, in ordinary circumstances, +she would have shrunk. Now she must act at once or they would both +perish, and so she gabbled the necessary incantations, till, though the +effort took a great deal out of her, she eventually succeeded in +changing Daphne into a tall and slender cypress, and herself into a +circular pool in a marble basin--a double transformation which was +calculated to deceive the most observant and intelligent dragon. But, +changed as she was, Daphne remained perfectly conscious of her own +identity and aware of all that was happening. At first she was much +impressed by the Court Godmother's ingenuity and presence of mind, but +as time went on, and the dragon, instead of searching for them, seemed +to have swerved away towards the Palace, she began to wonder whether +there had been any real need for such excessive precautions. + +And then Girofle appeared, and she gathered from his despair what must +have happened to the ill-fated Edna, and that he was under the erroneous +impression that she herself was the victim. Surely now the moment had +come for the Fairy to reverse the spell--but, except that the surface of +the pool was becoming violently disturbed, she made no sign. Daphne +tried by rustling all her branches to attract his attention and assure +him of her safety, but naturally failed. Even when the Court Chamberlain +arrived and Girofle had rushed away with him, she was forced to stay +behind as an apparent cypress, while the Fairy still retained the +semblance of a more and more agitated pool. Daphne's uneasiness and +anxiety would have been even greater, but for the fact that the reason +for this agitation was mercifully hidden from her. The truth was that +one of those accidents had happened which are not infrequent with +persons who only occasionally practise the Magic Art. The Fairy had +impulsively pronounced the spell that accomplished the transformation +without waiting to recall the precise formula that was needed to regain +her normal appearance, and for several agonising minutes the vitally +important words persisted in evading her. To Daphne it seemed an age +before the marble rim began to contract and the pool dry up, and +presently, to her unspeakable relief, all trace of pool and basin +disappeared, and in their place stood the Fairy Godmother in a sadly +shaken and exhausted condition. She had strength enough, however, to +restore Daphne, which she did with many groans. "I've been trying to do +this for the last quarter of an hour, child," she panted. "I was +beginning to think I'd forgotten the spell altogether. And now he's gone +off on a fool's errand to rescue _you_! But I may still be in time to +stop him!" + +"You won't stop Girofle!" declared Daphne. "He will try to rescue Edna, +just as he would me. And if it can be done he'll do it. I can't bear his +going, Godmother--and yet I hope I shouldn't prevent him, even if I +could!" + +"He can't do anything!" said the Fairy. "He couldn't even get into the +Castle, and he won't be so mad as to attempt it. Go you to the Pavilion, +and stay there till I can find out what that old fool of a Baron is +about with him." + +Daphne obeyed. She would not deter Girofle, but to encourage him in his +desperate errand was more than she was equal to just then. The Court +Godmother hitched up her quilted skirts, and went off at a hobbling run +in the direction of the Palace Gardens. + + * * * * * + +The Baron had led Mirliflor through the Gardens, and then round to a +Courtyard at the back of the Palace in which stood a massive round tower +pierced with many pigeon-holes. Here he brought out a small shell-shaped +car on two wheels, and at his whistle a flock of white doves fluttered +down from the tower, and permitted him to attach them by collars and +traces to the car. "The most gracious the Court Godmother is nowhere to +be found," he explained as he did so, "but assuredly she would not +grudge lending her car for such a purpose as yours, since by no other +means could you hope to get over the walls of Drachenstolz. Once within +them you will find the sword of inestimable service, and I doubt not +that you will wield it to better effect than would its owner. I would +willingly lend you this," he added, fingering the cap, "only maybe your +Royal Highness would not deign to employ means which I understood you +are pleased to consider discreditable?" + +"Don't be an ass, Baron!" said Mirliflor, seizing the cap and stepping +into the car. "Where _her_ life is at stake I have no scruples in using +anything whatever. But I've no experience in driving doves--how do I +guide them?" + +"They need no guidance, Sire. You have but to utter the words 'To +Drachenstolz,' and they will carry you straight to the Castle and set +you down within its walls. God speed you!" cried the Court Chamberlain, +as the Prince gave the direction, and the birds ascended with the car. +"Heaven grant you bring back your Princess unharmed!" + +"Heaven grant I reach her in time!" came the answer from the +dove-chariot, which, after making a few preliminary circles, flew away, +to all appearances unoccupied. + +It had scarcely disappeared when the Court Godmother arrived on the +scene. "Where is Girofle?" she demanded breathlessly. + +"His Royal Highness Prince Mirliflor of Clairdelune," replied the Baron, +"has just departed for Drachenstolz in the dove-car, which I knew you +would wish to be at his disposal." + +"And pray," said the old Fairy, "what made you think I should wish him +to throw away his life for Princess Edna?" + +"He will not fail to rescue her, never fear, Madam. No Prince ever +_does_ fail in these enterprises. And if he succeeds--he need no longer +hesitate to disclose himself, for you will be gratified to hear that +his Majesty has promised the Princess's hand to the person who may +accomplish her rescue. At," added the Baron proudly, "my own +suggestion." + +"Oh, indeed?" retorted the Fairy. "Then it is high time you knew +what kind of a Royal Family you have given to Maerchenland!" And in +a few sharp sentences she let him know the truth about the pendant +which he had so rashly accepted as all-sufficient proof of Mrs. +Wibberley-Stimpson's title to the throne. + +The poor Baron was aghast at the information, and still more when he +heard who was really entitled to the crown. "The Lady Daphne!" he cried. +"But she has been sent away to that far country--and who knows where she +may be now!" + +"She is here still, and under my protection," said the Court Godmother. +"In her own interests I had determined to keep silent as to her claims, +and planned that Mirliflor should win her under the form I made him +assume. All had fallen out as I expected--I had just arranged to carry +them both off to Clairdelune, and leave these usurpers in possession for +as long as the Country would endure them--when you blunder in, like the +meddlesome idiot you are, Baron, and upset everything!" + +"I have been blind indeed!" he confessed. "A traitor when I thought +myself most loyal! Tell me, most Gracious Court Godmother, how I may +best repair my error?" + +"You _can't_ repair it without making more mischief," she said. "The +only thing you can do _now_ is to hold your tongue about it, as I shall +do myself unless I am obliged to speak out. And now we had better go +and see what this precious King and Queen of yours are doing, and +remember, Baron, your own safety will depend on your preserving absolute +secrecy as to all the matters I have found it necessary to acquaint you +with." + + * * * * * + +On the terrace meanwhile Queen Selina had implored the Marshal to do +something--anything--towards the rescue of her elder daughter. He was +not sanguine; "We could raise a force, your Majesty," he said, "to ride +to Drachenstolz and assault the Castle walls,--but it would be quite +impossible to take it by storm, even if that dragon were not among its +defenders." + +"We'll have a try anyway," said Clarence gallantly. "Come on, you +chaps--get into your fighting kit," he cried to the Courtiers. "And two +of you boys," he added to the pages, "just run and fetch me a helmet and +breastplate and things--and bring me down a sword you'll find in my room +somewhere. I shouldn't mind tackling even a dragon with that sword," he +added to his mother, as the Courtiers and pages ran into the Palace. "It +goes clean through anything." + +But the pages, when they returned with the breastplate and helmet and +riding-boots, reported that the sword was nowhere to be found, so +Clarence had to content himself with a more ordinary weapon. At the last +moment the Queen tried to detain him. "No, Clarence!" she cried, "you +mustn't go. Your life is too valuable to be risked--there are enough +going without _you_! Stay here--if only to protect us!" + +"Hang it all, Mater!" he said, "you can't expect me to stay here and +have them saying I shirked!" And he went off to the stables with the +Marshal and other members of the Court. + +"It'll be no good!" groaned King Sidney. "It's as likely as not that +beast has eaten the poor girl by this time!" + +"I can't believe anything quite so horrible as that has happened, +Sidney," cried the Queen. "It has only delivered her into that wretch's +power--which is quite horrible enough! But there's hope still. The Baron +says Prince Mirliflor is quite near here--and he's sending him to rescue +her. And a real prince like dear Mirliflor _ought_ to be a match for +that miserable Rubenfresser and his dragon too!" + +"If he could get at them he might be," said the King lugubriously; "but +that's just what he can't do!" + + * * * * * + +On finding herself borne swiftly through the air by a dragon, Edna had +done what was the correct thing to do in the circumstances--she had +promptly fainted. She opened her eyes to find that she had been +deposited uninjured, on a truss of straw in a Courtyard. On her right +was the massive front of Castle Drachenstolz; before her were its lofty +walls and the grim towers that flanked its heavy gate; to the left were +the stables, from the windows of which some of the black carriage horses +looked out, their wrinkled lips exposing their long yellow teeth in +ghastly grins. Some distance away the owner of the Castle was caressing +the dragon, which lay with its huge wings compactly folded, giving its +unconscious imitation of a tremendously powerful dynamo. On perceiving +that she had returned to consciousness the Count came towards her, +followed by the ex-Astrologer Royal, who was smirking and rubbing his +hands. + +"I couldn't do without you," began the Count by way of explanation, "so +as I couldn't come myself I sent Tuetzi for you." + +Edna resolved to bear herself with all the dignity of a Queen's +daughter. She sat up and felt for her _pince-nez_, and, discovering that +it was intact, she adjusted it on her nose. "Considering," she said, +"that all is at an end between us, you had no right whatever to send +your dragon to bring me here. It was a thing that no _gentleman_ would +have done!" + +"Wouldn't that great and learned gentleman you told me of--the one whose +name I always forget--have done it?" he inquired. + +"Nietzsche," said Edna, instructively superior even in such a crisis; +"most certainly not. Even if he had _owned_ a dragon!" + +"You told me he did," he insisted; "a great meta-something dragon that +talked and said, 'Thou shalt not.' But if he wouldn't send _his_ dragon +for anybody, he would approve of my sending mine for _you_, because I +was doing as he advised, and acting exactly as I thought fit." + +She realised the hopelessness of reasoning with him. "You thought fit to +act most improperly," she said severely, "and you will gain nothing _by_ +it, you know!" + +"Oh, yes I shall," he said, "or I shouldn't have done it." + +"You are quite mistaken," she assured him, "if you are imagining I shall +ever consent to renew our engagement now I know what you _are_." + +"I'm what you wanted me to be," he said, "a Superman." + +"You're not, you're an--an Ogre. I couldn't possibly bring myself to +become an Ogress!" + +"You wouldn't make much of an Ogress," he said dispassionately. "You +haven't the build for it. But I'm not an Ogre even yet. It's not _my_ +fault. I meant to begin with those pages of yours--but you all seemed to +have some ridiculous objections. Then I've sent Tuetzi out to forage and +pick up a small child or two, but the peasants round here are so selfish +and unneighbourly that they never give him the chance--actually shutting +all the children up indoors!" + +"What else can you _expect_?" she demanded indignantly. "Surely +your--your better self must see that even to _attempt_ to devour poor +helpless children is--is too perfectly disgusting for words!" + +"It's disgusting when one doesn't succeed," he admitted; "I see nothing +in it to object to myself. Of course the average man may, but you've +taught me what to think of _his_ opinions." + +"You entirely misunderstand me," said Edna. "But I've no wish to discuss +such subjects with you now--I insist on your allowing me to go home at +once." + +"Before I do that," he said, "you must write a letter on my behalf to +your parents." + +"I don't mind asking them to overlook the way you have treated me, and +assuring them that you regret it and will behave yourself properly for +the future," conceded Edna, "if you mean _that_." + +"I _don't_ mean that," he said; "I don't _want_ to behave properly--what +_they_ would call properly. I want to lead a fuller life than I can +while I'm cooped up in my own Castle. You see, it's no good having the +Will to Power if you're not allowed any opportunities of exercising it. +And I'm not, with guards stationed all round my walk to see that I don't +get out. I might set Tuetzi at them, it's true, but he is the only dragon +I've got, and it would be very annoying if they hurt the poor thing. So +you must get the King to send me free permission to go wherever I choose +and do whatever I like. Then I can make a start as an Ogre. At present +I'm hampered at every turn!" + +"Father and Mother," said Edna, "wouldn't hear of setting you free for +such wickedness as that. It would be contrary to all their principles." + +"What I think you called 'Slave-morality,' eh?" he said. "But you +needn't tell them _why_ I want to get out. Besides, I've _other_ +reasons. My carriage horses want airing, and I should like to drop in to +lunch at the Palace now and then, as I used to. Not as your betrothed, +you know--that's all over--but just as a friend of the family. I always +enjoyed my meals at the Palace." + +"Oh!" gasped Edna, "I'm sure, quite sure, they would never consent to +receive you again. How _could_ they?" + +"They would," he said, "if you told them what would be the consequences +if they didn't." + +"And--and--what _will_ the consequences be?" inquired Edna. + +"Well," he replied darkly, "poor Tuetzi will never reach his full growth +on his present diet. I fancy he would rather relish a change." + +"You _couldn't_ see me--me you were once engaged to--devoured by your +horrible dragon!" she cried. + +"Why not?" he asked cheerfully. "I am great enough now to be able to +bear the sight of others' pain, as your learned What's-his-name said I +ought to be." + +"Listen," said the unhappy Edna. "If--if I write this letter will you +promise me, on your sacred word of honour, to become a vegetarian at +_once_?" + +"Certainly," he said. "It won't _bind_ me, you know. You might put in +the letter that I've promised to. Rather a good touch! Now go and write +it at once, and I'll send Tuetzi over with it. You can say, 'Please send +answer by bearer!' Xuriel, show the Princess to a chamber and provide +her with writing materials." + +"If your Royal Highness will graciously come this way," said the +despicable Xuriel, bowing low. Poor Edna had to follow him up a steep +outside staircase to a gloomy room where deep-set windows commanded a +view of the Courtyard below. He found some sheets of parchment and a +reed pen, and lent her the inkhorn from his own girdle. As he was +depositing these on a great oaken table, he glanced out of the window +and gave a high cackling laugh. + +"I fear my venerable and respected friend the worthy Court Godmother +must have met with some mishap," he sniggered. "For see, Princess, her +dove-chariot has just descended, _without_ its Gracious occupant, on the +roof of the bastion! Hee-hee! I trust--I sincerely trust that Tuetzi may +not so far forget himself as to snap up any of those dear little doves!" + +And, so saying, he hurried to the Courtyard. Edna was naturally +concerned at any possible accident to the Court Godmother or her doves, +but her letter had to be written, and it was not at all an easy letter +to write. She got as far as: "Dear Father and Mother,--You will be +relieved to hear that I am, so far, unhurt. But"--and there she stuck. +It was really _very_ difficult to find any plausible wording for the +Ogre's preposterous terms. + +Xuriel had rejoined his patron, and both were watching Tuetzi with +interest. He had already become aware of the doves and reared his head +above the level of the bastion roof, where they were strutting about +unsuspicious of danger. His hideous lidless eyes regarded them intently, +with a view to selecting the plumpest bird. + +"Those pigeons will be quite a treat for poor Tuetzi," remarked Count +Rubenfresser. "But what is that thing flashing there on the roof? There +it is again! Can't you see it?" + +Xuriel looked, and saw a thin scintillating ray of light which shifted +capriciously from place to place. "It is the blade of a sword!" he said. +"More--it is the blade of the enchanted sword I sold to Prince +Clarence." + +"Fool!" said the Count, "how can any sword be there with no hand to +wield it?" + +"The Crown Prince is wielding it," replied Xuriel. "He is rendered +invisible by the magic cap I made for the Court Chamberlain!" + +"You had no business to make such things," returned the Count, "they +were very properly forbidden. But Tuetzi will very soon----" + +Before he could say more there was another flash--a sweeping circle of +light--and Tuetzi's head flew from his neck, which sent up a column of +blood. + +"The wretch!" shrieked the Count, "the cruel, cold-blooded wretch, he's +killed my Tuetzi!" + +"It will be _our_ turn next!" cried the little Astrologer Royal, too +terrified to stir. + +"Help!" the Count bawled, "we are attacked! Where _are_ you all?" A few +retainers had run out to various doorways at his summons, but when they +saw the dragon's great body rolling convulsively round the Courtyard, +its hooked wings thrashing up the cobblestones, while its head bounded +independently about, barking and snapping like a mad dog, they very +prudently withdrew. + +Xuriel had recovered strength to run, but he had not gone far before the +head, probably quite automatically, seized his right calf and brought +him down. There was another sharp glint of light--and his body was +headless, like the dragon's. What with the endeavour to avoid Tuetzi's +head, and Tuetzi's body, and the terrible sword flashes, all at once, the +Count was kept pretty busy for the next minute or so. He rushed, leaping +and yelling, roaring and dodging, from side to side and corner to +corner, and then made a frantic bolt for the outer staircase, but he had +only got half-way up when his head fell with a splash into a water-butt +below, while his body slid down to the bottom of the steps, where it lay +in a limp crumpled heap. + +The noise of all these proceedings was not exactly conducive to literary +composition, and Princess Edna had already been obliged to abandon her +letter. In fact she had begun to realise that it would no longer be +necessary to finish it. Her brother, she thought, had come to her +deliverance with a promptness and energy which she would really have +hardly expected of him. She put on her _pince-nez_ again, and went out +to the head of the staircase. "Clarence!" she called, "where _are_ you?" + +She was immensely surprised to encounter a plain young man in homely +costume whom she had certainly never seen before. Mirliflor, who had +just removed his cap and was springing up the steps in search of Daphne, +was at least equally surprised at finding Edna. + +"_You_ here, Princess!" he cried breathlessly, "Tell me! Is--is Daphne +safe?" + +"If you refer to Miss Heritage," replied Edna, "I have not seen her for +weeks, but I have no reason for believing that she is _not_ safe--in +England." + +"Then," he said blankly, "the dragon carried off _you_--not _her_?" + +"I should have thought that fairly obvious," said Edna frigidly. "You +have evidently rescued me under a misapprehension, though, of course, I +am just as much indebted to you. And I shall be glad to know who you +are. In answering, kindly address me as 'Your Royal Highness.' It is +more correct." + +This was highly embarrassing, he thought, though he felt thankful that +his Godmother had not had time to make him recognisable. "My name, your +Royal Highness," he replied, "is Girofle. I have the honour to be one of +his Majesty's under-gardeners." + +"Oh," said Edna, "one of _them_? Really. Well, you have behaved most +creditably--very creditably indeed. I really don't know _what_ mightn't +have happened if you hadn't arrived just then. I have never been in such +a trying situation before. And, even as it is," she added, "there +doesn't seem to be any means of getting _out_ of this odious place." + +By this time Tuetzi's death-throes were over; his body lay extended half +across the Courtyard, while the head, after having bitten one or two of +the carriage horses rather severely, had also ceased from troubling. +"Perhaps," said Mirliflor, "your Royal Highness will condescend to make +use of the dove-car which brought me here? It will carry you back in +safety to the Palace." + +"It looks rather tit-uppy," said Edna, as the doves flew down with it at +his call. "And it only holds one. How are you going to get away +yourself?" + +"I shall order some of those varlets to open the gate," he said, "and +they will be wise to obey." + +"Clarence's sword _is_ a great help!" said Edna. "Then--_you_ will be +all right. And you may be sure that his Majesty will pay you a suitable +reward." + +"The satisfaction of having been of any service to your Royal Highness," +he said, "is reward enough in itself." + +"Oh, but that's such a _pose_!" said Edna. "Of _course_ you expect to be +paid for it!... And you will be. Must I tell these birds where to take +me?... I _see_. Then--Home, please!" + +And the doves, glad to escape from such uncongenial surroundings, +whirred upwards with the car and, after a few tentative circles, took it +clear over the battlements. + +As for the retainers, they waited for no order to unbar the gate for +Mirliflor, being all eagerness to facilitate his departure. He strode +unconcernedly out, and, finding a party of the Royal guard outside, he +informed them that they would find one or two severed heads within if +they cared to collect them, and then, borrowing a charger, he galloped +off to Eswareinmal, impatient to know what had befallen Daphne. + +On the Palace terrace there had been a period of painful surprise. The +Crown Prince was the first of the rescue party to return. He would have +much preferred to do so by a back way, but, perceiving that he had been +observed, took the manlier course. "Clarence!" shrieked the Queen as he +limped up with his breastplate and hose covered with mire, a bent sword +and badly dinted helmet, "is she saved?" + +"Couldn't tell you, Mater," he replied heavily. "I've done all I could, +and so--and so I came back." + +"He's wounded!" cried Ruby tearfully. "Oh, Clarence, was it that horrid +Tuetzi?" for she was effectually disillusioned at last. + +"No, Kiddie, no," he said, "_I'm_ all right. Took a bit of a toss, +that's all." + +"My poor boy," said his mother, "was it at the Castle? Did the thing +attack you?" + +"I never _got_ to the Castle," he replied, "only about half-way. It was +like this. That bally pendant you made me wear, Mater, got unfastened +somehow, slipped down inside my breastplate and was hurting like the +very deuce. So I got off and unbuckled a bit and pitched it away. When I +got on again the horse was all over the shop with me in a jiffy. +Couldn't hold him for toffee! And, before I knew it, I was over the +brute's head. I tried to mount again, but he wouldn't let me. I tried +some other gees, and none of _them_ would. Somehow I seemed to have lost +the knack all at once. So, after I'd come off once or twice more and was +getting a trifle lame, I thought the best thing I could do was to leg it +home." + +"Hem!" said his Father. "Rather unfortunate thing to happen just _now_, +my boy!" + +"Well, Guv'nor," he replied, "I should never have got there in time, +walking." + +"You were quite right to come back, Clarence," said his Mother, +"And--oh, look, look!" she cried suddenly, "our darling is safe after +all! She's coming back in the dove-car!" + +The car landed shortly after on the terrace, and Edna was frantically +embraced and plied with questions. "I am _quite_ all right, thank you," +she said as soon as she had an opportunity of speaking. "Of course it +was a most disagreeable thing to happen to one, and I don't feel equal +to talking about it just yet--but I am very little the worse for it +now." + +"But how did you get that awful man to let you go?" inquired the Queen. + +"He couldn't very well help himself--his head had been cut off. So had +the dragon's, and that abominable little wretch Xuriel's too." + +By this time not only the Marshal but the Court Godmother and the +Chamberlain had joined the party. + +"But who was brave enough to do all this?" asked the Queen. "Though I +think I can _guess_!" + +"I fancy he said he was one of the under-gardeners here. Of course he +couldn't have done it without Clarence's sword, but still----" + +"I never lent him it," said Clarence. "If _I'd_ had it--however, perhaps +it's as well he _did_ borrow it. Jolly plucky of the beggar, I call it!" + +"He behaved extremely well," Edna admitted. "You will have to reward him +or something, Father." + +"His Majesty," said the Marshal, with a certain gusto, "has already +offered your Royal Highness's hand in marriage to whomsoever should be +so fortunate as to effect your deliverance." + +"Without consulting Me!" cried Edna. "_Really_, Father, these things +aren't done nowadays! It's too absurd!" + +"My love," said the Queen with a glance of secret intelligence at the +embarrassed Baron, who looked another way, "the circumstances were +exceptional. And a King can't go back on his _word_! Besides, this +ex-gardener may be not such a common person as he _seems_--may he not, +Baron?" + +"But, dash it, Mater!" said Clarence, while the Baron could only blink, +"an under-gardener--what!" + +"I'm bound to say--" began the King, when the Queen interrupted: + +"You are bound to say that you'll keep your promise, Sidney, and that is +enough till the dear fellow comes to claim his reward." + +It was the Marshal whose superfluous zeal led him to order Girofle to be +stopped and brought into the Royal presence as soon as he arrived at the +Palace. + +The Royal Family, with the Court Godmother, the Baron, and other members +of the Household, had assembled in the Throne Room when the Marshal +entered, leading the reluctant Girofle, acutely conscious of looking his +very worst. After him came some men-at-arms, who carried the dragon's +still terrific head, with those of the Count and Xuriel, as trophies of +the hero's exploit. + +They caused a general but by no means unpleasant shudder to run through +the beholders. + +"Your Majesties," said the ex-Regent, "I have the honour to present the +gallant youth who has nobly earned even such a prize as the hand of her +Royal Highness." + +"But--but," stammered Queen Selina, "this isn't--there's not the least +_resemblance_! Baron, Baron, what did you mean by telling me that the +Prince----?" + +"I--I must have been misinformed, your Majesty," said the Court +Chamberlain, having no better explanation to offer. + +"You should be more careful about what you tell _Us_, Baron," said the +Queen. "And, really, there was no need to bring those dreadful heads +into our Throne Room, making all that horrible mess! It's a piece of bad +taste which, perhaps--in an under gardener--please have them removed +directly. Well, young man," she continued to the indignant Mirliflor, +who, it need not be said, had nothing to do with the gruesome +introduction of the heads, "I'm sure we are all very much obliged to +you--very much obliged indeed. If you hadn't come forward as you did, +it's dreadful to think what might have happened. And, though it seems +you _did_ take the liberty of borrowing the Crown Prince's sword without +permission, we are the last to blame you for that. We think you are +entitled to be very handsomely rewarded. But if you're expecting our +daughter, the Princess Edna's hand, I think your own good sense----" + +"Yes, yes," said the King; "mustn't open your mouth _too_ wide, you +know. There's a limit to all things! And a round sum of money with which +you could start in business and marry some nice little woman in your own +class of life would be far more _useful_ to you." + +"I ask for no reward," said Girofle. "And the hand of a Princess is an +honour to which I do not aspire, since I am already affianced!" + +"That," replied the Queen, "is very satisfactory. We shall certainly +send the young person a wedding-present. Who _is_ she? One of the Royal +kitchen-maids, I presume?" + +"She was in your Majesty's service as a lady-in-waiting," he said, "and +her name is Daphne." + +"Oh," said Queen Selina. "Really? Miss Heritage? Well, you are to be +congratulated, I'm sure." + +"But, Mater," said Clarence, "it can't be _her_! I thought you'd had her +sent home?" + +"I had made arrangements for her return, Clarence, but it seems to have +been postponed for some reason--luckily, as things have turned out. She +has been given rooms in a pavilion behind the Palace Gardens, where no +doubt she managed to become acquainted with this young man." + +"And he may take it," said the Fairy, "that the Lady Daphne is at +liberty to depart with him at once?" + +"Certainly," said the Queen. "It is hardly, perhaps--but Miss Heritage +is no doubt right in accepting the first offer she receives." + +"Quite," said Princess Edna, "though it seems odd--even for a +Governess--to think of marrying a gardener! But I'm sure I wish her +_every_ happiness." + +There is no doubt that the Court Godmother should have been content with +this, but her anger and disgust were too much for her discretion. She +could not resist the temptation to humiliate and confound these upstarts +by a sensational stroke, whatever it cost her. + +"Perhaps," she said, "the Lady Daphne has made a wiser choice than any +of you may imagine." With this, after muttering an incantation, she +touched Girofle with her crutch-handled staff, and in his stead Prince +Mirliflor stood revealed in rich and splendid attire before them all. + +The Queen was electrified for a moment, as were Edna and most present. +But as soon as the shock had passed she cried: "This _is_ a surprise! +But, my _dear_ Prince Mirliflor, why--_why_ didn't you tell us who you +were before? You see, we couldn't possibly----!" + +"It was really too naughty of you to play us such a trick, Prince!" said +Edna, "when, as you might have known----!" + +"Never mind!" purred the Queen, "we'll forgive him--won't we, Edna?" + +"Of course you only said that about Miss Heritage to tease us?" said +Edna, who really believed it was so. + +"I said but the truth, Princess," he replied. "She has promised to be my +wife." + +"And the match," put in the triumphant Fairy, addressing Queen Selina, +"already has your sanction!" + +"Oh," said the Queen, "but that was before--I think," she went on with a +forced smile of much sweetness--"I think you and I, my dear Court +Godmother, must have a little talk over this in private before I can +make up my mind _what_ I ought to do. Perhaps you will be kind enough to +follow me to my Cabinet? Excuse my deserting you for a little while, my +dear Mirliflor. I shall leave you to Edna, who, I know, is dying to +express all the gratitude and admiration she feels." + +And she swept with great stateliness out of the Throne Room towards her +Cabinet, the Court Godmother following with a presentiment that her pet +scheme was about to encounter some opposition, and no very definite idea +how to meet it. + +But that it must and should be overcome somehow she was thoroughly +determined. + +It should be mentioned here that, shortly after his transformation, +Mirliflor found inside his rich doublet something which proved to be the +Chamberlain's cap. He was about to return it, but the Baron showed so +little desire to receive his property in public that the Prince decided +to keep it until a better opportunity presented itself. And then he +forgot all about it, for which, as things turned out, both had reason to +be thankful afterwards. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +A PREVIOUS ENGAGEMENT + + +"Well, my dear Court Godmother," began the Queen, as she sank on an +ivory and cloth-of-gold settee in her private Cabinet, and cooled her +somewhat heated face with a jewelled ostrich-feathered fan, "I had +better tell you frankly that I think both you and that designing little +adventuress have behaved in a very underhand way in this business--a way +that I naturally resent. Mirliflor, as you very well know, came here on +darling Edna's account, and you deliberately threw that Miss Heritage in +his way--I haven't the least doubt you told her who he really was!" + +"That," said the Fairy, "is just what I did _not_ do. It was part of the +test I put to her. She still has no idea that he is more than a +student." + +"Well, you egged her on to set her cap at him, and if he cares for her +at all it can be no more than a passing fancy. I cannot be a party to +letting the poor, dear young fellow be entrapped into a _mesalliance_ to +please you, and I shall see that she is sent back to England at once, +as, but for you, she would have been long before this." + +"I don't want to lose my temper with you if I can help it," said the +Fairy, with an ominous flush on her peaked old nose, "because I've been +through a good deal as it is this morning, and I'm feeling very far +from well in consequence. But you had better understand that Lady Daphne +is not going to be sent back to England--she is going with Mirliflor and +me to Clairdelune, and we shall start immediately." + +"_You_ are at liberty to go where you please, but Miss Heritage will +certainly not leave the Palace except to return to her own country." + +"And I tell you I intend to take her to Clairdelune with me, and you are +powerless to prevent it." + +"Indeed?" said the Queen, in high wrath. "Answer me this: Am I Queen of +Maerchenland, or am I not?" + +"You are _not_!" retorted the Fairy, before she could prevent herself, +for the opening was really too tempting. She had not meant to go so far, +but, having started, she proceeded to enlighten the Queen as to her +title, and the very slender evidence on which it was based. + +"I don't believe a single word of it!" declared Queen Selina, as +defiantly as if this were the fact. "It's a wicked plot to set up my own +governess as a pretender, but there's a very short way of settling +_that_! I shall send for the Marshal"--and she made a movement towards a +handbell of exquisitely engraved crystal with a sapphire tongue. "I +shall tell him what you have dared to say, and have you and that +wretched girl arrested as traitors!" + +The Fairy shook with mingled fury and fear, for she saw too late that +she had made a wrong move. "Before you do that, listen to me," she said. +"All I have said is true, and you know it is true, but it was you who +forced me to say it, and I am willing to be silent so long as you permit +me to convey Lady Daphne to Clairdelune. As she has no suspicion of her +claims to the throne, you need have no fear that she will assert them." + +"I can't trust either of you--you are much too dangerous," said the +Queen, and she rang the bell. + +"You had better take my warning," said the Fairy, her wrinkled mouth +working with passion. "Old as I am, I have some powers left that you +little suspect. Scarce an hour ago I changed myself into a pool and Lady +Daphne into a cypress" (she naturally omitted to add how narrowly they +had escaped having to remain so indefinitely), "and by aid of the same +spell I could transform you to a shape which--which you will discover +after I have caused you to assume it. And it is a shape that you will +not _like_!" + +"Pooh!" said the Queen, on whom the re-integration of the under-gardener +into Mirliflor seemed to have left little impression. "Either you're +trying to frighten me or you're crazy. Whichever it is, you ought to be +put under restraint--and I shall see to it that you are!" + +"After that I'll do what I threatened!" snarled the Court Godmother. "It +may kill me--but I don't care--I'll do it!" And she mouthed words of +mystic sound and import, though her jaw trembled so violently that she +could scarcely pronounce them. "Now," she concluded, pointing her crutch +at the Queen's breast, "become--become a----!" + +But what the Queen was to become never transpired, for before the +infuriated Fairy could manage to name it her features suddenly became +contorted, the stick fell from her hand, and she sank down in a heap +just as the attendants entered in answer to the Royal summons. + +"I'm afraid," said Queen Selina, "that the Court Godmother has fainted. +I daresay it's nothing serious, still one of you had better bring the +Royal Apothecary at once. Be careful to keep it from the Court, as I +wish to avoid unnecessary alarm." The others endeavoured to restore the +afflicted Fairy, but, though still alive, she was in some kind of +cataleptic condition which was beyond the ordinary remedies. The Court +Apothecary arrived and applied blisters without result, and finally gave +it as his opinion that, while she might survive for some time, she would +in all probability never speak again. + +So Queen Selina ordered her to be removed to her apartments, and the +fact that she was indisposed to be suppressed for the present, after +which she left her Cabinet, feeling that Providence had been more than +usually judicious. Her next step was to send for the Marshal and +instruct him to remove Daphne from the Pavilion to a chamber in one of +the Palace towers, where she was to remain a prisoner under his +guardianship. "It's only for a short time, Marshal," she said. "And of +course you will see that Miss Heritage is made thoroughly comfortable." + +And then, the ground having been thus cleared, she returned to the +Throne Room. "Just a moment or two, my dear Mirliflor," she said +suavely, "if Edna can spare you," and she drew him aside. "Well," she +began, "I've been telling the dear old Court Godmother the difficulty I +am in. You see, I would willingly recognise this engagement of +yours--whatever I may _think_ about it--if I only _could_. But really, +you know, I can't _possibly_ allow you to take Miss Heritage away until +I am satisfied that your dear Father approves of her as a +daughter-in-law. As her employer I feel responsible for the poor girl. +And, besides, he _might_ think I had _encouraged_ this match, and I +can't afford to put myself in such a false position as _that_!" + +"But," he objected, "my Godmother is going with us to Clairdelune, and +she will explain all." + +"She has altered her plans," said the Queen, who was developing a quite +unsuspected talent for diplomacy. "To tell you the truth, I fancy she is +getting a little nervous about how King Tournesol may take what she has +done. She feels--as I am afraid _I_ do--that it is wiser to keep dear +Miss Heritage here under her own care till you have broken the news to +your Father and obtained his consent." + +"My Father is certain to consent," said the Prince, "and if he did +not----" + +"Oh, quite so--quite so--but both your Godmother and I consider that we +ought to wait till he _does_ consent. Of course, if you can bring us a +letter from him stating that he approves, all will be well. I'm sure you +must quite understand that that is really as far as I _can_ go under the +circumstances. And, if you start at once, you will be back here again in +a very few days, bringing, I hope, a favourable answer. We shall be most +pleased to lend you any horse you like in the Royal Stables." + +She was so plausible that poor Mirliflor, who, like most Fairy princes, +was not very deeply versed in feminine wiles, was quite taken in. He +thought her lacking in distinction for a Queen, but well meaning. And it +was so like his Godmother to impose one more test on him. + +"I will set forth, then," he said, "as soon as I have seen my Daphne and +assured her of my speedy return." + +"I'm afraid, my dear Mirliflor," said Queen Selina, "I'm _afraid_ you +can't see her before you go." + +"And why not?" he asked. + +"Well, you see, the dear Court Godmother--mistakenly, _I_ think--has +told her what a great person you really are, and Miss Heritage feels +that she has not the right to see you again unless and until she can +hear that she will be welcomed at your Father's Court. I said all I +could to show her that she need not be so over scrupulous as that, but +she is such an extremely sensitive girl, and feels her social +inferiority so acutely that nothing would persuade her to alter her +resolution. You will only be distressing her by attempting it." + +He pleaded and argued as long as he could, but eventually he was +convinced that it was in vain. And so, as he knew that Daphne would be +safe under the Fairy's protection, he took his leave, and, choosing the +best horse in the Royal stud, set out on his journey to Clairdelune. By +so doing, he was only--little as he suspected it--giving his hostess +time to consider how she could best deal with the girl who, she no +longer doubted, was the rightful possessor of the throne. But then Miss +Heritage was not aware of her birthright, which seemed to suggest more +than one way of coping with the situation. + +After Queen Selina and her Royal Consort, with the Crown Prince and the +Princess Edna and Ruby, had waved their last adieus to the departing +Mirliflor, the Marshal approached Clarence. "Allow me, Sire," he said, +"to restore this jewel, which was picked up close to the spot where your +Royal Highness's steed became so suddenly and unaccountably +unmanageable." + +Clarence reddened--for there was a covert sneer in the ex-Regent's tone +which he did not like, while he was angrily conscious that it was quite +undeserved. "Oh thanks, Marshal," he said as he took the pendant. "I +say, Mater, no wonder the bally thing slipped down--the clasp's worn +out. Whoever you bought it from ought to have put it in proper repair +before he sold it. Pity you can't send it back and make him mend it!" + +"Do I understand," inquired the Marshal of the Queen, "that your Majesty +_bought_ this pendant?" + +"Certainly not," replied the Queen, flushing in her turn. "You're +mistaken, Clarence--it--it has been in the family for years!" + +"You're mixing it up with something else, Mater," he said. "Don't you +remember? You wore it for the first time that evening the Baron came to +fetch us. And you told us you'd bought it out of old Uncle Wibberley's +legacy. I'm _sure_ I'm right!" + +"That was a different ornament altogether," said his mother; "but it's +not worth discussing." Accordingly the subject was dropped, for the +time, at all events, though the Marshal did not forget it. His was not a +brilliant intellect--brilliant intellects being rare in Maerchenland--but +he had the faculty of putting two and two together, and inferring that +the total was more likely to be about four than any other number. The +Astrologer Royal had predicted that the Queen would be discovered in a +certain spot in England, and would be identified by being the possessor +of Prince Chrysopras's jewel. But the Marshal was now satisfied that she +was the possessor by purchase only. The original owner--if Xuriel had +read the stars correctly--was in the same locality. Was it not possible +that Lady Daphne might be that owner? If so, it would explain the +Queen's motive for placing her under arrest. Marshal Federhelm resolved +to play a bold stroke. When in the course of his office he had next to +visit his prisoner, whom he made a point of treating with all courtesy, +she begged him to tell her what fresh offence she had given that she +should have been condemned to solitary imprisonment. + +"I know but this," said the Marshal, "her Majesty is displeased at +finding that a certain jewel she purchased from you is of less value +than she had been led to believe." + +"But, Marshal!" protested poor Daphne, naturally imagining that the +Queen had been complaining to him of the transaction, "surely it's worth +at _least_ thirty pounds! If it isn't, I'd willingly take it back and +return the money. Only I can't--because I used it all to pay my bill. +But I always thought that pendant was valuable, and, as it belonged to +my father, I would never have sold it at all if I hadn't been obliged. +What do you think I ought to do?" + +"You can do nothing, Lady Daphne," he replied, "save trust that her +Majesty's anger will pass away. For whatever price she may have paid for +such a jewel, it is assuredly of far greater value than she is pleased +to assert." + +"I'm _so_ glad to hear you say that!" said Daphne. "It would be hateful +to think I had cheated her Majesty--even though I never meant to." + +That was all that passed between them--but the Marshal had learnt all +that he wanted to know, though he made no immediate use of his +knowledge. It was enough for him to feel that he had a card which he +might play to his own advantage when the opportunity came. The Court +Godmother was now generally known to be _hors de combat_, and as for the +old Baron, he could be left for the present in ignorance of his blunder. + +Queen Selina meanwhile had already formed her plans. She was not a +positively wicked woman, and even still thought herself irreproachable. +If she had managed to separate Mirliflor and Daphne by some hard +fibbing, it was only what her duty as a Queen and as a Mother demanded +of her. She had never liked this Miss Heritage, and firmly believed that +Daphne had alienated Mirliflor's affection from Edna to herself. And +now, it seemed, she was the lawful Queen of the country, and Queen +Selina had grown too habituated to power and grandeur to give them up to +this inexperienced girl. Her first idea had been to carry out her +original intention and have Daphne sent home to England without further +delay. But this, she began to see, would expose her to considerable +criticism at Court, and it occurred to her that there might be a simpler +and more satisfactory way out of her difficulties. + +So, full of her latest project, she went in search of Clarence, whom she +found lounging with a very moody and disconsolate air in one of the +balconies. Clarence was in low spirits just then, and not without +reason. He had entirely lost his nerve for horsemanship, as his mounts +had become as refractory as ever; he could not help perceiving that the +courtiers had lost all respect for him, and received his overtures with +hardly veiled impertinence; and, besides all this, there was another +matter that had been weighing on his mind for some time past. + +"Why, Clarence, dear boy," she began, "what are you keeping away from +everybody like this for?" + +"I wasn't 'keeping away' that I know of," he said. "There are times when +a fellow's glad to get a quiet moment to himself, that's all." + +"Perhaps," she said, "I know the _real_ reason why you've been so mopy +lately." + +"What do you mean, Mater?" he asked. "You haven't----?" + +"My dear Clarence, do you think I can't see that you've never got over +your fondness for little Miss Heritage? I can't bear to see you looking +so unhappy, and I've come to think that I may have been wrong in keeping +her out of your way. So--and this is what I came to tell you--if you +feel that she is necessary to your happiness, I shall not oppose you any +longer--and I will see that your father doesn't." + +"I wish you'd said so before, Mater!" he replied. "The Governor's been +at me to propose to old Goldenenbergenland's daughter, but I had to tell +him I couldn't take it on." + +"Of course not, dear, I'm told she's hideous. While Miss Heritage, at +all events----" + +"But she's engaged to Mirliflor! Lucky chap he is to get her, too. _I_ +might have once, perhaps--if I'd had the pluck!" + +"You may get her _still_, dear boy," said his fond Mother. "You see, she +doesn't know who Mirliflor _is_ yet--she thinks he's a student or +something, pretending to be a gardener. Well, she's much too clever a +little person not to get out of such an engagement as that if she knew +she could be the Crown Princess." Which was no more than Queen Selina +actually believed. "Trust me, Clarence," she concluded, "you've only to +ask." + +"I dare say you're right, Mater," he said, "only the worst of it is I'm +not _free_ to ask her." + +"Not free? What do you mean?" + +"I didn't like to tell you before," he said, "but--well, I--I've gone +and got engaged to someone else." + +"Engaged! Who to?" demanded the Queen, in her own English. "If it's +anyone in my Court----!" + +"It's no one _you_ know, Mater. But she's all _right_, you know. At +least, she's a King's daughter of sorts. Her Father's King of the +Crystal Lake." + +"The Crystal Lake!" cried Queen Selina. "You--you wretched boy! Don't +tell me you're engaged to--to a _Water-nixie_!" + +"Well, I suppose that's what it _amounts_ to," he said. "I never +_wanted_ to be. I met her when I was fishing there. She came up out of +the water, and we got talking and that, and I told her who I was. And +after that, whenever I got to the lake, she was always popping up. I +thought she was rather a jolly sort of girl if she _was_ a trifle on the +damp side, and it amused me to talk to her, but I never said a word to +her that could--till her old Dad suddenly turned up and insisted on our +being regularly engaged." + +"And you gave way? Oh, Clarence, how _could_ you be so weak?" + +"I told him I'd see him blowed before I said yes, and he pulled me in +and threatened to hold my head under water till I promised," said +Clarence. "I didn't see any point in being drowned--and so--and so, +sooner than have a row about it, I _did_ say yes. What else _could_ I +say?" + +"Well," said the Queen, "no engagement made under such circumstances can +be binding, and you must break it off at once. Go and tell him that +your Father and I refuse to hear of your engagement." + +"It'll make him most awful ratty if I do," objected Clarence. + +"What if it does? Clarence, you _must_ get free. I'm extremely anxious +that you should marry Miss Heritage before Mirliflor returns (if he +_does_ return) for her. It's most important, for your Sister's sake. +Because, when he finds himself forsaken, he is sure to turn to Edna +again. _Now_ do you see?" + +"I see," he replied lugubriously, "and I don't mind going to the Lake +and trying to get the old boy to let me off--but I bet you he won't." + +"Don't ask him anything. Simply inform him that your parents decline to +allow such a match, and refer him to _us_." + +"Perhaps that _would_ be the neatest way out of it," he agreed. "Yes, +I'll just tell him _that_--from a safe distance--and he can do what he +jolly well pleases. But it won't be a pleasant job. What?" + +It was some miles to the Crystal Lake, but he went on foot without any +member of his suite in attendance, and in a plain cloak and slouched +hat, which prevented him from being recognised as he passed through the +streets of the Capital. + +During his absence his Mother was engaged in long and anxious +consultation with the King and Edna. "I'm surprised at Clarence," King +Sidney had observed, "thought he knew his way about too well to be drawn +into an entanglement of this kind!" + +"He never would have been," said his mother, "if he hadn't had to choose +between that and being held under water. And you can trust Clarence to +make it clear that he would not be allowed to keep such a promise, even +if he wanted to." + +"If he marries any one," said the King, "it ought to be this Princess of +Goldenenbergenland--he'll get money with _her_, and we want some rather +badly." + +"Pardon me, Sidney," said the Queen, "but I intend him to marry Miss +Heritage." + +"Mother!" exclaimed Edna, "Miss Heritage! What _can_ you be thinking +of?" + +"I know what I am doing, my love. The poor boy is devoted to her and +always has been, and, in short, I've decided that he shall have his way. +It will be to your advantage that he should." + +On reflection Edna saw this. Mirliflor might feel mortified for a time, +but there was at least a chance of catching him on the rebound. + +When Clarence returned later his entrance was hailed with an +interrogatory "Well?" from his family. "Well," he replied, "I +interviewed the old King. Told him you couldn't stick my marrying his +daughter. He took it very quietly--better than I expected. All he said +was that, if you would come to the big fountain in the Palace gardens +(it's supplied from the Crystal lake, you know) at sunset, he'd be there +and let you know his terms." + +"Wants to blackmail us, does he?" said the King. "He won't get a +farthing out of _me_!" + +"It is like his impudence," added the Queen. "Still, it may be as well +to see him." + +And just before the sun's final disappearance, the four stood on the +margin of a small artificial lake, from the centre of which a great +column of water shot up to a colossal height against the crimson and +orange sky. + +"He doesn't seem to have kept his appointment," said the King. "Thought +better of it, hey?" As he spoke, the tall column sank and resolved +itself into a solid grey-green figure of little above the average +stature, a long-bearded elderly personage in a flowing mantle which only +partially covered his suit of glittering iridescent scales. + +"There _is_ the old blighter!" whispered Clarence. "This is my Father +and Mother, Sir," he added aloud, "and anything you've got to propose +must be settled with _them_." + +"O King and Queen of Maerchenland!" said the Lake King, in a voice like +the roar of a cataract, "is it true that ye consider a daughter of mine +unworthy to wed your son?" + +"Without entering into personalities," replied King Sidney, "which are +better avoided at all times, I may say that an alliance with a family +whose nature is so--er--amphibious could not be seriously entertained by +any civilised monarch." + +"It would be _too_ grotesque!" said Queen Selina, "even in a country +like _this_!" + +"I have set my heart on becoming the Father-in-law of a Prince of the +Royal blood," said the Lake King, "and I will not be denied." + +"Now--now--now," protested King Sidney, "what _is_ the good of taking +that tone? If we were in England I should say this was a matter that +could be settled in few minutes by our respective solicitors. As it is, +you had better tell us how much you'll take to compromise it. I don't +admit that your daughter has suffered any material damage--still, if +you're reasonable in your ideas of compensation, you'll find us disposed +to meet you--as far as we can, you know, as far as we _can_," he added +hastily, as he remembered his shrunken gold sacks. + +"My terms are these," the Lake King answered. "Unless the betrothal of +Prince Clarence to my daughter Forelle be proclaimed throughout the City +before nightfall, the waters of the Crystal Lake shall overflow and +submerge the whole land to the tops of the highest houses. It is for ye +to choose." + +"That would be an outrageous thing to do, if you could do it," said the +Queen, "but you know very well you can't!" + +"Can I not?" retorted the Lake King. "Behold if I have boasted vainly or +not!" And he waved his sceptre, which was surmounted by a crystal fish. +Instantly the artificial lake came pouring over its marble border, and +the Royal Family were ankle-deep in water. "It's no good!" said King +Sidney, as the flood spread and threatened to rise higher still, "we've +_got_ to give in." + +"Nothing but the safety of our poor subjects would make me consent," +declared the Queen, "but as it is, I must. Stop this horrid flood, and +we'll agree to everything!" + +The water flowed back into the basin at a motion of the Lake King's +sceptre. "It is agreed, then," he said, smiling for the first time, +"that the betrothal is to be proclaimed before nightfall, and that the +nuptials shall take place within eight days?" + +"Oh, very well," said Queen Selina pettishly, "I can't think your +daughter will ever settle down or be really _happy_ with us--but that is +_her_ affair, and--and I will try my _best_ to be a Mother to her." + +"It is enough," said the King of the Crystal Lake, "I have your word. +Should ye retract now, what follows will be upon your own heads!" And, +with these parting words, he merged into a column of water which towered +up as before, its spray falling like fine bronze dust against the now +purple sky. + +"I don't much think I shall ever get on with _him_," was all Clarence +could find to say, as they walked back with wet feet. "But +Forelle--well, she really isn't at all bad-looking--in her way." + +"Has she got the same coloured hair as her father?" inquired Edna. + +"It's green," he confessed, "but a much prettier _shade_ of green--_Eau +de nil_, I should call it." + +"And I suppose all the furniture will have to be covered in oilskin?" +went on Edna. "One of the delights of having a Nixie for a +sister-in-law." + +"_You_ needn't talk!" he said angrily. "You came jolly near giving me a +bally ogre for a brother-in-law--what?" + +"There is just this difference, Clarence," replied his sister, "_I_ was +able to break it off--which you are _not_." + +"Well, if I'm not, it's not my fault, so you needn't nag," he said +savagely, for the thought that all hope of Daphne was now irretrievably +lost had just begun to gall him. + +"We shall all have to change our shoes when we get in," was her answer. +"And it is lucky if we escape a bad cold in the head. But I dare say," +she added sweetly, "that when dear Forelle is one of us we shall _soon_ +grow inured to damp." + +"What _I'm_ thinking of," said the King sombrely, "is how the Court and +the populace will take this business. It's to be hoped that the Lake +King is--er--_liked_ in these parts." + +"Who could _help_ loving him?" jeered Edna. "No doubt the wedding will +excite the greatest enthusiasm--especially if the bride goes through the +ceremony in a tank!" + +"Oh, shut _up_, can't you!" cried the worried Clarence. "Don't make it +out more rotten than it is!" + +Queen Selina was too occupied with her own reflections to interfere. Her +plan for securing the succession to the throne by a union between +Clarence and Daphne was clearly no longer practicable. She had been +anxious to treat the girl with consideration, and even indulgence--but +events had made this impossible. It was absolutely necessary now to get +Miss Heritage safely out of the way as soon as it could be managed. "I +must speak to the Marshal about it," she was thinking, "and have her +sent back to England in that stork-car. The poor dear Court Godmother is +much too ill to be consulted just now. I have just _that_ much to be +truly thankful for!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +SERVANTS OF THE QUEEN + + +If breaking the news of Edna's engagement to Count von Rubenfresser had +been a matter of some delicacy, to inform the Court and Public of +Clarence's betrothal to a Water-nixie was, as his parents felt, +infinitely more so. Queen Selina told the Baron first, but, rather to +her surprise, he took it calmly and almost apathetically. "I'm afraid, +Baron," she said, "you will think it very weak of us to allow it, but, +between ourselves, there are--er--State reasons which left us no +choice." To which he replied that he would much prefer to be excused +from offering any opinion as to the policy their Majesties had chosen to +pursue. + +The Marshal, on the other hand, expressed cordial satisfaction. His +lizard-like eyes sparkled as he assured his Sovereigns that he would see +that the heralds proclaimed the betrothal in the City before nightfall, +and that he expected it would excite heartfelt enthusiasm. + +It certainly had not that effect on the Court. The ladies-in-waiting +resented the prospect of having to acknowledge a new Royalty the greater +part of whose existence had been spent under water. The Courtiers +shrugged their shoulders with sardonic resignation. In vain the Crown +Prince attempted to carry off his secret uneasiness by clapping them on +the back and saying, "You haven't seen Princess Forelle yet, you know, +dear boy. When you do, you'll agree that she's a regular little +ripper--what?" They made it sufficiently clear that they had no wish to +see the future Crown Princess. In fact, if he had not already lost all +the prestige he had ever had, he would have lost it now, and his +feelings were not to be envied. + +Marshal Federhelm requested a private audience from the Queen, who +received him in her Cabinet. He began by asking permission to absent +himself for a few days on a hunting expedition in the Forest, which +permission was graciously accorded. + +"If the Crown Prince had not--er--ties to keep him at home," she added, +"I'm sure he would be delighted to join you." + +"I doubt it, your Majesty," said the Marshal. "His Royal Highness's +ardour for such pursuits has languished much of late. However, he is +better employed. And, ere I leave, I must ask your Majesty's wishes in +regard to my prisoner, the Lady Daphne." + +"Ah, I was going to talk to you about that, Marshal," said Queen Selina. +"There are many reasons why it is undesirable that Miss Heritage should +remain here any longer. After the underhand and ungrateful manner in +which she has tried to pervert Prince Mirliflor from his attachment to +Princess Edna, I feel it my duty to have her removed." + +"I understand, your Majesty," he said, "and it shall be done. But I +would recommend, in your Majesty's interests, that the execution should +take place in private, and that the Lady Daphne's decease should be +supposed to be due to sudden illness. Otherwise there may be trouble +with the Court." + +"_Execution!_" cried Queen Selina, genuinely horrified. "Good gracious +me, Marshal, you don't suppose I want the poor girl put to death, do +you? What do you take me for?" + +"It would be a prudent course," he said with meaning, "for any Sovereign +to adopt in your Majesty's situation." + +"For a Maerchenland Sovereign, perhaps! But _I_ have been brought up with +very different ideas. I should consider it most wicked to give orders +for anybody to be killed. That is not at _all_ what I meant in saying +that I want Miss Heritage removed." + +"Then I fail to understand your Majesty." + +"It's perfectly simple. I merely wish to have her sent back to England. +The Baron can take her in the Court Godmother's stork-car. She'll never +be well enough to know of it now, poor old soul! And the dear old +Baron's so devoted to Us, and has always been so anxious that Edna +should marry Mirliflor, that I know I can depend on him." + +"If it should be known," said the Marshal, "that your Majesty had +banished Prince Mirliflor's chosen bride, there would be such an outcry +that it might cost you your Kingdom." + +"Oh, do you really think that, Marshal? But it _is_ so essential that +she should be sent to England! Surely it can be managed somehow without +any scandal?" + +"There _is_ a way, Madam, if your Majesty is prepared to take it." + +"I am prepared to do anything, Marshal--that is, _almost_ anything. What +do you advise?" + +"Your Majesty should inform the Baron that, the Court Godmother being +unhappily too indisposed to act as guardian to Lady Daphne, you desire +him to convey her in the stork-car to Clairdelune and place her under +the care of Prince Mirliflor." + +"But, my dear good Marshal, that's the very _last_ thing I desire!" + +"I know, Madam, I know. But it is what he should represent to the Court +and Lady Daphne, and he is more likely to do so if he believes it to be +the fact. I will give him sealed instructions which he is not to open +till after he is started, directing him to take her--not to Clairdelune, +but to the land of her birth. Your Majesty will be good enough to write +such instructions at once." + +"It seems simple, and yet, Marshal, I'm not quite sure," demurred the +Queen. "The Baron is an old dear, but just a bit of a chatterbox. He +might let the whole thing out when he gets back!" + +"He will not get back," said the Marshal. "I know a certain drug that I +will administer to the storks before the journey. It is slow to act, and +will not affect them until after they have reached the country that you +call England. But they will never leave it again. And then it will +merely be supposed that he has acted treacherously." + +"I see," said Queen Selina. "Yes, I should be perfectly safe _then_. If +there was any _other_ way, or I didn't feel so strongly that it was +really a kindness to Miss Heritage to save her from occupying a position +she is so unsuited to, I really don't think I _could_. But I suppose I +must do as you suggest." + +She wrote the order, which she signed and sealed and handed to him. "I +shouldn't like her to be left stranded in England without any means of +support, Marshal," she said. "_That_ would be a thing I could _not_ +reconcile to my conscience. So you will kindly see that she is supplied +with a sack of gold." + +"That will be a truly royal act of generosity," he said, "especially as +I understand the number of sacks in your Majesty's treasury is by no +means large just now." + +"I was forgetting. On second thoughts, perhaps you had better make it a +_purse_ instead," she amended. "It will keep her while she is looking +out for another situation." + +"No doubt. And it would be wise, I think, if your Majesty would speed +her departure with your good wishes in presence of the Court." + +But even Queen Selina shrank from such duplicity as that. "I--I don't +think I'll see her again myself," she said. "I--I'd rather not. It's +most distasteful to me to have to deceive her at all, Marshal, and I +shouldn't if it wasn't absolutely necessary in self-defence." + +"Your Majesty has no need to assure me of that. I entirely understand," +he said. "I would recommend that you send for the Baron at once, and +direct him to convey Lady Daphne to Clairdelune to-morrow. Then, after I +have given him the secret order, my part will be done and I shall be +free to enjoy my hunting." And with that he bowed himself out. + +Queen Selina followed his counsel so well that the old Court Chamberlain +was completely deceived. Usurper as he now knew her to be, she was, he +thought, still unaware of it, and such magnanimity to her daughter's +successful rival gave him a better opinion of her. After all, he could +bring himself to continue in her service, now that the Court Godmother's +main object was attained. Like her, he had no wish to confess that he +had been so mistaken as to saddle the Kingdom with a bogus Sovereign. So +he spread the news of Lady Daphne's approaching departure with great +satisfaction and the warmest eulogies of the gracious consideration +Queen Selina had displayed. But even this could only partially check +their disaffection, for they could not forgive her for subjecting them +to the indignity of accepting a Water-nixie as their Crown Princess. + +After dismissing the Baron, the Queen had felt somewhat shocked at her +own talent for dissimulation. "I little thought at Gablehurst that I +should ever fib like this!" she reflected. "But I wasn't a Queen _then_! +And I can't afford to be too particular, when it's a question of keeping +the Crown in the family!" + +The Marshal waited until the Baron had concluded his interview with the +Queen, and then visited him in his own quarters. The Court Chamberlain +mentioned the instructions he had just received, and spoke in the +highest terms of his Royal mistress's benevolence. + +"As you say, Baron," said the Marshal, "such conduct does honour to her +Majesty. She has, however, given me further instructions for you with +which it is well you should be acquainted at once." And he drew out the +secret order, and, after breaking the seal, presented the parchment to +the Baron, who read it with honest amazement and indignation. + +"I cannot believe her Majesty can have devised such wickedness!" he +said. "What can be her reason--unless--unless--" and here he checked +himself. + +"You were about to say: Unless she knows--as you and I, my dear Baron, +know beyond all doubt--that the Lady Daphne is the real Queen of +Maerchenland?" + +"So _you_ know that, too!" cried the Baron, recoiling in terror. "I +swear to you, my lord, that I myself had no suspicion of it until it was +revealed to me by the Court Godmother but two days since!" + +"I accept your word for it--though whether _others_ will do so is +another matter," said the Marshal as he picked up and thrust in his +doublet the document which the other had let fall. "But what I should +like to know is, which of your orders you intend to execute?" + +"The first, of course," exclaimed the Baron indignantly. "Lady Daphne +has a higher claim to my fealty than this interloper. I shall do my duty +and carry her to Clairdelune." + +"You forget that Prince Mirliflor will not be there as yet to receive +her. Nor is it seemly that she should quit her Kingdom without making +any assertion of her claim. My plan is better than yours, Baron. +Hearken: I leave the Palace to-night on the pretext of hunting in the +Forest of Schlangenzweigen. I take with me a company of my own--all +tried soldiers on whom I can rely. To-morrow you will set out in the +car, as though to Clairdelune, and Queen Selina will naturally believe +that her secret order will be obeyed. But, after having gone a certain +distance, you will head your storks for the chapel of St. Morosius in +the forest. There we shall be waiting to swear allegiance to our young +Queen and escort her in triumph to Eswareinmal. I shall have taken +measures beforehand to proclaim her title, and it is certain that the +populace will rise in her favour. You cannot fail to see, my dear Baron, +that your best--in fact, your only way of escaping the penalty of your +folly--to call it by no harsher name--is to aid us in undoing it." + +"Enough, Marshal," said the Baron, "you can count upon me." + +"I am sure of it, Baron, and, as I am leaving the Palace, I will deliver +the Lady Daphne into your custody. See that you say nothing to her of +our scheme till the fitting moment. For the present she must be told +that she is to be taken to Clairdelune. And now I must quit you, for I +have much to attend to before I start, which should be within an hour. +To-morrow at mid-day we shall expect you at the Chapel in the forest, +and have a care for your own sake that you fail us not." + +An hour later, having disposed of the business he had attended to and +left everything in train for his project, he set out with a chosen band +on his alleged hunting expedition. "Whether this will fall out as I +calculate, or in some other way, I know not," he told himself, as they +clattered out of one of the City gates and took the road to the forest +of Schlangenzweigen. "But this I know--whatever happens, I shall shortly +be King of Maerchenland." + +After he was gone the Baron began to reflect on what he had undertaken, +and to feel that he would be glad of an excuse to get out of it, if he +could find one. It was hardly credible that Queen Selina could have +devised so treacherous a plot; it seemed far more likely that the +Marshal had deceived him. After all, the secret order he had been shown +might not be genuine. If it were not, the Queen was innocent, and the +Baron was only too willing to leave her in peaceful permission of the +throne. Before he committed himself any further he must satisfy himself +on this point. His difficulty was that he could not ask her directly +whether the secret order had indeed been given by her, as he might +betray the Marshal, which might entail unpleasant consequences for +himself. After some thought he hit upon a stratagem that was rather +brilliant--for him. He obtained a private interview with the Queen, and +begged her to consider whether it was altogether judicious to restore +Lady Daphne to a Prince who might otherwise come forward once more as a +suitor for Princess Edna. "Would it not be safer, Madam," he suggested, +"to send Lady Daphne to her own country, where he would never be able to +find her?" + +Queen Selina was so convinced of his honesty and loyalty that she fell +into his little trap without a moment's suspicion. "Now, it's really +very curious you should have thought of that, my dear Baron!" she said, +"very curious indeed! Because--I suppose the Marshal gave you a sealed +letter from me before he left?... I thought so, and of course it isn't +to be opened till after you've started. Still, I may tell you _now_ that +it contains instructions for the very identical course you suggest! I +needn't say you must be careful not to mention it--but it may be a +satisfaction to you to know that I've already decided on it." + +"A great satisfaction indeed, your Majesty," he said, "for now my duty +lies clear before me." + +"And nobody, I'm sure, my dear Baron, will do it more faithfully!" was +her gracious response. He proceeded to Daphne, who had heard that her +Girofle had succeeded in his attempt to rescue Edna, but knew nothing of +what had happened to him afterwards. He relieved her anxiety by +informing her, not only that she was to rejoin Girofle at Clairdelune +next day, but who he actually was, which last piece of information +turned all her joy to dismay. Prince or no Prince, she knew that Girofle +would be true to her--but what if the King, his father, forbade him to +marry anyone so far below his rank? She would have to undergo the ordeal +of being presented to King Tournesol, and the thought made her heart +sink with terror. + +"But the Court Godmother will come with me, Baron?" she asked anxiously, +only to hear why this was impossible. "Too ill even to see me!" said +Daphne sadly. "And that is why her Majesty is letting me be sent to +Gir--I mean, Mirliflor? It's really very good of her. I suppose, Baron, +I shall be able to see her and thank her before I go?" + +"Undoubtedly," he said, and, having said as much as he thought prudent, +he left his prisoner to her own reflections. + +Most of the Court gathered to see her off the next morning, but the only +Royalty present was little Princess Ruby, who held her former Governess +in close and tearful embraces. "_Darling!_" she said, through her sobs, +"it's perfectly beastly to think you've been here all this time and I +never knew it! And now you really _are_ going and I mayn't see you for +ever so long! It will be so dull, for of course I wouldn't play with the +Gnomes now--even if they weren't all down with mumps. And Edna's so +snappy, and Clarence is going to marry a nasty wet Water-nixie--and I +wish we'd all stayed at Inglegarth, that I do!" Daphne had not heard +before of Clarence's engagement and, though she naturally made no +comment, she could not think he was to be congratulated on his choice. +She did her best to comfort Ruby, and after taking leave of her nearly +as inconsolable friends in the Household, she at length found herself +seated in the car with the Baron, who had dispensed with the usual +attendants. And then the Courtyard, with the mass of upturned faces and +waving hands, slowly sank to the rhythmical beating of the storks' wings +as they obeyed the order, "To the Palace of Clairdelune." + +Clarence saw the car pass overhead from the grove in the Palace Gardens, +to which he had betaken himself in his dull misery. He knew that Daphne +must be on her way to rejoin her lover, and tried to console himself by +the reflection that it didn't matter to him. _He_ was done for, anyhow, +whether she went or stayed. But again came the bitter thought that there +had been a time when, if he had only gone the right way about it, he +might have--"I thought she wasn't good enough to marry," he said to +himself. "Not _good_ enough! a girl like her! Now I'm booked to marry a +Lord-knows-what with green hair. Serves me damned well right too!" + +Edna also saw the car as she walked with the Queen on the terrace that +commanded the City. "There goes Miss Heritage!" she said. "Delighted to +recapture her Mirliflor, no doubt! I don't wish to reproach you in _any_ +way, Mother, but I _can't_ think you've shown much consideration for +_my_ interests in packing her off to him like this!" + +It was painful to Queen Selina to be so misunderstood, but she decided +that the injustice must be borne for the present. "My love," she said, +"I could not possibly keep her _here_. And perhaps," she could could not +help adding, "perhaps _some_ day you will see that I have been a better +mother to you than you imagine!" + +To which pathetic appeal Princess Edna merely responded by a short +sniff, expressive rather of incredulity than any softer emotion. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +AT THE END OF HER TETHER + + +Both the Queen and Edna that morning had observed an unwonted stir in +the usually quiet and sleepy streets of Eswareinmal as they looked down +on them from the Terrace parapet. + +The great square was black with citizens, and from it rose a faint but +angry drone that was unpleasantly suggestive of the results of pitching +a large stone into a hornets' nest. + +"I expect," remarked Queen Selina, "they're all busy discussing this +engagement of Clarence's. If we drive out this afternoon we mustn't +forget to take at _least_ two sacks of gold with us." + +"I doubt if we can afford to drive out at _all_ just now," said Edna. + +"Perhaps," agreed her mother, "it _would_ be wiser to wait till things +have settled down a little. Why they should get so excited about it I +can't think. It's _most_ inconsiderate and troublesome of them--at a +time, too, when, goodness knows, I've enough to worry about!" + +Just then she was chiefly harassed by a doubt whether she had been +wholly wise in accepting the Marshal as a confederate, and especially in +committing her secret instructions to writing. What if he knew or +guessed her real reasons for getting rid of Miss Heritage? But, even if +that were so, he had probably acted as he had out of goodwill and +desire to maintain the dynasty. He had never shown the slightest +jealousy or chagrin at having been deprived of the Regency. No, on the +whole, she thought he could be trusted to be silent--if only because he +could not betray her without admitting his own complicity. Still, there +was a danger that he might presume on his knowledge--which would be +disagreeable enough. If their Majesties were reluctant to show +themselves just then to the populace, the populace on the other hand +were determined to be both seen and heard. The proclamation of +Clarence's betrothal had served as the breaking strain to the attenuated +links that still attached them to the Throne. They had murmured against +the enfranchisement of the Yellow Gnomes; their deception in the matter +of the self-supplying tables had weakened their loyalty seriously for a +time; the projected alliance of the Princess Edna with the surviving +member of a race whose scutcheon bore the taint of Ogreism had aroused +their bitter resentment. But all these grievances had been redressed, +and the amiable easygoing Maerchenlanders were willing to forgive and +forget them. Now they were called upon to put up with a humiliation +beyond all endurance. The prospect of seeing the throne occupied in days +to come by a creature who was not only of dubious extraction, but +probably did not possess so much as the rudiments of a soul, infuriated +them to madness. + +So much so that the Royal Family had scarcely finished lunch when they +were startled by news that the people were once more advancing _en +masse_ up the road to the Palace, and would soon be battering at the +gates for admittance. + +"I can't see 'em," said King Sidney peevishly, plucking at his auburn +moustache. "What am I to say to them about this engagement? There's +nothing _to_ say except that it's most----" + +"If you say that again, Sidney," said the Queen, "I shall throw +something at you! Tell them the truth." + +"I--I'd rather the Council explained it to them, my dear," he said. + +"The Council have been sitting tight with closed doors all the morning," +said Clarence, "like a bally lot of broody hens. I don't know, of +course, but I've a notion they're discussing a Republic or something." + +"If _you_ won't speak to the people, Sidney," declared the Queen, with +the courage of despair, "I must order the guards to close the Courtyard +gates, and tell the mob that, if they promise to be quiet and behave +themselves, I'll come out and talk to them myself." + +"Good egg, Mater!" cried Clarence, "I'll come with you. It's really _my_ +show!" + +"You'll only make them worse! Much better keep indoors and take no +notice. More dignified," said the King. But as his wife and son paid no +attention to him, he followed them out for very shame. + +As they came down the front steps and advanced to within hearing +distance of the crowd, which had not attempted as yet to break through +the closed gates, they were received with yells and howls of execration, +frantic shaking of fists and brandishing of improvised weapons. The +strength of the gates and the presence of the guards gave the Queen more +confidence than she might otherwise have felt. + +"Now, good people!" she said in rather a tremulous voice, "it's quite +impossible to speak while you're making all this noise!" + +She had sent up for her crown, and perhaps this impressed them +unconsciously, though she had been too nervous to put it on straight. +Gradually silence was obtained. + +"I know why you've come," she began, "and we _quite_ understand your +feelings about our son's engagement. In fact we _share_ them." This +provoked a renewal of the uproar and a vehement desire to know why, if +that were so, the union had ever been contracted. + +"If you'll only listen, I'll tell you," said the Queen. "We shouldn't +have consented to it at all but for the sake of our beloved people." At +this the beloved people very nearly had the gates down. "You don't +understand," she shouted. "Even now, if you insist on the marriage being +broken off, we are quite willing--indeed we shall be only too happy--to +put a stop to it." + +Here there were shouts of "We do! We do insist! Stop it! No marriage!" + +"Very well then," said Queen Selina with more assurance, "only I am +bound to tell you what the consequences will be. The Crystal Lake will +overflow till the whole of Maerchenland is under water. At least that's +what the Lake King threatens. _You_ know best whether he can do it or +not." + +Her hearers knew too well, and the cries and murmurs took an altered +tone at once, though some voices cursed the Prince whose weakness and +folly had brought them to such a dilemma. + +"Weakness and folly!" cried the Queen indignantly. "How can you be so +wretchedly ungrateful? When my poor, noble, unselfish boy is +sacrificing himself--for you don't suppose he can have any affection for +a Water-nixie?--sacrificing himself on--on the altar of his country!" + +"Mater!" whispered Clarence in admiration, "you're the limit!" + +"And all the reward he gets," the Queen went on, pressing her advantage, +"all the reward _we_ get--for providing that you can sleep safe and warm +in your beds--instead of being drowned in them--is violence and rude +remarks! Really, if you have any consciences left you ought to be +thoroughly ashamed of yourselves!" + +They undoubtedly were. For a moment or two there was a hush, and then +the whole mob broke into tumultuous cheers--for the Queen, the King, and +more particularly the Crown Prince. Never since their accession had the +Royal Family been so popular. + +"There now," said the Queen, when she and her family were weary of +bowing their acknowledgments, "that will do. Now go quietly away, like +respectable loyal persons, and tell all the other citizens what we're +doing for them." + +"I must say, my love," observed the King, after the crowd had melted +away in a vastly different mood from that in which they had come, "you +showed wonderful presence of mind. I quite thought myself we should have +been massacred." + +"And so we _should_ have been, Sidney," she replied, "if I'd left it to +_you_!" + +On re-entering the Palace they heard that the Council was still sitting. +"_Let_ 'em sit!" cried Clarence. "This'll be a bit of a suck for them. +What price a Republic _now_, eh?" + +"They simply _daren't_ depose us!" said the Queen, "now the dear people +are with us heart and soul!" + +Some time later, while they were sitting in the lapis-lazuli Chamber, a +page entered to announce that a messenger had just arrived with tidings +which he wished to communicate to their Majesties in private. "Tell him +to come in," said the Queen. "I do hope it isn't some fresh trouble!" + +The messenger brought grave news. The Marshal, it appeared, had been +killed while hunting in the Forest. Particulars were wanting, but there +was no doubt that he was dead. + +"How very very sad!" exclaimed the Queen. "The poor dear Marshal! To be +cut off like this in the prime of life! It must have been a wild boar, I +suppose--_or_ a bear. But, whichever it was, it is a terrible loss. I +don't know exactly how long the Court ought to go into mourning for an +ex-Regent--but at _least_ a month!" + +She was shocked, of course, by the suddenness of it. At the same time +she could not help a renewed sense of gratitude to Providence, which had +once more gone out of its way to smooth her path. "I've always said +hunting these wild animals is a very dangerous sport," said King Sidney. +"Glad you've given it up, my boy!" + +"Fed up with it, Guv'nor. But I dare say I shall go in for it +again--some day or other," Clarence replied, while he was thinking that +it would have to be a day when he discovered what had become of his +irresistible sword, and when he could find a horse among his numerous +stud that would permit him to get on its back. + +They were still discussing the Marshal's untimely end when an usher +came from the Hall of Council with a message that the Councillors had +ended their deliberations, and requested their Majesties to honour them +by attending to hear their decision. + +"I like their nerve!" remarked Clarence. "Of course, Guv'nor, you'll +tell 'em they've jolly well got to come to _us_, what?" + +"No, Sidney," said Queen Selina, flushed with her recent victory, "you +will say that we are coming in presently to preside over the Council and +give them our advice. I shall know how to put them in their proper +places. I shall wear my crown again, and you had better put on yours, +and--yes, I should certainly take your sceptre too." + +She kept them waiting as long as her own dignity demanded, and then +sailed into the Council Chamber, the King and Crown Prince following in +her wake. The whole Council rose and remained standing until the Royal +Family had taken their seats under a canopy. + +The President then informed them that the Councillors had resolved to +use every means to prevent a union which, if contracted, would +infallibly cover the entire Kingdom with contempt. + +"Oh, very _well_, gentlemen," said the Queen. "_I_ should have thought +even that was better than having it covered with water--but if you in +your wisdom think otherwise, we bow to your superior judgment." And she +explained the situation much as she had done to the mob at the gates, +though with less effect, for the President's answer was that, if such +were the alternatives, their Majesties would best show their anxiety for +their subjects' welfare by abdicating immediately. + +"I don't see that at all," she retorted. "Why in the world _should_ we?" + +"Because," was the reply, "when this so-called King of the Crystal Lake +learns that your son is no longer a Prince, he will cease to desire him +for his daughter." + +"And may I ask, supposing we did abdicate, whom do you propose to put in +our place?" inquired the Queen. + +"We should appoint Marshal Federhelm as Regent once more--or even elect +him Sovereign." + +"A very pretty plan!" replied Queen Selina, "only there's one objection +to it, as you would know if you hadn't shut yourselves up here all day. +You will be sorry to hear that the poor Marshal was killed this very +afternoon while hunting. So you can't get _him_. And, as there's no one +else available, and as my husband and I feel that it would be very wrong +to desert our dear people when they've just assured us of their perfect +loyalty and affection--(_another_ fact you seem to be ignorant of!)--I'm +afraid, gentlemen, that, whether you like it or not, you will have to +put up with us." + +"It is true, O Queen!" the President admitted with a deep groan. "We can +do naught except pray that Heaven may yet save this most unhappy Country +from so deep a degradation!" And all the other Members of the Council +groaned too, while several beat their breasts or tore their long white +beards in senile wrath and despair. + +"They _are_ a cheery complimentary lot of old devils!" commented +Clarence. "If I were you, Mater, I'd--what d'ye call it?--prorogue 'em." + +The Queen was inclined to accept this suggestion, but at that moment a +loud rapping was heard at the closed doors. "Go and see who it is, +somebody," she commanded, "it may be important news." She thought it +probable that an attendant had come to announce the decease of the Fairy +Vogelflug, which was hourly expected. + +The doors were partly opened, and then a voice she had never thought to +hear again cried in weak and quavering accents: "Let me pass. I claim my +right of admission as Court Godmother." + +The Queen changed colour, but felt that, inopportune as the demand was, +she could not refuse it without laying herself open to suspicion, and +perhaps worse. "Oh, let her come in, poor old soul," she said, "and find +a seat for her. I'd really no idea she was well enough to get up." + +The Fairy hobbled feebly in, looking incredibly old and shrunken, and +like a grim ghost of her former self in her clinging grey night-rail. +Her hollow eyes glowed like live coals as she faced the Queen, and stood +labouring for breath before she could speak. + +"So glad to see you looking so much better, dear Court Godmother!" said +Queen Selina. "But was it _wise_ of you to come downstairs so soon?" + +"I have visited the pavilion and found it untenanted," said the Fairy, +without troubling to explain how she had contrived to elude her +attendants and get there. "Now, answer me, what have you done with Lady +Daphne?" + +"Oh, haven't they _told_ you?" replied the Queen. "I should have +consulted you, of course, if I had known you were conscious; but, as it +was, I did what I thought you would wish and sent her off with the Baron +in the stork-car this morning--to Clairdelune." + +"Is this the truth--or are you trying to deceive me by lies?" + +"Really!" cried the Queen, "this is most uncalled for! I don't know what +you suppose I've done with the girl?" + +"You may have imprisoned--murdered her, for all I can tell. It is more +likely than that you would permit her to depart so easily." + +"Well," said the Queen, "if you don't believe me, you have only to make +inquiries. I was not in time to see her off myself, but I believe there +are members of the Court who were more fortunate." + +Several Councillors corroborated this by affirming that they themselves +had not only been present but had heard the Baron give the order, "To +Clairdelune." + +"I daresay you don't think much of us, Ma'am," said Clarence, "but after +all we're _English_, you know, and you might give us credit for playing +the game, what?" + +He spoke with a resentment which convinced his Mother of her wisdom in +having played her own game without seeking any co-operation from him. + +The old Fairy's suspicions had been completely quelled. "I perceive," +she confessed, "that I have been over ready to think evil, and can but +crave your forgiveness, Madam, for having done you so great an +injustice." + +"Pray don't mention it!" returned the Queen. "There was some excuse for +it, and we willingly forgive you, if there's anything to forgive. And +now," she added, after ordering the attendants to be fetched, "you +really _must_ take more care of yourself and get back to bed at once." + +"I will return to it," was the reply, "for now that my mind is at ease I +am well content to die." + +"Oh, but you mustn't talk like that!" protested Queen Selina, "when +you've just made such a marvellous recovery! Why, you're looking _ever_ +so much brighter than any of us could have hoped. All you really need +now is a good long sleep." + +"That is all, and I shall have it ere long. You may rest assured," she +added, with a significance which the Queen alone understood, "that +henceforth your peace shall not be disturbed by any word or deed of +mine." + +The attendants entered and she suffered them to lead her away, while +King Sidney graciously extended his sceptre for her to kiss in passing, +but drew it back shamefacedly on finding this civility ignored. + +"It's evidently the last flicker, poor old thing!" said the Queen, after +the Fairy had retired. "I don't at all expect we shall ever see her +alive again!" + +If she had so expected, her conscience might have troubled her more than +it did. As it was, it did not reproach her too severely. It was not nice +to deceive a dying person, but it was much nicer than confessing and +losing a Kingdom for it. It would have been too ridiculous to begin to +be squeamish now. And, after all, it was her misfortune rather than her +fault if the family interests had necessitated a slight temporary lapse +from principles she still held as rigidly as ever. + +She dismissed her Council, which broke up in a chastened spirit, and the +Royal Family, after a light meal which was the nearest approach to +afternoon tea that Maerchenland afforded, went out for an airing on their +favourite promenade--the terrace that overlooked Eswareinmal. + +The market-place was still thronged, but such sounds as reached them +were no longer menacing. "I do believe they haven't done cheering for us +yet!" said the Queen. "And some of them seem to be waving flags! I +shouldn't be the least surprised, Clarence, if your wedding next week +goes off quite well after all!" + +"I wish it _would_ go off," he said, "but there's no chance of that +now!" + +"Well, it's no good being gloomy about it. Er--Forelle may turn out to +be charming when we come to know her. Which reminds me, dear boy, you +might tell her we should be delighted if she can come to tea here some +afternoon before the ceremony." + +"She could easily slip up through the fountain," suggested Edna. "I +shall be anxious to see how she does her hair. Let me see--didn't you +say it was green, Clarence?" + +"Oh, give her hair a rest!" he replied. + +"I saw before we left England," said the Queen tactfully, "that green +hair was going to be quite the fashion this season. But, however strange +she may be to society, we should remember, Edna, my love, that she will +shortly become one of ourselves and treat her with every civility. We +must avoid anything that might offend her Father." + +Queen Selina was inclined that afternoon to take a more roseate view of +the future. She felt herself once more secure on the throne now that all +the dangers which had threatened to overturn it had been averted. The +rival Queen would soon be landed in England, where, even if she ever +heard of her rights, she would be powerless to claim them. Of the three +persons who knew or might discover the truth, the Marshal was dead, the +Court Godmother might just as well be so for all the harm she could do, +and the Baron was on his way to a land from which he would never return. + +As for Mirliflor, it would not be difficult to persuade him that some +blunder of the Baron's must have caused the stork-car to go astray, and +it was quite possible that when the Prince had abandoned all hope of +recovering Miss Heritage he would return to Edna. + +"Look at the dear people now!" she cried, as she looked down on the +square, "they're actually forming a procession to march up to the Palace +and thank us again!... Yes, they really are! It's quite wonderful the +effect Clarence's self-sacrifice has had--it seems to have rallied them +_all_ round the Throne. But I _knew_ it would, if it was put to them in +the right way.... Did you hear that?" she asked later, when the +procession had reached an angle of the zigzag incline which was directly +below. "They're shouting for Me! I distinctly heard 'We want our Queen!' +So nice and warm-hearted of them!" + +The shouts had ceased, but the tramp of thousands of feet grew louder, +until the sound was deadened as the demonstrators passed under the wing +of the Palace on their way to the central entrance. + +"Sidney, we must go in and show ourselves to them," said the Queen. "If +they _insist_ on a speech _I_ will make it--you always manage to say the +wrong thing!" + +As they entered the Palace they heard a clamour which appeared to +proceed from the great Entrance Hall. "_Quite_ right to have asked them +in," remarked the Queen with approval. "I shall order some refreshments +for them, and then we can go up by a back way and appear at the top of +the Grand Staircase." But this part of the programme was not destined +to be carried out. + +On attempting to pass through they were stopped, to the Queen's +indignant amazement, in an inner hall by the Captain of her own Guards. +"Really!" she cried, "I never _heard_ of such a thing! What do you +_mean_ by it?" + +He either could not or would not give any other explanation than that he +had instructions to detain them. "Prince Hansmeinigel!" said the Queen, +as she saw him approaching, "can _you_ inform us why his Majesty and I +are prevented from addressing our faithful subjects?" + +"I think, Madam," he replied smoothly, "that you would find none here to +address." + +"How dare you tell me that, when you can hear them calling for 'their +Queen' at this very moment!" + +"But not for _you_, Madam. The Queen they are demanding is the Lady +Daphne." + +"Miss Heritage!" gasped Queen Selina. "Why should they want _her_?" + +"It seems," he said, "that certain information has reached the +Burgomaster and chief citizens which has convinced them of her title to +the throne, and they are now in conference with the Council on the +matter." + +"So that treacherous old vixen of a Court Godmother had betrayed the +secret after all, in spite of her promise!" concluded Queen Selina. But +the battle was not lost yet by any means. She was not going to give in, +when she had so many chances in her favour. + +"They might have had the decency to invite us to be present," she said. +"Surely we have _some_ right to be consulted!" + +"They will summon you before them presently, no doubt," he said, and +almost as he spoke an official came towards them and whispered to the +Captain of the Guard, who turned to the Queen: + +"My orders are to bring you before the Council," he said, "if you will +be good enough to follow me. We will go round by the outer corridor, so +that you will be in no danger from the mob." + +"What's all this about, my dear?" whispered King Sidney, as he walked +with his wife and son between a strong guard. "I thought things had +quieted down again." + +"Oh, don't ask _me_, Sidney!" she returned, "you will know quite soon +enough. But you needn't be uneasy. I've brought you through much worse +things than this." She entered the Council Hall endeavouring to look as +much like Marie Antoinette as she could. That her own Council should +arraign her like this was, as she protested, most unconstitutional--they +had no right whatever to do it. But, however that might be, they _were_ +doing it--a fact which even she was compelled to recognise. + +The President began the proceedings by reciting the evidence of Daphne's +title, which it now appeared had been put into the hands of the +Burgomaster and other notables of Eswareinmal by the Marshal, just +before he had gone to meet his sudden end. He then asked, in the name of +the whole Tribunal, what the present occupants of the throne had to urge +in their own defence. + +If the Queen had possessed the legal mind she would have perceived at +once that the evidence was merely hearsay--inferences that the Marshal +had drawn from what Daphne had told him, and as proofs quite worthless. +But she had not a legal mind; and besides she knew that the proofs were +quite good enough for Maerchenland--also that the allegations happened to +be true. + +So she did not attempt to deny them. "All I can say is," she declared, +"that this is quite new to _me_. When we were brought here I was given +to understand that the Kingdom had descended to me, and of course I +accepted the responsibility. If there has been any silly mistake about +it, you can't blame me or my husband either. We've tried to do our +duty--even so far as consenting to our son's making a marriage we could +not approve of--for the sake of saving our Country from inundation. It's +not every King and Queen who would have done _that_." + +"That peril," replied the Burgomaster, "is no longer to be feared, since +the King of the Crystal Lake, on being notified of the facts in our +possession, has withdrawn his demands, saying he desires no union with a +family of ignoble and beggarly pretenders." + +"That's a let-off!" said Clarence, "though he might have put it a bit +more pleasantly, what?" + +Queen Selina felt that this repudiation had put one of her heaviest guns +out of action, but she was still undaunted. "I'm sure," she said, "_We_ +have no wish to be associated with such a person. And, as for being +pretenders, I can only say that if the Marshal had come to me and told +me what I now know, I should have been quite ready to resign in Miss +Heritage's favour. But how _could_ I, when he never breathed a word to +me about it?" + +"I should like to add," put in King Sidney, "that it has come as a +complete surprise to _me_. I'm anxious to do whatever is right and +proper, and if any reasonable arrangement can be come to, I won't stand +in the way." + +This attitude produced an immediate reaction in their favour, as was +visible from the expressions on the faces of the whole Tribunal. + +"Then," the President asked, "is the Council to understand that you are +prepared to resign at once?" + +"Certainly," said the King. "Only too pleased!" + +"Not at once," said Queen Selina. "We cannot leave the Kingdom without a +ruler--that would be very wrong. But as soon as Miss Heritage--or Queen +Daphne, if you like to call her so--chooses to come forward to claim the +crown we shall be delighted to give it up. Till then we are merely +holding it in trust for her." + +"And where is Queen Daphne at present?" asked the Burgomaster. + +"Well," said Queen Selina, "she _ought_ to be at Clairdelune by this +time." + +"She must be sent for without delay," said the President, and the order +was given that messengers on swift steeds should be despatched to +Clairdelune at once. + +"Well, gentlemen," said the Queen, after this business had been +concluded, "I hope you see that you owe us an apology for daring to put +us under arrest and treat us like criminals. Until Lady Daphne arrives +we are still the King and Queen of Maerchenland, and you will be good +enough to regard us as such." + +"The Council wishes to express its deepest regret," said the President, +"for having exposed your Majesties' persons to undeserved indignity." + +"And now, perhaps," said Queen Selina triumphantly, "we may consider +ourselves free to resume our thrones, if only to dissolve the Council?" + +The guards fell back instinctively, and she and the King were proceeding +to their usual seats under the canopy without any protest from the +President, who was engaged at the time in deciphering the contents of a +packet which had just been brought to him. + +Before they had reached the steps of the dais, he looked up, and ordered +them to halt in so peremptory a tone that even Queen Selina obeyed +involuntarily. + +"What's up _now_?" inquired Clarence in an undertone. + +"This packet directed to myself," said the President, "was found on the +body of the late Marshal. It contains an order under the Royal seal and +signature, which I will now read to the Council." And he read the +Queen's secret order to the Baron to convey Daphne to England, which +provoked general horror and execration. + +The Queen was thunderstruck as she heard this fresh proof of the +Marshal's duplicity--she felt more than ever that she had been a fool to +trust him--she might have known that he would take some dishonourable +advantage of her confidence! + +"What have you to answer to this?" the President was saying to her, and +she could see that both her husband and son were waiting anxiously for +her reply. + +"Is it necessary for me to deny that I ever gave such an order?" she +said, with a virtuous indignation that was really very well done. "Of +course it was forged by that wicked Marshal!" (so fortunate, she +thought, that he was dead!) "It is easy to see with what motive." + +Clarence and his father breathed again. For a few dreadful minutes they +had been haunted by an ugly fear--lest--but they ought to have felt +assured that no member of the Wibberley-Stimpson family could be so +unworthy of the name. + +"It is possible," said the venerable President doubtfully, "that the +handwriting may be but an imitation." + +"Nay," struck in the sturdy Burgomaster, "it is hers, sure enough. There +can be no doubt to my mind that both our unlawful sovereigns and their +son have plotted to deport our true Queen, the Lady Daphne, and that +their vile design has succeeded but too well!" + +"You're quite out of it, old cock!" shouted Clarence, through the roar +of assent that greeted the Burgomaster's speech. "Why should we plot +against her, when we hadn't an idea she had a right to the throne?" + +"So you allege," said the Burgomaster. "But this order speaks for +itself, and if the Council will take my advice it will order all three +of the prisoners to be executed at once in the City Square, in sight of +the people they have wronged and deceived." + +This suggestion evidently commended itself to the majority, but the +President demurred. "We must not act too hastily," he said, "lest we +find too late that we have been misled by appearances. It may be that +Queen Daphne has reached Clairdelune in safety, but of that we cannot +have sure knowledge until our messengers return. In the meantime our +prisoners must not be regarded as though they were proved guilty. I +shall order that they be removed to apartments in the North Tower, where +they are to be given honourable treatment and every indulgence save +their liberty. Should it be found that they are innocent, due reparation +shall be made them." + +"And what if we hear that our Queen is not at Clairdelune?" asked the +Burgomaster. + +"Then they shall receive no mercy," replied the President. "Their heads +shall be struck off that same day, in the great square of the Capital." + +"Good!" said the Burgomaster. "I will have the scaffold put up the +moment I return." + +"I just want to say this, Gentlemen," said Clarence before he was led +away: "if we were really guilty of trying to get rid of poor little Lady +Daphne, we should be such a set of rotters that we should jolly well +deserve losing our heads for it. But you'll find we're not." + +"I can answer for my poor wife as for myself," said King Sidney. "She is +far too much of a lady to dream of doing anything that isn't strictly +correct." + +Queen Selina said nothing--she was not feeling well enough just then. + +"Not half bad!" remarked Clarence, as he went through the suites of +rooms that were to form their prison. "Pleasant look-out from all the +windows, and the rooms jolly comfortable, considering. We shall do very +well here for a day or two." + +"Don't talk in that light way, Clarence," said his mother, "or you'll +drive me mad!" + +"Why, there's nothing to be down in the mouth about, Mater. We may have +to stick this longer, of course--depends how long those chaps take +getting back from Clairdelune. But as soon as they do get back we shall +be let out, and I shouldn't wonder if the Country gave us a thundering +good pension. It's no more than it ought to." + +"You--you mustn't count on that. You--we must all of us prepare for the +worst, the _very_ worst." + +"What skittles, Mater! What can they do to us, unless, of course, Daphne +wasn't sent to Clairdelune. But I saw her in the car myself." + +"It--it doesn't follow that--that she got there, Clarence." + +"Why on earth shouldn't she?" + +"The Baron might--might have missed the way somehow." + +"Not he! He may be an old foozle, but the storks know their job, +anyhow." + +"We mustn't make too sure--of anything," said his mother, who had the +best reasons for knowing that Miss Heritage would never be found either +in Clairdelune or Maerchenland, and that a shameful and probably +exceedingly painful death on the scaffold was their inevitable fate. + +It was terrible to think that she, the acknowledged head and master-mind +of the family, had brought them to such an end as this--more terrible +still to see both her son and husband so utterly unprepared for it. Her +nerves were jarred and fretted by King Sidney's apathy and Clarence's +light-hearted optimism, and the impossibility of arousing them to a +proper sense of their position. She could only do that by confessing +what she had done--and she shuddered at the mere thought. If it would +save them--but nothing would do that now! No, she could not lower +herself so immeasurably in their esteem; she would carry her secret with +her to the block itself! + +"Now, Mater," said Clarence, "you mustn't give way to the blues like +this. You can take it from me that we're as right as rain. So cheer up, +and let's see you smiling again." + +The unhappy Queen made a heroic attempt at a smile, but the result was +so extraordinarily ghastly that it disheartened even Clarence. + +"Oh, very well, Mater," he said, "you needn't--if it hurts you as much +as all _that_. But you've been so plucky up to now, I never thought +you'd come out as a wet blanket!" + +Even Marie Antoinette herself, thought Queen Selina bitterly, had never +had to bear being called a wet blanket! + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +"WHOSE LIGHTS ARE FLED, WHOSE GARLANDS DEAD" + + +Daphne had taken her seat in the car with somewhat conflicting feelings. +She was going to Clairdelune, where she would be reunited to Girofle--an +altogether joyous prospect, if she could hope to find the Girofle with +whom she had last parted. But he was now the magnificent young Prince +Mirliflor, and it was quite uncertain whether she would even be able to +recognise him. It would be dreadful if she discovered that she did not +care for him any longer! Perhaps it was anxiety, but still more probably +the fact of her Fairy blood that prevented her from being overcome by +the somnolence that none of purely British birth seemed able to resist +for long after entering that magic car. + +Daphne was not in the least drowsy, and thus was startled, after the +Palace and Eswareinmal had vanished out of sight, by hearing the Baron +suddenly order the storks to go to the Chapel in the forest of +Schlangenzweigen, and seeing them wheel in a direction she knew was not +that of their original destination. "What are you doing, Baron?" she +cried. "I thought you were to take me straight to Clairdelune?" + +The Baron put his hand to his heart (which he had once more been obliged +to compress by a metal hoop) before he could speak. "It is now time," he +began, "that you should be told who you are, Madam, and the glorious +future that awaits you." And, with a prolixity that may here be avoided, +he informed her of her right to the crown of Maerchenland and of the +Marshal's arrangements for placing her on the throne. + +"But I don't want to be placed on the throne!" said Daphne. "Do you +really think I should turn out these poor Wibberley-Stimpsons now--when +they behaved so decently in letting me go? It would be too horribly mean +of me if I did." + +At this he thought it his duty to enlighten her upon Queen Selina's +perfidy, which naturally altered Daphne's opinion, but did not shake her +determination. + +"If she is so keen about her crown she may keep it," she said. "All I +care for now is to get to Clairdelune and see Girofle--I mean +Mirliflor." + +"But," objected the Baron, employing the Marshal's argument, "we should +arrive there days before the Prince." + +"Then," said Daphne imperiously, "tell the storks to take us to +him--wherever he is." + +"If I did so," he objected, "the Marshal's plan would fall through!" + +"And what if it does? How do you know that he's to be trusted? I always +thought myself he had a bad face, and I don't feel at all inclined to +put myself in his power. So you will please not be a pig, Baron, but do +as I say." + +No doubt her diction should have been more on a level with her dignity, +but then it must be remembered that she had not been brought up as a +prospective Fairy Queen. + +"I am convinced," he persisted, "that the Marshal's devotion to your +Majesty's cause is beyond suspicion." + +"And I'm quite sure that it isn't," retorted Daphne. "If, as you tell +me, Baron, I am your Queen, it's your duty to obey my orders, and I +order you to take me to Mirliflor." He did not venture to oppose her any +longer, so he gave the necessary command, and the great birds wheeled +round once more towards Clairdelune. + + * * * * * + +Mirliflor had discovered, after accomplishing a third of his journey, +that his horse had suddenly gone so lame that it was unable to proceed +at any pace but a walk. He had dismounted, and was leading it until he +could reach a hostelry and provide himself with a fresh steed, when he +heard a loud throbbing in the air behind him. The next moment a large +flight of storks passed over his head and descended with a car on a spot +some yards in advance of him. He saw at once that one of the occupants +was Daphne, and leaving his horse by the wayside he went forward to meet +her, not without some constraint and uncertainty, however, for his fear +that she would love him no longer had not ceased to haunt him. + +She had alighted and was standing still, her face expressing wonder and +something of alarm. Could this splendid gallant cavalier really be her +homely Girofle? she was thinking, and if he were, how could he help her +to overcome this paralysing sense of his being a stranger? He came +towards her, feeling almost as shy as she. + +"Daphne! my dearest!" he said, stretching out his arms, "am I so changed +that you can't care for me any more?" And, as she heard his voice, all +her doubts and apprehensions suddenly fled. + +"No," she murmured, placing a fair hand on each of his broad shoulders +and looking fearlessly up into his face. "You are just the same, +really. My very own Girofle! And, oh, I'm so glad!" + +"And you forgive me for deceiving you, dearest?" he asked when the first +rapture of meeting and reassurance was over. "I was bound in honour to +tell you nothing." + +"I know," she said; "the Court Godmother is to blame for that--not you. +And I was prepared to find you changed, Gir--Mirliflor--only--not quite +so changed as this." + +"If you would love me better as I was, darling," he said, "tell me so, +and I will make her transform me again. I will become Girofle for the +rest of my life--rather than lose you!" + +"I don't think she is well enough to be asked to do that now," replied +Daphne. "And, besides"--and here she held him from her at arm's +length--"besides, now I look at you, you really are rather nice, you +know! No, darling, I won't have you altered again." + +After all, this was only in accordance with Maerchenland's precedents. +Did Beauty, for instance, resent her Beast's emergence into a Prince? +All the same, Daphne was a little ashamed of herself for the increasing +satisfaction she felt in Mirliflor's good looks--it seemed almost an +infidelity to Girofle--but she could not help it, and did not even try. + +The Baron had tactfully remained with the storks until, in his opinion, +it was time to interrupt the lovers, when he stepped towards them, +cracking loudly. + +"Sire," he said, "accept my congratulations on a good fortune that is +perchance even greater than you yet know. You have won a lady who is not +only lovely, but, as I shall show you, no other than the daughter of +our late Prince Chrysopras, and thus rightfully entitled to the crown of +Maerchenland." + +"And you knew this, Daphne?" cried Mirliflor when the Baron had +concluded. "Why did you say nothing to me about it?" + +"I only heard of it myself just now in the car," she said. "And what +does it matter? I don't want to claim the crown--all I want is to live +at Clairdelune with you." + +But he told her it was her duty to her Country to assert her just +rights, and, on being informed of the appointment with the Marshal, he +was in favour of keeping it. "He will be useful," he said, "if he is an +honest supporter of your cause." + +"But I'm quite certain he isn't!" said Daphne. + +"We can only make sure by meeting him," he replied, "and as of course I +shall be with you, you will be in no danger." + +He had no weapon but the sword that had served him so well at +Drachenstolz, which he had brought away with him rather as a _souvenir_ +than with any idea that he might need it on his journey, but Daphne felt +that, so long as Mirliflor was at her side, she had nothing to fear, and +so she readily consented to re-enter the car and be taken to the Chapel +in the forest, where the Marshal in all probability was awaiting her +arrival. + +As the car neared the borders of the forest, Mirliflor took out the silk +cap which the Baron had lent him. "I meant to have returned this to you, +Baron," he said, "but I find I have it still. With your permission, I +will keep it a little longer, as I fancy it may be useful. Don't be +alarmed, darling," he added to Daphne, "if you don't see me when I put +this on. Remember that, though I shall be invisible, I shall be near +you all the time." + +"I'll try to remember, Mirliflor," said Daphne. "But--but don't stay +invisible longer than you can possibly help." + + * * * * * + +The Chapel stood in a clearing in the very middle of the forest, and the +storks calculated their descent with such nicety that they brought the +car up in front of the door. + +The Marshal, in his plumed helmet, golden cuirass, and high boots of +gilded leather, was waiting, and now came forward to help Daphne to +alight. His vizor was raised, but the company of knights with him wore +theirs down, so that it was impossible for her to know who they were or +whether they intended her good or ill. + +"We expected you long ere this, Lady Daphne," said the Marshal as he +handed her out. + +"Did you, Marshal?" she said, trying to appear unconcerned. "We went a +little out of our way." She noticed that, either by accident or design, +several of the knights had interposed themselves between herself and the +Baron. + +"We have the less time at our disposal," said the Marshal, "so I will +come to the point at once. You have no doubt been already informed of +your rights, and that I and my companions are here to place you on the +throne, provided you accept my conditions?" + +"I--I was not told of any conditions," said Daphne. + +"There is but one," he said, and at this the Chapel door was thrown open +and a priest of extremely disreputable exterior appeared on the +threshold, with the lighted altar as his background. "Wed me--and you +shall be Queen of Maerchenland." + +"I've no wish to be that," she replied, "and, as you know, Marshal, I +have already promised to marry Prince Mirliflor." + +"You may dismiss all thought of that," he said blandly, "for if you +refuse my hand, both you and the Baron will meet with instant death, the +car and birds will also be destroyed and buried, and I have so arranged +that it will be believed that her Majesty Queen Selina has had you +removed to the distant land from which you came." + +"Marshal," pleaded Daphne, trying hard to remember that Mirliflor was +really by her side, "I must have time--time to think over your--your +proposal." + +"It may help you to decide, Lady Daphne," he said, "if you reflect that, +in any case, you will never again behold Prince Mirliflor of +Clairdelune." + +"And why not, Marshal?" said Mirliflor, as he flung away the cap of +darkness and stepped in front of his beloved. + +The Marshal knew at once that his fate was sealed. He stood no chance +whatever against a Prince who had slain a dragon singlehanded. The +knights also seemed to recognise this, or else their sympathy had veered +to Daphne's side, for they stood back in a circle without attempting to +interfere, while the priest, who perhaps had not till then understood +that the marriage ceremony was to be compulsory, promptly re-entered the +little Chapel and blew out all the candles. + +The combat was over in a second or two--as any combat would necessarily +be in which one of the antagonists was equipped with an irresistible +sword. Mirliflor, to be sure, did not know that he possessed this +somewhat unsportsmanlike advantage, and had disdained to shelter +himself, as he might have done, under the cap. But it is more than +possible that if he had known more about the sword, he would have +stretched the point of honour in this particular case. As has already +been seen, he had occasional lapses from the ideals the Fairy had +bestowed on him at his baptism, and he was quite incapable of troubling +himself about them when Daphne's life was at stake. Perhaps he ought to +have been more consistently punctilious, but he was not--which was +fortunate for both of them. + +As soon as the knights saw the Marshal fall, they hastened to protest +their loyalty to their young Queen and offer their congratulations, +which Daphne thought it politic to accept at their face value. Horses +were found for her and Mirliflor, who decided to make, with a picked +body of the knights, for a village a league from Eswareinmal and await +developments there. Of the rest of the party, some were instructed to go +back to the Palace and report the Marshal's death while hunting, the +rest remained to bury his body, and it was one of these who found the +packet, and, most unluckily for Queen Selina, thought it necessary to +deliver it in hot haste to its addressee. + +The Baron was directed to go on in the car to Clairdelune and inform +King Tournesol that his son had found a bride at last. + +On reaching the village near Eswareinmal, Mirliflor had sent on two of +his escort into the city to ascertain the state of feeling there. They +brought back the unexpected news that all the citizens now knew that the +Lady Daphne was entitled to the Crown and were demanding her; that +Queen Selina, with her husband and son, had been imprisoned on suspicion +of having made away with her, and, if she were not forthcoming by an +early date, would be executed publicly without fail. + +In the heat of his resentment at the treachery which had so nearly +succeeded in parting him from Daphne for ever, Mirliflor declared that +they should be left to the doom which they would certainly meet if +Daphne's return were kept secret for a few days. + +"Mirliflor said that--not Girofle," she told him. "Girofle would never +be so horribly cold-blooded. But even Mirliflor didn't really mean it! +Of _course_ we can't let these Stimpson people be executed. Besides, I +_know_--I can't say how, but I _do_ know--that Mr. Stimpson and +Clarence, at any rate, haven't been parties to any plot to get rid of +me. And as for Mrs. Stimpson, I dislike her, and I want to go _on_ +disliking her--which I couldn't possibly do after she had her head cut +off! So we'll go into Eswareinmal at once, Mirliflor, and do what we can +for the poor things." + +"I spoke in haste, dearest," said Mirliflor. "I was wrong, and you are +right as usual." + +"And now we're _both_ going to be right, darling!" said Daphne. + + * * * * * + +"I wish," Clarence remarked later the same day, "I wish these windows +looked out on the front. We might see her coming back in that blessed +stork-car. She'll be sure to come the quickest way when she hears we're +in the soup like this--don't you think so, Mater?" + +"I'm sure _I_ don't know!" said the tortured Queen Selina. "She mayn't +come back at all. I mean, she may keep the messengers and leave us to +perish. It is only what I should expect of her!" + +"No, dash it all, Mater, she's too much of a sport for that," he said. +"She'll either turn up or send word that she's all right." + +"Don't deceive yourself, Clarence!" said his mother. "I know better than +you can, and I tell you that she will do neither." + +"Not when it's to save our lives?" he replied. "She's bound +to--unless--unless anything has happened to her. I'm a bit worried about +that, because--well, time's getting _on_, you know--what?" + +"I trust, my boy," said his father, "we shall not be brought to +the--er--scaffold by any mistake of that kind. If that occurred, it +would be most un--" he caught his wife's eye and substituted +"unsatisfactory. I'm not sure," he added, "but I fancy I hear shouting. +Seems to come from below." + +"It certainly _is_ shouting," said Clarence, "and it's getting louder. +They're coming this way. I--I hope I'm wrong--but I've a strong +impression that we're going to get it in the neck after all!" + +"Sidney! Clarence!" cried Queen Selina, as she sank on her knees, unable +to bear her guilty burden any longer. "I--I can't die without asking you +to forgive me for--for what I have brought on you!" + +"It's no fault of yours, Mater," said Clarence. "Just the family luck, +that's all!" + +"Ah, but listen--listen!" implored his Mother; but, before she could +proceed, the door was suddenly unlocked, and Prince Tapfer von +Schneiderleinheimer entered with every sign of respect. + +"I am charged by her Majesty Queen Daphne to desire your attendance in +the Throne Room," he said, "and to convey her and Prince Mirliflor's +regret that you should have been subjected to any inconvenience by +having permitted her departure to Clairdelune." + +Queen Selina--or rather Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, as she was now once +more--hastily rose from her knees. So the Baron had disobeyed his +orders, and Miss Heritage did not even know that they had been given! +This was indeed an unhoped-for deliverance. _What_ a mercy, she thought, +that it had come just before she had spoken words she could never have +recalled! "Kindly assure--your Mistress," she said, with all the dignity +of fallen grandeur, "that while we cannot but feel that we have been +most unjustly suspected, we are willing to make every allowance for the +circumstances, and shall have much pleasure in coming down to offer our +congratulations presently. But first I want to see the Princess Royal +and Princess Ruby if they are well enough to leave their dungeons." + +"Your daughters, Madam, have merely been required to remain in their own +apartments, and are in perfect health," he replied; "I will have them +conducted to you immediately." + +"Oh, Mummy!" exclaimed Ruby a little later, as she ran to her Mother's +arms, "is it really true? Aren't you and Daddy King and Queen any more?" + +"No, my darling," said Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, "it seems the people +would rather have Miss Heritage." + +"Oh, I don't mind so much if it's Daphne. And will Prince Mirliflor be +King?" + +"I really can't say how they will arrange it--nor does it interest me +_what_ they may do." + +"It does _me_," said Ruby. "I hope they'll let us stay here with them." + +"I consider it most unlikely--even if I were willing to be a guest in my +own Palace. But I've no doubt they will make some suitable provision for +us." + +"Speaking for myself, Mother," said Edna, "I should be far happier +leading a simple life in retirement than ever I've been in this +pretentious place. And, though I never cared much about being a +Princess, we can scarcely be treated as commoners after what we _have_ +been." + +"I shall settle all these matters myself with Miss Herit--Queen Daphne, +I suppose I _ought_ to call her, but it's so difficult to get into just +at once. And now I think we will all go down to the Throne Room. +Remember on no account to show the slightest ill-feeling. Let her see +that, if we have lost everything else, we still retain our manners." + +She was herself so far from betraying any ill-feeling when she entered +the Throne Room that she was almost overwhelmingly affectionate. + +"My dear child!" she said, advancing to Daphne, who was standing in the +centre of the room with Mirliflor, "so pleased to see you both back! but +we're _all_ of us _that_! And, as I was saying to His--to my +husband--only a few minutes ago, 'I'm sure, Sidney,' I said, 'there's no +person in the world I would give up my crown to so willingly as I would +to dear Miss Heritage!'" + +"Most happy," said her husband. "We've abdicated already, your--your +Majesty--both of us--as soon as we knew the facts." + +"I--I'm most awfully glad to see your Majesty back again," said +Clarence, noting the flush on her cheeks and the sparkle in her eyes as +she glanced at Mirliflor, whom he envied more than ever. "I was +beginning to think I--er--shouldn't--you ran things a trifle close." + +"Perhaps I did," said Daphne, "but you see, I thought it was wiser to +try to find Mirliflor, before being taken to--to Clairdelune." She said +this quite simply, for she could see that, as she had been sure of from +the first, both Clarence and his father were no parties to Mrs. +Stimpson's design, and she was anxious to spare them all knowledge of it +if she could. + +Her words only confirmed Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson's sense of security; +Daphne evidently suspected nothing, probably because the false Marshal +had never handed the Baron his secret instructions. "_Much_ the best +plan, I'm sure, your Majesty!" she agreed, "though it was fortunate for +_us_ that you found dear Prince Mirliflor so soon. However, it has all +ended happily, so we will say no more about it. And now I want to beg +that you mustn't consider Us. If you would like to have possession of +the Palace at once, you have only to say so. Or if I could be of any use +to you by staying on for a little, just to show you how things ought to +be done----?" + +Daphne forced herself to be civil to her for her family's sake, not her +own. + +"It is very good of you," she said, "but I'm afraid it won't be possible +for you to stay here." + +"Well," said Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, "we shall be perfectly satisfied +with any residence--if it's only quite a moderate-sized castle--that +your Majesty is good enough to put at our disposal. Not _too_ far from +here, or poor Ruby"--here she glanced at her younger daughter, who had +taken possession of one of Daphne's hands, which she was kissing and +fondling--"would be _quite_ inconsolable at losing her dearest friend!" + +But her remarks were lost on Daphne, for just then, to Mrs. Stimpson's +surprise and secret dismay, the entrance was formally announced of the +Court Godmother, whom she had imagined to be at least moribund, if not +dead. She came in, looking frail and feeble, but still with much of the +energy and vitality that had seemed to have departed for ever. + +"Really," thought the disgusted Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, "Mother +Hubbard's dog is a fool to her!" + +Daphne had already gone to greet her and lead her to a seat. "I'm much +better, my child--in fact almost as well as ever. A day or two ago I +thought I was dying--but a little rest and the good news of your return +have quite set me up again. I begin to think I shall see my second +century out yet!" + +"It is indeed a marvellous recovery, my dear Court Godmother!" chimed in +Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson. "We've all been _so_ anxious! We should have +sent to inquire, only we couldn't--because--well, you'll hardly +_believe_ it, but we've been imprisoned (and very nearly _executed_, +too!) on a ridiculous charge of having made away with our dear young +Queen here! When, as _you_ know, I had actually gone out of my way to +have her sent to Clairdelune as soon as I found you were too ill to see +to it yourself." + +"And well for you that you did so!" said the grim old Fairy, "for if you +had played--or even sought to play--her false, I would have seen to +it--old and ailing as I am--that such treason did not go unpunished!" + +Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson shivered inwardly under the implacable old eyes; +she knew well that she could expect no mercy if the Fairy discovered +that these secret orders had ever been handed to the Baron. Only, as +the Baron had never received them, he could tell her nothing, and as the +Council now believed them to be a forgery of the Marshal's, Mrs. +Stimpson felt herself fairly safe. + +"Yes, dear Court Godmother," she said sweetly; "but you see, I +haven't--so we needn't discuss that _now_, need we? When you came in +just now, I was just telling her Majesty that we had no desire to stay +on at the Palace longer than is unavoidable, but that, naturally, we +were anxious to know where accommodation would be found for us--nothing +grand, of course, _any_ fairly large _chateau_ would suit us." + +"I'm sorry," said Daphne, after stooping to kiss Ruby, "but that is +quite impossible." + +"Impossible?" cried Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson. "I can't believe that your +Majesty would turn us out of our own Palace, without a home to go to!" + +"You have 'Inglegarth,'" said Daphne, "and as soon as the Baron returns +with the car he shall take you there." + +"I am much obliged to your Majesty," returned Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, +her complexion deepening to a rich purple, "very much obliged for such +truly generous treatment! Some people might think that, considering that +you wouldn't be Queen at all but for our kindness in taking you with us, +when we were brought here--by no seeking of _ours_--to reign over this +ridiculous country--I say, _some_ people might call this rather shabby +and ungrateful. Especially when we gave way the moment we were told +there had been a mistake--sooner than make any fuss or trouble--as few +Sovereigns in our position would have done! And now it seems we're to be +rewarded by being bundled back to a suburban residence which, whatever +else may be said for it, is absurdly inadequate for any retired +Royalties! But you will find we are not to be got rid of quite so +easily. I absolutely decline to go back to Gablehurst to be an ordinary +nobody after what I have been. Nothing in the world shall induce me to!" + +"My love," said her husband, "we can't stay here if we're not wanted." + +"No, Mater," said Clarence, "we've got to clear." + +"I shall be thankful to get away myself," added Edna. "What is +Maerchenland, after all?--just a petty little Kingdom that nobody even +knows is in existence!" + +"_You_ may go if you please," Mrs. Stimpson declared. "_I_ shall +stay--if I have to sit and starve to death at the Palace Gates! And a +pretty scandal _that_ will be!" + +"If you were allowed to starve," said the Fairy Vogelflug--"which you +wouldn't be, you'd get food enough--but no sympathy. So I should advise +you myself to return to your own Country, where you are probably held in +more esteem than you are here. And now," she added to Daphne, "I must +ask your Majesty's leave to withdraw to my own apartments. I shall be +obliged if you would send the Baron to me as soon as he arrives from +Clairdelune." And with this, and a stiff but stately curtesy to the +young Queen, she hobbled out of the Throne Room. + +"I shall maintain to my dying breath," declared Mrs. Stimpson +vehemently, "that, after governing this Country as we have done, we have +earned the right to stay in it. I consider we are not only entitled to +that, but to a suitable establishment and pension. Your Majesty can +surely spare us something out of all we have given up!" + +Daphne intimated that she wished to reply to Mrs. Stimpson in private, +whereupon the others withdrew out of hearing and left them together. + +"I hate having to say it," she began in a low voice, "but you really +can't stay here on any terms, Mrs. Stimpson--I think I needn't tell you +why." + +"Your Majesty surely doesn't suspect me of any----?" + +"I don't suspect," said Daphne, "I _know_ how you tried to part me from +Prince Mirliflor for ever--and how nearly you succeeded. _He_ knows, +too.... Oh, you are in no danger from us--_we_ shall say nothing. But +there is someone else who _might_." + +"Not--not the Baron?" cried Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, so thrown off her +guard that she failed to see how completely the question gave her away. + +"Yes," said Daphne gravely, "the Baron. You heard what the Court +Godmother said about seeing him as soon as he returns? We have forbidden +him to speak--but it's quite possible that she will get the truth out of +him--and that might be rather disagreeable for you, mightn't it?" + +"Very," agreed the trembling Mrs. Stimpson. "She'd have no mercy on +me--on any of us!" + +"I'm afraid not," said Daphne, "and she might not listen even to me. +So--don't you think it would be wiser to change your mind about staying +and go back to Gablehurst before she _does_ see him?" + +"Much," said Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson in a half-choked voice--"much! +if--if it can be arranged." + +"I think it can. The journey to Clairdelune and back won't tire the +storks--they will be quite able to take you over to England as soon as +you are ready to start." + +"We'll go and get ready at once," said Mrs. Stimpson, "so as not to keep +the car waiting." + +"You have plenty of time. It can't be here for some hours yet." + +"Oh, I hope the Baron will make haste--and--and if your Majesty _could_ +only prevent him from seeing the Court Godmother till after we are +gone!" + +"She will probably be asleep," said Daphne, "but in any case he shall +have instructions to take you home the very moment he arrives at the +Palace. I think," she added, "that is all we had to say to one another." + +"Except," said Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, "that your Majesty really must +allow me to express my deep sense of the very handsome----" + +"No, _please_!" said Daphne, turning away, for she felt that she had had +as much of Mrs. Stimpson as she could stand just then. + +That good lady, having partially recovered her equanimity, retreated to +her husband and family. + +"I've been talking it over with her Majesty, Sidney," she announced, +"and she has _quite_ brought me to see that, under the circumstances, we +shall really be more comfortable in dear old England. So she has kindly +arranged for us to be taken home in the car directly it gets back from +Clairdelune." + +"Glad to hear it, my love," said the ex-Monarch. "Personally, I much +prefer 'Inglegarth' to this sort of thing." + +"But I say," Clarence put in, glancing down at his fantastic attire, "I +don't quite see myself going back to Gablehurst in _this_ get up. Wish +I knew what had become of the kit we came in!" + +It was now the hour when the Court was accustomed to go up and change +their costumes before dinner, and Daphne felt a difficulty as to the +proper course to pursue with the Wibberley-Stimpsons. Could she without +indelicacy invite them to sit as guests at what had lately been their +own table? And yet it seemed hardly human to leave them out. She decided +that the former course was on the whole less open to objection. + +"I hope," she said to Mrs. Stimpson, with a touch of shyness, "that you +will all give me the pleasure of dining with us this evening? You see, +you must have something to eat before such a long journey." + +"Your Majesty is most kind," said Mrs. Stimpson in a great flurry, "but, +if you will excuse us from accepting what--no one knows better than +I--is really a command, I--I really _don't_ think we should have time to +sit through a long dinner. We--we might miss the car--and besides, +there's the question of dressing. If we could have a few sandwiches and +a little wine in one of the vestibules while we are waiting for the car, +that will be all we shall require!" + +"You shall do exactly as you please about it," replied Daphne. She was +greatly relieved, as one reason for her hesitation in asking them had +been the dread that Mr. Stimpson might think himself called upon to make +an after-dinner speech. + +Her ladies-in-waiting were already in her Tiring-Chamber, highly +delighted by the prospect of arraying a Queen whom, even when she had +been nominally one of themselves, they had always not merely admired but +adored. + +It had suddenly occurred to Daphne that the Stimpson family might find +themselves on their return to Gablehurst in certain difficulties against +which she felt bound to do what she could to protect them. + +She thought over the best means of doing this, which took so much time +to carry out that the business of arraying her for her first banquet as +a Royal Hostess had to be got through more hurriedly than her ladies of +the Bedchamber thought at all decorous. + +But she knew that Mirliflor would be well content with her, however she +looked--and as a matter of fact he not only was, but had every reason to +be so. + +The Wibberley-Stimpsons had already ascertained that the clothes they +had worn on their arrival in Maerchenland had been carefully laid up in +one of the Royal wardrobes, from which they were brought at their +earnest request. They put them on in frantic haste, and, in deadly fear +of being surprised by the Royal Household, they stole down the great +Staircase to an antechamber by the Entrance Hall. There they found a +table set with every description of tempting food, to which all did +justice but Mrs. Stimpson, the state of whose nerves had entirely taken +away her appetite. She was continually starting up and saying, "Listen! +I'm _sure_ I hear these storks!" + +"You'd better eat something, Mater," Clarence said. "It's the last +dinner we shall ever have in Maerchenland." + +"I can't," she replied, "I don't know how any of _you_ can.... There go +the silver trumpets! She's going into the Banqueting Hall now. On Prince +Mirliflor's arm, most likely! How she can have the _heart_ when she +_must_ know we are still here!" + +"She _did_ ask us to dinner, my love," Mr. Stimpson mildly reminded her. + +"She had the execrable taste to do that, Sidney," replied his wife, "and +I think the manner in which I declined must have been a lesson to +her.... Dear me, is that car _never_ coming?" + +She said that many times during the evening, as they sat on in the ebony +and ivory chamber, while the strains of music reached them faintly from +the distant Ballroom. + +Clarence thought gloomily of the dance on the night of the Coronation, +and how his mother had forbidden him to choose Daphne as his partner. +Perhaps, if he had insisted on having his own way--if he had not limited +himself to a merely morganatic alliance, she might have--but it was too +late to grouse about that now! He endeavoured to cheer himself by the +thought that he would very soon be in a civilised land of cigarettes. + +It was getting late, and the music had now ceased, from which they +gathered that the Queen and Court had already retired. "She _might_ have +had the common civility to say good-bye to us!" complained Mrs. +Stimpson, "but of course she is too grand now to condescend so far! Not +that _I_ have any desire to see her again. On the contrary!" + +The doors of the Vestibule were thrown open here and one of the ushers +announced: "Her Majesty the Queen and His Royal Highness Prince +Mirliflor." + +"Coming here to triumph over us!" was Mrs. Stimpson's comment as she +rose. + +"We came to wish you a pleasant journey to Gablehurst," explained +Daphne, as she entered, followed by Mirliflor. "I hope you won't have to +wait for the car _much_ longer, but I've told the attendants in the +Hall to let you know the minute it is here." + +She was looking radiantly lovely and girlish--and queenly as well, in +spite of the fact that she was still uncrowned. But if she had had the +right to wear her crown, she was incapable of doing so just then. + +Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson made a curtsey that might have been lower if she +had had any practice--but all the curtseying previously had been done to +herself. "We thank your Majesty," she said. "I too hope there will be no +more of this delay. I am getting worn out with all this waiting. Oh, +while I think of it," she went on (the desire to be offensive overcoming +any fear of the consequences), "of course we are not in a position _now_ +to give really _valuable_ wedding presents--and I'm afraid mine must be +a _very_ humble offering, particularly as it needs repairing. However, +such as it is, perhaps your Majesty will honour me by accepting it with +our congratulations and _very_ best wishes?" And she offered the jewel +which she had formerly acquired from Daphne. Daphne's eyebrows +contracted for an instant, but the next moment she laughed. + +"I really couldn't, Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson!" she said. "You see, you +have already given it to Clarence, and I mustn't deprive him of it." + +"Won't you accept it from _me_, then?" he said awkwardly. "I--I shan't +have any use for it now." + +She shook her head. "You will please me so much better by keeping it," +she said gently--"in memory of Maerchenland." + +It was true that it had once belonged to her father--the father she had +never known--but then it had also belonged to Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, +and Daphne was conscious now of an invincible unwillingness to accept +any gift from that lady. + +"I--I'd do anything to please you," said Clarence, taking the pendant +from his mother and slipping it into the pocket of his dinner-jacket. + +Ruby, in the white silk frock she had last worn at "Inglegarth," was +clinging to Daphne. "I don't want to go back!" she wailed, "I want to +stay here with you. Won't you send for me some day? Say you will; do say +you will!" + +Daphne stooped to caress and comfort her, and also to hide her own +emotion. "I wish I could, darling," she said tenderly, "but I'm afraid, +I'm _afraid_ I mustn't make any promises that I'm not sure of being able +to keep." + +"Then say you will--_perhaps_!" entreated Ruby, but her mother promptly +interposed. + +"Ruby, my dear," she said, "you're forgetting how far her Majesty is now +our superior. A Palace is no longer a fit place for any of us to visit, +and I consider it best we should remain in future strictly in our +respective spheres." + +"Then I will go to mine at once," said Daphne, smiling. "Good-bye, Mrs. +Wibberley-Stimpson. Good-bye, Edna." She held out her hand to both of +them, but they curtsied formally without offering to take it. "Good-bye, +dearest little Ruby--I hope your next governess will love you nearly as +much as I do--she can't _quite_! Good-bye, Mr. Stimpson--I think you +will be rather glad to be back in the City again, won't you?" + +"I shall, indeed, your Majesty," he said. "To tell you the honest truth, +I don't think I was ever cut out for a monarch." + +It was Clarence's turn next, and when he saw her offering him her hand +with the old frank friendliness, he had a renewed sense of his own +unworthiness. + +"No," he said in a low voice, "you can't want to shake hands with--with +such a hopeless rotter as I've been!" + +"I shouldn't," she replied, "if I weren't sure that you could be +something very much better if you chose. And I know you _will_ choose." + +"I will," he said, "I swear I will--if I ever get the chance!" + +"Your chance will come. Quite soon, perhaps. And when it does, remember +that I believe in you--and, good-bye, Clarence." + +"Good-bye--Daphne," he said brokenly. As he took her hand he thought +with a keen pang that he had never held it before, and never would +again. And the time had been--or so at least he imagined--when he might +have made that hand his own for ever! + +"Good night, Mirliflor," said Daphne, as he held aside the hangings for +her. "We shall meet to-morrow." + +She passed into the great Hall with a dignity the more charming for +being so natural and unconscious--and that was the last Clarence was +ever destined to see of her. + +He turned to Mirliflor, whose eyes still betrayed the pride he felt in +his beloved. "I don't mind telling you, old chap--er--Prince Mirliflor, +that I took to you from the start, and--as I can't be the lucky man +myself, I'm jolly glad it's to be _you_!" + +"Thank you," said Mirliflor, who was less given to florid phrases than +the average Fairy Prince. "So am I." + +"I dare say," Clarence went on, as he realised the contrast between his +own clothes and the magnificent costume that the old Fairy had provided +for her royal godson, "I dare say you're thinking we're not looking very +smart?" + +Mirliflor was honestly able to disclaim having any impressions on the +subject. + +"Well, these togs must seem a bit rummy to _you_--but I can assure you +that, for informal occasions like the present, they're quite the right +thing in England." (He had a momentary impulse to except his father's +white tie, but, after all, why should he say anything about that when +Mirliflor knew no better? So he decided to pass it), "Worn by the very +best Society." + +Mirliflor politely accepted this information, and then made his +farewells. Edna's good wishes were couched in a spirit of frigid +magnanimity. She had too much self-respect to let him perceive that she +resented his fickleness. + +They were now alone in the antechamber. From time to time Mrs. +Wibberley-Stimpson would rise impatiently and peer out into the vast +hall, now only lit by one or two flickering cressets, to see if the +stork-car had arrived--but the attendants in waiting always assured her +that it had not, and, after some fussing and fretting, she lay down on a +divan and fell into an uneasy slumber. + +Her husband was snoring placidly; Ruby had cried herself to sleep long +before; Edna had brought down her lecture-notes, and was conscientiously +employing the time in polishing up her knowledge of English Literature. + +Her notes on Nietzsche's philosophy had been torn out after the rupture +with the Count. Somehow the Nietzschean theories did not seem to work +quite well when carried into practice. But, after deciphering a very few +Literature notes, Edna found herself too drowsy to continue. + +Clarence remained awake longest. He had wandered restlessly out into the +hall just to look at the great Staircase half lost in the gloom. Daphne +had ascended it a little while since. To-morrow she would come down, +fresh and radiant, to meet Mirliflor. Before long they would be married +and crowned, and live happy ever after in the good old Maerchenland way. +Well, he wouldn't have to look on and see them doing it, which was some +consolation. He went back to the antechamber and regarded the sleeping +forms of his family with disillusioned eyes. "We look like Royalties--I +_don't_ think!" he said to himself. "No wonder they've booted us out. +Why, a bally rabbit-warren would!" + +But this depressing reflection soon ceased to trouble him, unless it +still continued to shadow his dreams. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +SQUARING ACCOUNTS + + +Almost simultaneously Mr. Wibberley-Stimpson and his son and daughters +opened their eyes, then rubbed them, and sat up and looked about them +with a bewilderment that gradually gave way to intense relief. For, +although the light had faded, their surroundings were reassuringly +familiar. They were in their own drawing-room at "Inglegarth." It +occurred at once to most of them that they had never actually left +it--an impression that was pleasantly confirmed by Mrs. +Wibberley-Stimpson's first remark as she awoke later. + +"Why, hasn't the dinner-gong gone yet?" she inquired crossly. "Cook gets +more and more unpunctual!" + +"I don't think it can be eight o'clock yet, my dear," said her husband, +"it's quite light still." + +"Nonsense, Sidney, it must be long past dinner-time! I've been so lost +in my own thoughts that somehow I----" + +"Now, Mother, you know you've been asleep and only just woke up!" said +Edna, from one of the chintz couches. + +"Have I? Perhaps I _did_ drop off just for a few seconds. In fact I must +have done--for I begin to recollect having quite a curious dream. I +dreamed that you and I, Sidney, were King and Queen of some absurd +fairy Kingdom or other, and that--well, it was not at _all_ a pleasant +dream." + +"It's a most singular coincidence, Selina," he said, "but I've been +dreaming much the same sort of thing myself!" + +The others looked at one another, but none of them ventured to express +just yet what was in all their minds. + +"Have you?" said his wife languidly. "I suppose it was telepathy or +something of that kind. Ring for Mitchell, Clarence--I hope dinner has +not been allowed to get cold. And--and Miss Heritage seems to have left +the drawing-room. Run up, Ruby, and tell her to come down." + +"I don't believe she's upstairs at all, mummy," said Ruby. "No, of +course she _can't_ be. We left her in the Palace--don't you remember? +_She's_ Queen now, you know?" + +"Queen! Miss Heritage! Why, you don't mean to tell me you've been +dreaming that too?" + +"So have I, as far as that goes, mater," said Clarence. "If it _was_ a +dream, and not--not----" + +"How could it be anything else? Besides, here we all _are_, exactly as +we were!" + +"We've got our cloaks and things on, though," said Ruby. "_I_ know how +it was! We've been brought here in the stork-car while we were fast +asleep. We sat up ever so long waiting for it." + +"It can't be! I won't believe anything so absurd. Draw the curtains, +somebody, and pull up the blinds.... It's odd, but it certainly looks +more like early morning than any other time. Clarence, go out and strike +the gong. Perhaps the maids haven't finished dressing yet." + +Clarence went out accordingly. The gong bellowed and boomed from the +hall, but there was no sound of stirring above. "I say," he reported, +"I've just looked into the dining-room, and all the chairs are upside +down on the table. That looks rather as if we'd been away for a +bit--what?" + +"Clarence! You're not beginning to think that--that all that about our +having been a Royal Family may be _true_?" + +"Well, Mater," he said, "if we haven't been in Maerchenland, where _have_ +we been? Oh yes, we've been Royalties right enough--and a pretty rotten +job we made of it!" + +At this time there was a deprecatory knock at the drawing-room door. +"Mitchell!" cried her mistress, "don't you know better than to--?" +However, it was not Mitchell that entered--but a person unknown--a +respectable-looking elderly female, who seemed to have made a hasty +toilette. + +"Askin' your pardons," she said, "but if you were wishing to see the +family, they're away just now." + +"We _are_ the family," replied Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson. "We have +been--er--abroad, but have returned. And we should be glad of breakfast +at once." + +"I can git you a cup of tea as soon as the kittle's on the boil," she +said, "but I'm only put in as caretaker like, and I've nothink in the +'ouse except bread and butter. The shops'll be opening now, so if you +don't object to waiting a little, I could go out and get you a naddick +and eggs and such like." + +"Yes, buck up, old lady!" said Clarence, "and I say, see if you can get +a _Daily Mail_ or a paper of some sort." + +"What are you so anxious to see the paper for?" inquired Edna after the +caretaker had departed. + +"Only wanted to know what month we're in," he said. "It would have +looked so silly to ask her what day it is. We must have been--over +there--a good long time." + +"At least a year!" said Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, no longer able to +sustain the dream theory. "More. When we left it was quite early +Spring--and now all the trees are out! Sidney, what _will_ your firm say +to your having been away so long without letting them know where you +were?" + +"I can't say, my love. I'm afraid they might make it a ground for a +dissolution of partnership--unless I can give them a satisfactory +explanation of my absence." + +"The difficulty will be to find one!" said his wife. "As for you, +Clarence, they will be too glad to see you back again at the Insurance +Office to ask any questions." + +"I dare say they would, Mater, only--it didn't seem worth mentioning +before--but, as a matter of fact, I--er--resigned the day we left." + +"Then it seems," said Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson bitterly, "we have been +sent back here to find ourselves in comparative poverty! I hope and +trust"--she felt furtively in her bead handbag before continuing more +cheerfully--"that we shall be able to struggle through somehow." + +She knew now that they would not be without resources. She could feel +them through the handkerchief in which they had been wrapped--two pieces +which she had had the presence of mind to pick up from the Halma board +as she passed through Edna's and Ruby's chamber the evening before. One +was carved from a ruby, the other from a diamond, and each of them was +worth a small fortune. Her one regret now was that she had not pocketed +several more while she was about it. But, although she would have been +perfectly within her rights in doing so--for were they not her own +property?--she had thought at the time that it would be risky to take +any number that could be noticed. There was always the chance that Miss +Heritage might count them! + +However, she said nothing about this to her family just then; it would +be a pleasant surprise for them later on. + +"But," she continued, "I _do_ think it might have occurred to Miss +Heritage--I can't and won't call her by any other name--that, as she was +known to be in my employment when we left 'Inglegarth,' our returning +without her may expose us to very unpleasant remarks. People may think +I've discharged her--left her stranded in foreign parts--or I don't know +what!" + +"That is what she _calculated_ on, no doubt!" said Edna. + +"Oh, stop it, Edna!" said her brother, "you ought to know her better +than that!" + +"Oh, of course she's an angel--in _your_ estimation! But she could have +saved mother from being misunderstood if she'd wanted to--and since she +hasn't--well, I'll leave you to draw the obvious inference!" + +Ruby, who had been roving about the room during this conversation, now +broke in: + +"Mummy," she cried, "there's a letter here for you, and it looks like +darling Queen Daphne's writing!" And she brought it to her mother. It +was enclosed in a folded square of parchment--envelopes, like other +modern conveniences, being unknown in Maerchenland--and fastened with the +royal signet, which Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson broke with a melancholy +reminiscence of the satisfaction it had given her to use the seal +herself. + + "_Dear Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson_," she read aloud--"_As I am about + to be married here very shortly, my return with you to England will + naturally be impossible. It is a great grief to me to have to part + from my dear little pupil Ruby, to whom I have become so deeply and + sincerely attached. Will you please tell her from me that I shall + never forget her, and miss her very much indeed.--Believe me, very + truly yours,_ + + DAPHNE HERITAGE." + +"Well," commented Mrs. Stimpson, while poor Ruby's tears began to flow +afresh, "that is certainly a letter which I could show to _anybody_. +Though I notice she doesn't say anything about being grieved to part +with anyone but Ruby. A deliberate slight to the rest of us! And then +the meanness of turning us out without the slightest return for all +we've done for her! It _does_ show such petty ingratitude!" + +"Easy on, Mater!" said Clarence. "She don't seem to have let us go away +quite empty-handed after all. I mean to say there's a box or something +over there that I fancy I've seen before in the Palace." + +He went up to examine it as he spoke. It was an oblong case, rather +deeper and squarer than a backgammon box, covered with faded orange +velvet and fitted with clasps and corners of finely wrought silver set +with precious stones. + +Inside were the emerald and opal "halma" board and ruby and diamond +pieces, and with them a slip of parchment with Daphne's handwriting. "_I +thought perhaps_," she had written, "_you might care to have this. +Princess Rapunzelhauser tells me she is afraid two of the men are +missing, but I hope she is mistaken and they are really all there.--D._" + +"_I_ shall never play with them!" declared Ruby breaking down once more. +"I--I couldn't bear to, without Her!" + +"Of _course_ you will never play with them, my dear," said her mother, +"they are far too valuable for that." + +A very inadequate impression of Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson's strength of +character must have been given if anyone expects that this gift would +cause her the slightest degree of shame or contrition; on the contrary, +it only served to justify her in her own eyes--not that she needed any +justification--for having appropriated those two pieces. She had merely +anticipated--and nothing would be easier than to put them back in the +box without being observed. + +"A magnificent present!" pronounced Mr. Stimpson. "Really what I should +call very handsome indeed of her. If we ever had to sell this set they'd +fetch a colossal sum--_here_--simply colossal!" + +"And a minute ago, Mater," said Clarence, "you accused her of being +mean!" + +"Well," she replied, "and what are these things, when all is said, to +the riches we've surrendered to her? A mere trifle--which she'll never +even miss!" + +"You're forgetting they were hers--not ours--all the time. And we've +left her precious little gold to go on with. It makes me sick to hear +you running her down, when, when ... well, anyhow, Mater, I'll be glad +if you won't--in _my_ hearing!" + +"There's no occasion to use that tone to _me_, Clarence. I have my own +opinion of Miss Heritage, and I am not likely to alter it now. But if +you choose to keep your illusions about her, _I_ shall say nothing to +disturb them." + +"You may be very clever, Clarence," said Edna, "I know you _think_ you +are, but there's _one_ subject at all events you're hopelessly ignorant +about--and that's _Women_!" + +"I don't mind owning it," he retorted. "I'd have taken my oath once that +a highly superior cultivated English girl like you could never have +cottoned to any Johnny in the Ogre line of business. But you've shown me +my mistake!" + +Edna, who was scarlet with wrath, would no doubt have made an obvious +rejoinder had not a diversion been caused by the caretaker, who appeared +with that morning's _Daily Mail_. + +"Ah, so you managed to get a paper?" cried Clarence. "Good!" and he took +it from her hands and opened it. "I say," he announced as soon as they +were alone, "we haven't been away so long as we thought. We're still in +1914. Saturday, twenty-fifth of July." + +"Is that all?" said his mother. "But I remember now that tiresome old +Court Godmother saying that Time went quicker in Maerchenland than it +does here. I don't understand how--but there's evidently _some_ +difference. The twenty-fifth of July? Dear me, the Pageant must be over +and done with long ago! Not of course that I should have cared to take +part in it _now_!" + +"Well, my boy," said Mr. Stimpson as Clarence ran through the columns of +the paper, "and what's the latest news?" + +"First defeat of Middlesex," replied Clarence; "Surrey's at the head of +the table now for the Championship! Fine batting by Gloucester at +Nottingham yesterday--319 to Notts 299 first innings, and 75 for three +wickets!" + +"Capital!" said his father without enthusiasm, "and what about Politics? +Got Home Rule yet?" + +"I'll tell you in a minute.... Looks as if they hadn't. Breakdown of +Home Rule Conference at Buckingham Palace. Wonder what the Government +will do _now_." + +"They've only to be firm," said Mr. Stimpson, in his character as +ex-autocrat. "If Ulster chooses to resent the will of the People as +expressed in the last General Election, well, she must be put down, or +what's our Army _for_, I should like to know. Any other news?" + +"Nothing much, except that Austria's just sent an ultimatum to Servia. +Seems the Austrian Grand Duke's been assassinated, and Austria believes +the Servians were in it. Anyhow, they've got to knuckle down by six +o'clock to-night or they'll be jolly well walloped. But of course +they'll give in when they're up against Austria.... I see these writing +chaps are doing their best to work up a scare, though. Here's one of 'em +actually saying it may 'plunge all Europe into War.' Good old Armageddon +coming off at last, I suppose. How they can write such tommy-rot!" + +"It's only to send up their circulation," said Mr. Wibberley-Stimpson. +"Depend upon it, there'll be no War. None of the Powers want it--too +expensive in these days. They'll see that it's settled without fighting. +And even if they can't, _we_ shan't be dragged in--we shall just let 'em +fight it out among themselves, and when it's over we shall come in for a +share of the pickings!" + +"Well," said Clarence, as he crumpled the paper into a ball and tossed +it away, "we needn't worry ourselves about Armageddon--got something +more serious to think about." + +"What do you mean, Clarence?" inquired his mother uneasily. + +"Why," he said, "it seems we've been away about four months. We can +explain now why Miss Heritage hasn't come back with us. She's made that +all right by her letter--and a trump she was to think of it! But what +are we going to say when people want to know--and you can bet they +_will_--where we've been all this time and what we've been doing?" + +"We can simply tell them we have been temporarily occupying exalted +positions in a foreign country which we are not at liberty to mention," +suggested Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson hopefully. + +"We _could_," he said; "and the reply we should get would probably be +'Rats.' They might put it more politely--but that's what it would amount +to. Believe me, you'll never make people here swallow you and the +governor as the late King and Queen of Fairyland--it's a jolly sight too +thick! Besides, there's nothing particular in what we've done there to +brag about--what?" + +"_I_ at least have nothing to reproach myself with," said his mother +virtuously. "Still I agree with you, Clarence, that perhaps it _would_ +be better if we could give some account of ourselves which would sound a +little less improbable." + +"We shall have to invent one. And as soon as we've done breakfast I vote +we put our heads together and fake something up. But, whatever it is, we +must all remember to stick to it!" + +And after long and strenuous cogitation, the Stimpson family managed to +construct a fairly plausible story of an unexpected summons to a remote +part of the world, in which they were obliged by circumstances to remain +without any facilities for informing their friends of their situation. + +There was one danger which Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson foresaw. At any time +she might encounter the Duchess of Gleneagles or Lady Muscombe in +Society. However, she decided that the risk was almost negligible. After +all, their respective circles could not be said to intersect and, if she +ever _should_ come across either of these distinguished ladies, it would +be easy to deny all recollection of ever having met them before. + +And thus reassured, she was able to support the official version of the +family adventures so whole-heartedly that she ended by accepting it as +the only authentic one. + +Ruby, it is true, confided a widely different account in secret to one +or two of her most intimate friends. + +But Ruby's story met with the fate that is only too certain to befall +this veracious and absolutely unexaggerated narrative--nobody was ever +found to believe a single word of it! + + + + +EPILOGUE + + +The re-appearance of the Wibberley-Stimpsons, coupled with the +circumstantial explanations they gave of their mysterious absence +abroad, provided their friends and neighbours with very nearly the +proverbial nine days' wonder. It might have done so even longer, but for +that fateful beginning of August, when, with appalling suddenness, the +blow was dealt which shattered the peace of Europe and convulsed the +whole world. + +Then the Fools' Paradise in which England had so long luxuriated +crumbled beneath her feet, and left her face to face with stern +realities. Nothing was the same, or ever would be the same, again. +Issues, causes, topics, which scarcely a week before had seemed of such +vital and engrossing importance, shrivelled into insignificance or +extinction under the scorching blast of war. + +And so it followed that Gablehurst entirely forgot its previous +curiosity concerning the private affairs of the Wibberley-Stimpson +family, thereby relieving them from a strain on their inventive powers +which they had begun to find extremely wearing. + +The crisis afforded Mr. Stimpson a long-desired occasion for taking a +spirited part in politics. At the suggestion of his wife, who reasoned +that in so Conservative a neighbourhood it would be popular to condemn +any steps a Radical Government had taken, he summoned a public meeting +to protest against the British Ultimatum to Germany, on the ground that +England's safety and interests alike depended on her preserving the +strictest neutrality under any circumstances whatever. As his sole +supporter on the platform was a recently naturalised British subject +with a pronounced German accent, the result of this patriotic endeavour +was, as he admitted afterwards, "a little unfortunate." Mrs. +Wibberley-Stimpson herself was compelled to recognise, as she led him +home with two black eyes and only one coat-tail, that she had been less +correct than usual in estimating the local sentiment, though, of course, +she ascribed his treatment entirely to the lack of tact and ability with +which he had handled his subject. However, they have long since +succeeded in living all that down. Mr. Stimpson very soon recognised +that his views of the situation had been mistaken, and made haste to +publish his conviction of the righteousness of our cause. No one now +enlarges with more fervour on the ruin and disgrace that would have +overtaken us if we had been induced to stand aside by persons he refers +to as "those infernal cranks and pacifists." + +Moreover, he acquired further merit by his generous contribution of two +thousand pounds to the Prince of Wales' Fund--a contribution which +caused a sensation among many who could give a fairly shrewd guess at +the income he drew as a partner in the firm of Cramphorn, Stimpson, & +Thistleton. + +But then they did not know that, shortly before, he had disposed of two +exquisitely carved pieces--one diamond, and the other ruby--by private +contract to an American millionaire, for a sum which would have covered +an even more princely donation. He has several more of these +curiosities, but is reserving them for times when they are more likely +to fetch their proper value. + +As for his wife and elder daughter, they have already achieved the +distinction of sitting on more War Committees, and talking more at every +one of them, than any other ladies in Gablehurst. + +It is unnecessary to say that they have also knitted a prodigious +quantity of garments, or at least did until they were requested to +abandon their colour-schemes for the regulation khaki wool--which +perceptibly cooled their enthusiasm. + +But, after all, the greatest exhibition of self-denial was given by +Ruby, who parted with her latest and best-beloved acquisitions--two +tree-frogs and an axolotl--and sent the proceeds of their sale to the +Red Cross Society. + +Clarence had made several applications for such vacant berths as he +could hear of in the City which seemed to combine the advantages of +light work and a heavy salary, but somehow the principals he interviewed +could not be brought to share his own conviction that he was exactly the +person to suit them. He had referred them to his previous employers, but +even that had led to no favourable result. + +The war had not gone on long, however, when it was forcibly borne in +upon him that, if there was no particular demand in business circles for +his services, they were needed rather urgently just then by his King and +Country. + +And so, one evening before dinner, he strolled casually into the +drawing-room at "Inglegarth" and electrified his family by mentioning +that he had offered himself that afternoon to a certain Cavalry +regiment, and been pronounced physically fit after examination. + +His mother was naturally the most deeply affected by the news, though, +after the first shock was over, she was sustained by recollecting that +she had caught herself secretly envying a neighbour, whom she had never +looked upon as a social equal, but whose boy had just obtained a +commission in the Territorials. + +"You might have prepared us for this, Clarence!" she said, as soon as +she could speak. "It's a heavy blow to me--to us all. Still, if you feel +it your duty to go, I hope your Father and I are not the parents to hold +you back. If I'm not on one of the same committees as Lady Harriet," she +added more brightly, "I really think I must call and let her know. She +would be so interested to hear that you are now a Cavalry officer." + +"You might make it a Field-Marshal, Mater, while you're about it!" he +returned. "But, if you want to be accurate, you'd better describe me as +a bally trooper, because that's all I am, or likely to be." + +"A trooper!" exclaimed his horrified mother. "Clarence, you _can't_ mean +to tell us you've enlisted as an ordinary common soldier! I couldn't +possibly permit you to throw yourself away like that, nor, I am sure, +will your Father! Sidney, of course you will insist on Clarence's +explaining at once to the Colonel, or whoever accepted him, that he +finds we object so strongly to his joining that he is obliged to +withdraw his offer." + +"Certainly," said Mr. Stimpson. "Certainly. It's not too late yet, my +boy. You've only to say that we can't allow it--you're more badly wanted +at home--and they're sure to let you off." + +"Can't quite see myself telling 'em that, Guv'nor. Even if I _wanted_ to +be let off--which I don't." + +"After the way you've been brought up and everything!" cried Mrs. +Wibberley-Stimpson. "To sink to _this_! Has it occurred to you that you +would have to associate entirely with persons of the very lowest class?" + +"You wouldn't say that if you'd seen some of the Johnnies who passed the +Vet with me," he replied. "And, as to classes, all that tosh is done +away with now. There's only one class a fellow can't afford to associate +with--the slackers who ought to be in khaki and aren't. I couldn't have +stuck being in that crowd any longer, and I'm jolly lucky to have got +well out of it!" + +"All the same, Clarence," lamented his Mother, "you _must_ see what a +terrible come-down it is for _you_, who not so very long ago were a +Crown Prince!" + +"I thought we'd agreed to forget all that, Mater," he said, wincing +slightly. "Anyway, if I don't turn out a better Tommy than I did a +Prince, they won't have me in the regiment long. But I'm not going to +get the push this time, if I can help it. Come, Mater," he concluded, +"don't worry any more over what's done and can't be undone--just try and +make the best of it!" + +But this was beyond Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson's philosophy just then. If +he had been leaving his comfortable home with a commission as +sub-lieutenant, she might have been able to find some slight consolation +in announcing the fact to her friends. Now she would have to make the +humiliating admission that he was nothing more than a common +trooper--after which she felt she would never be able to hold up her +head again! + +As things turned out, these apprehensions proved unfounded. For it +seemed that other young Gablehurst men belonging to families in as good +a position as her own had enlisted as privates, and, so far from being +considered to have brought discredit on their parentage, were regarded +with general approval. + +And the pride with which their mothers spoke of them encouraged Mrs. +Wibberley-Stimpson to be even prouder of Clarence, as the only one who +had joined a Cavalry regiment. + +When he was undergoing the necessary training with the reserve regiment +and first had to enter the Riding-School, he was prepared, remembering +how suddenly and completely his control of Maerchenland horses had left +him, for some highly unpleasant experiences. + +Daphne's pendant had been left in safe custody at Inglegarth, and, even +if he had had any idea that it had assisted his horsemanship (which he +was far from suspecting), he would not have brought it with him, lest he +should lose a thing which Daphne had said he would please her by +keeping. + +Probably, had he brought and been allowed to wear the token, it would +not have made any impression whatever on the mind of a British +charger--but fortunately no talisman was needed. + +All the riding in Maerchenland, while his horses continued docile, had +not been without some good result after all. At least he found that he +had quite as good a seat as any of his fellow-recruits, and a very much +better one than most of them. + +And the months of training passed, not unhappily. He made friends, not +all of them in his own class; he set himself to learn his job as quickly +and thoroughly as he could, and his sergeant-major spoke of him, though +not in his presence, as a smart young chap who showed more sense than +some he had to do with. + +He had not been many weeks in the regiment before he got his first +stripe, and when he came home on furlough he was able to inform his +family that he had just been promoted to be a full-blown Corporal. It +was a farewell visit, as he was being sent out in a day or two with a +draft to his regiment at the Front. He had grown broader across the +chest, and looked extremely brown and fit, while his family noticed that +he no longer ended his remarks with "what?" Once or twice he expressed +his satisfaction at getting the chance at last of having a go at the +Bosches--but he said very little about the future, and seemed more +interested in hearing about Ruby's new school and Edna's ambulance +class. + +Then he left them, and for months after that they had to endure the long +strain of constant anxiety and suspense which few British households +have escaped in these dark times. Clarence had always been a poor +correspondent--and his letters, though fairly regular, were short and +wanting in details. But he said the regiment was doing dismounted work +in the trenches; that he was acquiring the habit of sleeping quite +soundly under shell-fire; that he had been much cut up by losing some of +his best pals, but so far had not been hit himself, though he had had +several narrow shaves; he kept pretty fit, but was a bit fed up with +trench work, though he didn't see an earthly of riding in a cavalry +charge at present. + +The last letter was dated February. After that came a silence, which was +explained by an official letter stating that he was in a field hospital, +severely wounded. Inglegarth remained for days in helpless misery, +dreading the worst, till they were relieved by the news that he was now +in a base hospital and going on well. + +But it was some weeks before he could be moved to London, and longer +still before he was convalescent enough to be taken to his own home, +where the joy of seeing him recover so rapidly was checked by the +knowledge that he would only leave them the sooner. + +He was much the same slangy and casual Clarence they had known, though +rather subdued, but he had moods of sombre silence at times which none +of them dared to interrupt, when his eyes seemed to be looking upon +sights they had seen and would fain forget. As to his own doings he said +but little, though he told them something of his experiences during his +last week at the front--how the regiment had been rushed up in +motor-buses from Bleu to Ypres; how they had marched to the Reformatory +which they had defended for five days under heavy fire; how they had +then dug caverns and occupied trenches to the south of the Menin road, +and how the trenches had been mined by the enemy, and five officers +killed and sixty-four casualties, of which latter he was one. + +Before he was pronounced fit for active service again he heard that he +had been recommended for a commission, and given one in another cavalry +regiment which had very nearly the same _prestige_ and traditions as his +own, though he would have been the last to admit it till then. + +Thus was Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson's dearest desire at last attained; she +could now inform her friends and acquaintances that her boy was actually +a subaltern, while, even in conversation with strangers, it was always +possible to lead up to the fact by enlarging on the heavy cost of a +cavalry officer's kit. + +And yet, in fairness to her, it may be said that, with all her striving +after social distinction, if she had been required to choose between her +son returning to the front with a commission and keeping him at home +with no higher rank than that of a corporal, she would have chosen the +latter without a moment's hesitation. + +But since the choice was not given her, Clarence's promotion did much to +console her for his approaching departure--at least until the day +arrived, when she turned blindly away from the platform with an aching +dread that the train was bearing him out of her life for ever. + + * * * * * + +That was several months ago, and Second-Lieutenant Stimpson (he dropped +the "Wibberley" when he first enlisted) has been at the front ever +since. + +There is a certain endless road, bordered by splintered stumps which +once were poplars, and pitted in places with deep shell-holes, that he +knows only too well; having taken his troop along it many a night to +relieve the party in the trenches. + +Even now, when he comes to the group of ruined cottages at which he has +to leave the road and strike across country into the danger-zone, he is +unpleasantly conscious of a sinking at his heart at the prospect of +another week or so of that infernal existence of shattering noise, +flying death-splinters, and sickening sights and smells. There he will +have to be constantly on the watch, meals and sleep can only be snatched +at precarious intervals, and seldom without disturbance; if there is +anything more nerve-racking than the scream of shells and the hail of +shrapnel it is the lull that follows, when he waits for the enemy's rush +to begin. And yet, the moment he finds himself back in the trench again, +he becomes acclimatised; his men speak of him as a cool and resourceful +young officer under any difficulties, while on more than one occasion he +has done some daring and very useful reconnoitring work that may even +earn him mention in despatches. + +But at present he is enjoying one of his hard-earned rests, being +billeted in a farmhouse well away from the firing-line. + +Here, having no duties or responsibilities to fix all his thoughts on +the present, he can allow them to dwell on the future for a while. + +This desperate and relentless war will come to an end in time--how soon +he knows no more than anyone, but that it will end in victory for +England and her Allies he has no doubt whatever. He is equally sure, +though he could not account for his certainty, that, unlike many a +better fellow than himself, he will live to see his country at peace +once more. But what is he to do then? Even if an opening in the City +presented itself, he could never stick an office again after this. On +the other hand, even if he gets another step or two, he will find it +difficult to live on his pay in a crack cavalry regiment. However, the +Governor will no doubt give him an allowance that will enable him to +stay in the Service--the Mater can be safely trusted to see to that! + +So, this question being satisfactorily disposed of, his thoughts, as +usual on these occasions, drift back to Maerchenland, and particularly to +Daphne's parting words on the night he left the Palace. + +Would she think, he wonders, that he has done something to justify her +belief in him? + +At least she might be pleased if she knew that he could not fairly be +described any longer as a useless rotter. + +"Only," he tells himself disconsolately, "she never _will_ know. +England's no country of hers now, and she wouldn't feel enough interest +in it even to send the Baron across in the stork-car for a daily paper. +If she did, she'd be none the wiser, because he'd be sure to bring _The +Poultry-Fancier's Journal_ or _The Financial News_, or something of that +sort. And, after all, if she had any idea of the ghastly business that +has been going on in this old world for the last year, she's too much +heart to be happy--even in Maerchenland. But now she'll go on being happy +for the rest of her life, bless her! and if she gives me a thought now +and then--well, it will be a jolly sight more than I deserve!" + + +THE END + + * * * * * + +_Works by F. Anstey_ + + +Salted Almonds. Second Impression. Crown 8vo. 6s. + +_ATHENAEUM._--'All the pieces have that rare savour which is the Author's +secret.' + +The Brass Bottle. With a Frontispiece. 5th Impression. (_Waterloo +Library._) Crown 8vo. 3s. 6d. + +_SPECTATOR._--'In his logical conduct of an absurd proposition, in his +fantastic handling of the supernatural, in his brisk dialogue and +effective characterisation, Mr. Anstey has once more shown himself to be +an artist and a humourist of uncommon and enviable merit.' + +The Talking Horse and other Tales. + +_ATHENAEUM._--'The grimmest of mortals, in his most surly mood, could +hardly resist the fun of "The Talking Horse."' + +The Giant's Robe. + +_PALL MALL GAZETTE._--'We read and cannot cease reading till the puzzle +is solved in a series of exciting situations.' + +The Pariah. + +_SATURDAY REVIEW._--'Extremely entertaining reading. There is not a dull +page--we might say, not a dull sentence--in it....' + +A Fallen Idol. + +_TIMES._--'Will delight the multitudinous public that laughed over "Vice +Versa."... The boy who brings the accursed image to Champion's house, +Mr. Bales, the artist's factotum, and above all Mr. Yarker, the +ex-butler who has turned policeman, are figures whom it is as pleasant +to meet as it is impossible to forget.' + +Lyre and Lancet. With 24 Full-page Illustrations. + +_SPEAKER._--'Mr. Anstey has surpassed himself in "Lyre and Lancet."... +One of the brightest and most entertaining bits of comedy we have had +for many a day.' + +Vice Versa; or, a Lesson to Fathers. + +_SATURDAY REVIEW._--'If ever there was a book made up from beginning to +end of laughter, and yet not a comic book, or a "merry" book, or a book +of jokes, or a book of pictures, or a jest book, or a tomfool book, but +a perfectly sober and serious book in the reading of which a sober man +may laugh without shame from beginning to end, it is a book called "Vice +Versa; or a Lesson to Fathers."... We close the book, recommending it +very earnestly to all fathers in the first instance, and their sons, +nephews, uncles, and male cousins next.' + + + + +Also available from publisher + + +CONAN DOYLE'S NEW 'SHERLOCK HOLMES' STORY. + +The Valley of Fear. With a Frontispiece. + +By the Author of 'The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes,' 'The Memoirs of +Sherlock Holmes,' 'The Lost World,' &c. + +_Punch_.--'As rousing a sensation as the greediest of us could want. I +can only praise the skill with which a most complete surprise is +prepared.' + +_Pall Mall Gazette._--'My Dear Watson! All good "Sherlockians" will +welcome Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's new story with enthusiasm ... it is all +very thrilling and very fine reading.' + + +Journeys with Jerry the Jarvey. + +By the Hon. ALEXIS ROCHE. + +_Scotsman._--'The stories are so good and the epigrams so quaint that +one is loath to lay it down. A book that can call forth a hearty laugh +on nearly every page.' + +_Field._--'The stories are really irresistible, and there is not a dull +page in the whole book.' + + +Oliver. By B. PAUL NEUMAN. + +Author of 'The Greatness of Josiah Porlick,' 'Chignett Street,' &c. + +_Westminster Gazette._--'The first hundred pages contain as fine a piece +of restrained realistic writing as our recent literature has put forth. +We laid down this very individual book with a wholesome respect for Mr. +Neuman's literary art.' + +_Punch._--'The thing is remarkably well done, a close and unsparing +treatment of a subject by no means easy ... an original and successful +story.' + + +Two Who Declined. By HERBERT TREMAINE. + +_Evening Standard._--'A striking, even absorbing novel. Its author will +certainly "count" before long.' + +_Pall Mall Gazette._--'A very clever story, and a work of great +promise.' + + +Some Elderly People and their Young Friends. + +By S. MACNAUGHTAN. + +Author of 'The Fortune of Christina McNab,' 'A Lame Dog's Diary,' &c. + +_Globe._--'Miss Macnaughtan at her best. All her characters are +charming. Her books are a sovereign remedy for depression and +misanthropy. + +_Daily Telegraph._--'One of the most engaging stories that we have read +for a goodly while--a story full of lively wit and mellow wisdom. +Delightful is indeed the word which best sums up the whole book.' + + +The Pastor's Wife. + +By the Author of 'ELIZABETH AND HER GERMAN GARDEN.' + +_Globe._--'A wonderful portrait of a woman by a woman. The power of this +story is undeniable, and the analysis of feminine feeling almost +uncanny. A very remarkable novel indeed.' + + +Spragge's Canyon. + +By HORACE ANNESLEY VACHELL. Author of 'The Hill,' 'The Paladin,' 'Blinds +Down,' etc. + +_Pall Mall Gazette._--'It is a fine story, told with all the art of +which Mr. Vachell is a master.' + + +Molly, My Heart's Delight. + +By KATHARINE TYNAN. Author of 'A Midsummer Rose,' 'John Bulteel's +Daughters,' etc. + +_Globe._--'A charming and altogether captivating heroine. A story to +make one glad o' the reading.' + + +The Ways of Miss Barbara. + +By AGNES and EGERTON CASTLE. Authors of 'Rose of the World,' 'French +Nan,' etc. + +_Liverpool Daily Post._--'This delightful story of old world gallantry +and gaiety bubbles over with comedy and kindness. This should be one of +the most popular novels of the season.' + + +A Green Englishman, and other Stories of Canada + +By S. MACNAUGHTAN. Author of 'The Fortunes of Christina M'Nab,' 'The +Expensive Miss du Cane,' etc. + +_Observer._--'Miss Macnaughtan has the crispness and sense of rounding +off of the ideal short story writer.' + + +A Freelance in Kashmir. + +By LADY CHARNWOOD. + +_Times._--'There are a happy few to-day who understand the tradition of +Trollope, and Lady Charnwood must be reckoned among them. There is +insight, reflection, a gift for the invention of natural incident and +the flow of natural dialogue, and humour.' + + +A Tale of the Great Anarchy. + +By Lieut.-Colonel G. F. MacMUNN, D.S.O., Author of 'The Armies of +India.' + +_Birmingham Daily Post._--'Colonel MacMunn knows his India and his +history; and for this stirring story he has turned to the inviting +period of the "Great Anarchy."' + +_Scotsman._--'The author may be congratulated on having written so +entertaining and instructive a novel.' + + +They Who Question. + +A Novel by a well-known writer published anonymously. + +_Daily Telegraph._--'A story which is packed with thought in itself, and +well calculated also to arouse and stimulate thought in others. The book +is one to be recommended.' + + +La Belle Alliance. + +By ROWLAND GREY, Author of 'Green Cliffs,' etc. + +_Daily Telegraph._--'This is a fresh, human, very sympathetic story, +founded upon close observation of life. It will delight girl-readers, +although it is secretly directed at their parents.' + + +The House of the Foxes. + +By KATHARINE TYNAN. Author of 'Honey, My Honey,' 'Molly, My Heart's +Delight,' etc. + +_Morning Post._--'Mrs. Katharine Tynan brings her superior art to adorn +a legendary tale of the Irish family of the Rosses of Turloughmore.' + +_Pall Mall Gazette._--'There is much genial description of homely Irish +humble life woven through the story. Meg is a charming heroine.' + + +Two Sinners. + +By Mrs. DAVID G. RITCHIE. Author of 'Man and the Cassock,' 'The Truthful +Liar,' 'The Human Cry,' etc. + +_Spectator._--'An extremely clever and interesting novel. The book is +rich in surprises and, as Sir James Paget once said, surprise in the +great essential in recreation.' + + +The Irish Nuns at Ypres: An Episode of the War. + +By D. M. C., O.S.B. (Member of the Community). + +Edited by R. BARRY O'BRIEN, Author of 'The Life of Charles Stewart +Parnell,' &c. With an Introduction by JOHN REDMOND, M.P. + +_Yorkshire Post._--'No more vivid and impressive narrative of what +German frightfulness means to the civilian population has yet been seen. +The story once read will not soon be forgotten.' + +_Court Journal._--'Those who are on the look out for a war book off the +beaten track should get this work. It is one of the most powerful yet +simple narratives that we have seen. It will rank when the war is over +as one of the most damaging pieces of evidence against the Germans and +their methods.' + + +Paris Waits: 1914. + +By Mrs. M. E. CLARKE. + +_Punch._--'I have seldom met a volume of more pronounced "heart +Interest" than "Paris Waits." Not only are her pen-pictures remarkably +vivid and realistic, but the camera has also helped.' + +_Times._--'It is a very familiar tale that is told in these pages, yet +it gains a new pathos, a deeper significance from the simple yet +eloquent way it is told.' + +_Daily Mail._--'A noteworthy book. It relates in detail the story of +those tragic days.' + + +War and Lombard Street. + +By HARTLEY WITHERS. Author of 'The Meaning of Money,' 'Poverty and +Waste,' &c. + +_Times._--'Carried out with the same happy touch of literary simplicity +and wit, combined with an expert knowledge of his subject, which has +given distinction and popular value to his preceding books. Nothing +could be clearer or more enlightening for the general reader.' + +_Morning Post._--'In brief but most attractive language it deals with +the historic financial events of the past six months. A most fascinating +resume of the financial events of the crisis up to date.' + +_Daily News._--'Mr. Withers knows all the machinery of the money market, +and he has a lucid style which makes matters plain normally very +mysterious and technical to the layman.' + + +The Tollhouse. + +By EVELYN ST. LEGER, Author of 'The Shape of the World,' 'The Blackberry +Pickers.' + +_Times._--'An appealing and humorous picture of the life of an +old-fashioned English village in war time.' + +_Scotsman._--'This charming short novel.' + + +The Spirit of England. + +A Series of Papers written in 1914 and 1915. + +By the Right Hon. GEORGE W. E. RUSSELL, Author of 'Collections and +Recollections,' &c. + +_Scotsman._--'An eminently readable book in which many good things come +up by the way. It is always thoughtful and stimulating.' + +_Globe._--'This very Interesting and suggestive book.' + + +Life of John Viriamu Jones. + +By Mrs. VIRIAMU JONES. + +_Pall Mall Gazette._--'This Life of the first Vice-Chancellor of the +University of Wales is very well done, and gives us an admirable +portrait of a singularly earnest, strenuous, and lovable nature.' + +_Times._--'This fascinating volume.' + +_South Wales Daily News._--'Will be largely read, not only in the +Principality, but far beyond its confines ... deeply interesting.' + + +The Minor Horrors of War. + +By Dr. A. E. SHIPLEY, F.R.S., Master of Christ's College, Cambridge. + +This book deals with various insect and other pests which cause disgust, +discomfort, and often disease amongst our troops now fighting in all +quarters of the globe. + +_Country Life._--'A book which gives a good deal of very necessary +information in an entertaining manner.' + +_Medical Officer._--'It may be studied with advantage in barracks or +billets, in the tropics or the trenches.' + + +The System of National Finance. + +By E. HILTON YOUNG, M.P. + +_Morning Post._--'The book should become a permanent addition to the +literature of the subject, the more so as there is no other which deals +with the Nation's finance in the same practical manner.' + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of In Brief Authority, by F. 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