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
Clair