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 tim