owed, Alice had striven to be
intensely pathetic. She had intended that the King, by a series of
kindly put questions, should gradually win the Princess's confidence,
and induce her to tell the truth--that her affections had already been
won by a knight at her father's Court; that she could love none other.

KING. But if this knight did not exist; if you had never seen him, you
would, I suppose, have accepted my hand?

PRINCESS. You will not be offended if I tell you the truth?

KING. No; my word on it.

PRINCESS. I could never have listened to your love.

KING (_rising hastily_). Am I then so ugly, so horrible, so vile, that
even if your heart were not engaged elsewhere you could not have
listened to me?

PRINCESS. You are neither horrible nor vile, King Cophetua; but again
promise me secrecy, and I will tell you the whole truth.

KING. I promise.

PRINCESS. You are loved by a maiden far more beautiful than I; she is
dying of love for your sake! She has suffered much for her love; she is
suffering still.

KING. Who is this maiden?

PRINCESS. Ah! She is but a beggar-maid; she lives on charity, the songs
she sings, and the flowers she sells in the streets. And now she is
poorer than ever, for your royal mother has caused her to be driven out
of the city.

Here the King weeps--he is supposed to be deeply touched by the
Princess's account of the wrongs done to the beggar-maid--and it is
finally arranged between him and the Princess that they shall pretend to
have come to some violent misunderstanding, and that, in their war of
words, they shall insult each other's parents so grossly that all
possibilities of a marriage will be for ever at an end. Throwing aside a
chair so as to bring the Queen within ear-shot, the King declares that
his royal neighbour is an old dunce, and that there is not enough money
in his treasury to pay the Court boot-maker; the Princess retaliates by
saying that the royal mother of the crowned head she is addressing is an
old cat, who paints her face and beats her maids-of-honour.

The play that up to this point had been considered a little tedious now
engaged the attention of the audience, and when the Queen entered she
was greeted with roars of laughter. The applause was deafening. Olive
played her part better than had been expected, and all the white frocks
trembled with excitement. The youths in the left-hand corner craned
their heads forward so as not to lose a syllable of what