nt; but to go against his will and arouse his
anger, now that he may perhaps remain with us such a short time, would
destroy half my happiness. I am now writing to him about the same
question, and beg you to choose a good moment to hand him the letter
and to let me know how he looks at the whole matter and whether there is
hope that he may consent to reduce the term by four months."

After long hesitations, doubts, and prayers, Princess Mary gave the
letter to her father. The next day the old prince said to her quietly:

"Write and tell your brother to wait till I am dead.... It won't be
long--I shall soon set him free."

The princess was about to reply, but her father would not let her speak
and, raising his voice more and more, cried:

"Marry, marry, my boy!... A good family!... Clever people, eh? Rich,
eh? Yes, a nice stepmother little Nicholas will have! Write and tell
him that he may marry tomorrow if he likes. She will be little Nicholas'
stepmother and I'll marry Bourienne!... Ha, ha, ha! He mustn't be
without a stepmother either! Only one thing, no more women are wanted
in my house--let him marry and live by himself. Perhaps you will go and
live with him too?" he added, turning to Princess Mary. "Go in heavens
name! Go out into the frost... the frost... the frost!"

After this outburst the prince did not speak any more about the matter.
But repressed vexation at his son's poor-spirited behavior found
expression in his treatment of his daughter. To his former pretexts
for irony a fresh one was now added--allusions to stepmothers and
amiabilities to Mademoiselle Bourienne.

"Why shouldn't I marry her?" he asked his daughter. "She'll make a
splendid princess!"

And latterly, to her surprise and bewilderment, Princess Mary
noticed that her father was really associating more and more with the
Frenchwoman. She wrote to Prince Andrew about the reception of his
letter, but comforted him with hopes of reconciling their father to the
idea.

Little Nicholas and his education, her brother Andrew, and religion were
Princess Mary's joys and consolations; but besides that, since everyone
must have personal hopes, Princess Mary in the profoundest depths of her
heart had a hidden dream and hope that supplied the chief consolation
of her life. This comforting dream and hope were given her by God's
folk--the half-witted and other pilgrims who visited her without the
prince's knowledge. The longer she lived, the more exper