第7章

I am doubtful whether even Cinderella's luck was quite as satisfying as we are led to believe.After the carpetless kitchen and the black beetles, how beautiful the palace must have seemed--for the first year, perhaps for the first two.And the Prince! how loving, how gallant, how tender--for the first year, perhaps for the first two.And after? You see he was a Prince, brought up in a Court, the atmosphere of which is not conducive to the development of the domestic virtues; and she--was Cinderella.And then the marriage altogether was rather a hurried affair.Oh yes, she is a good, loving little woman; but perhaps our Royal Highness-ship did act too much on the impulse of the moment.It was her dear, dainty feet that danced their way into our heart.How they flashed and twinkled, eased in those fairy slippers.How like a lily among tulips she moved that night amid the over-gorgeous Court dames.She was so sweet, so fresh, so different to all the others whom we knew so well.How happy she looked as she put her trembling little hand in ours.What possibilities might lie behind those drooping lashes.

And we were in amorous mood that night, the music in our feet, the flash and glitter in our eyes.And then, to pique us further, she disappeared as suddenly and strangely as she had come.Who was she?

Whence came she? What was the mystery surrounding her? Was she only a delicious dream, a haunting phantasy that we should never look upon again, never clasp again within our longing arms? Was our heart to be for ever hungry, haunted by the memory of--No, by heavens, she is real, and a woman.Here is her dear slipper, made surely to be kissed.Of a size too that a man may well wear within the breast of his doublet.Had any woman--nay, fairy, angel, such dear feet! Search the whole kingdom through, but find her, find her.The gods have heard our prayers, and given us this clue.

"Suppose she be not all she seemed.Suppose she be not of birth fit to mate with our noble house!" Out upon thee, for an earth-bound, blind curmudgeon of a Lord High Chancellor.How could a woman, whom such slipper fitted, be but of the noblest and the best, as far above us, mere Princelet that we are, as the stars in heaven are brighter than thy dull old eyes! Go, search the kingdom, we tell thee, from east to west, from north to south, and see to it that thou findest her, or it shall go hard with thee.By Venus, be she a swineherd's daughter, she shall be our Queen--an she deign to accept of us, and of our kingdom.

Ah well, of course, it was not a wise piece of business, that goes without saying; but we were young, and Princes are only human.Poor child, she could not help her education, or rather her lack of it.

Dear little thing, the wonder is that she has contrived to be no more ignorant than she is, dragged up as she was, neglected and overworked.Nor does life in a kitchen, amid the companionship of peasants and menials, tend to foster the intellect.Who can blame her for being shy and somewhat dull of thought? not we, generous-minded, kind-hearted Prince that we are.And she is very affectionate.The family are trying, certainly; father-in-law not a bad sort, though a little prosy when upon the subject of his domestic troubles, and a little too fond of his glass; mamma-in-law, and those two ugly, ill-mannered sisters, decidedly a nuisance about the palace.Yet what can we do? they are our relations now, and they do not forget to let us know it.Well, well, we had to expect that, and things might have been worse.Anyhow she is not jealous--thank goodness.

So the day comes when poor little Cinderella sits alone of a night in the beautiful palace.The courtiers have gone home in their carriages.The Lord High Chancellor has bowed himself out backwards.The Gold-Stick-in-Waiting and the Grooms of the Chamber have gone to their beds.The Maids of Honour have said "Good-night," and drifted out of the door, laughing and whispering among themselves.The clock strikes twelve--one--two, and still no footstep creaks upon the stair.Once it followed swiftly upon the "good-night" of the maids, who did not laugh or whisper then.

At last the door opens, and the Prince enters, none too pleased at finding Cinderella still awake."So sorry I'm late, my love--detained on affairs of state.Foreign policy very complicated, dear.Have only just this moment left the Council Chamber."And little Cinderella, while the Prince sleeps, lies sobbing out her poor sad heart into the beautiful royal pillow, embroidered with the royal arms and edged with the royal monogram in lace."Why did he ever marry me? I should have been happier in the old kitchen.The black beetles did frighten me a little, but there was always the dear old cat; and sometimes, when mother and the girls were out, papa would call softly down the kitchen stairs for me to come up, and we would have such a merry evening together, and sup off sausages: dear old dad, I hardly ever see him now.And then, when my work was done, how pleasant it was to sit in front of the fire, and dream of the wonderful things that would come to me some day.Iwas always going to be a Princess, even in my dreams, and live in a palace, but it was so different to this.Oh, how I hate it, this beastly palace where everybody sneers at me--I know they do, though they bow and scrape, and pretend to be so polite.And I'm not clever and smart as they are.I hate them.I hate these bold-faced women who are always here.That is the worst of a palace, everybody can come in.Oh, I hate everybody and everything.Oh, god-mamma, god-mamma, come and take me away.Take me back to my old kitchen.