“Who are you talking about, Miss Imperence?” said Wooden’s aunt, suddenly breaking in. “This young lady exchanged you for my niece, who is going to be Queen when she comes out of prison. You’d better be a bit more careful of what you say; that’s my advice to you. And don’t forget that what we can’t see of you is stuffed with sawdust.”
“Yes, I should leave off, if I were you,” said the Lord Chancellor. “You are not being polite, you know, and it is quite true what the lady says. It is the future Queen of Toyland that you seem to have been exchanged for, and his Majesty won’t like it if you call her names.”
Rose laughed her scornful laugh again. “She will never be Queen of Toyland,” she said. “I’ll see to that.” And with a toss of her head and a swish of her skirts she swept out of the Hall, by the door through which the King had already disappeared.
The Lord Chancellor completely recovered his good humour the moment she was gone. “What a very talkative lady!” he said, with a laugh. “However, we needn’t worry our heads about her. We’ve got plenty to occupy ourselves about, haven’t we?”
It really seemed as if they had. It is not every day that five ladies are taken off to prison, not knowing when they will be let out again; and the experience would naturally make them think. But the four dolls did not seem to be much cast down by the prospect, and Wooden kept on assuring Peggy that the House of Cards was a very nice prison, and there was a magnificent view from the upper stories.
The Lord Chancellor proposed that they should walk to the prison, so that Peggy might see some of the life of Dolltown before she was shut up. “I should have liked to take you about myself,” he said politely, “and to show you some hospitality during your visit. It’s a pity you didn’t come when Queen Rosebud was alive. However, we must make the best of things, mustn’t we? I’ll see that you’re comfortable, and have plenty of pot-plants. We might buy a few as we go along. I like pot-plants.”
They set out. The Lord Chancellor gave the palace guards instructions to walk behind. “The people will think they are just a guard of honour,” he explained kindly. “If they were to put handcuffs on you, it would be different. But I have always been one for making things comfortable all around. Live and let live is my motto.”
He walked between Peggy and Wooden as they went through the streets, and turned out to be a pleasant, chatty old gentleman, with a well-stored mind, and a fund of varied information. He told Peggy a good deal that interested her about the conditions of life in Dolltown, and she found it difficult to believe that she was really being taken to prison, and quite enjoyed her walk.
He walked between Peggy and Wooden