"So should I be if I got into the cupboard," said Jimmy.
"Oh yes," said the sneering tone of the Princess, "you think yourselves very clever, I dare say. But I don't mind. We'll play that you can't see me, if you like."
"Well, but we can't," said Gerald. "It's no use getting in a wax. If you're hiding, as Jimmy says, you'd better come out. If you've really turned invisible, you'd better make yourself visible again."
"Do you really mean," asked a voice quite changed, but still the
Princess's, "that you can't see me?"
"Can't you see we can't?" asked Jimmy rather unreasonably.
The sun was blazing in at the window; the eight-sided room was very hot, and everyone was getting cross.
"You can't see me?" There was the sound of a sob in the voice of the invisible Princess.
"No, I tell you," said Jimmy, "and I want my tea and "
What he was saying was broken off short, as one might break a stick of sealing wax. And then in the golden afternoon a really quite horrid thing happened: Jimmy suddenly leaned backwards, then forwards, his eyes opened wide and his mouth too. Backward and forward he went, very quickly and abruptly, then stood still.
"Oh, he's in a fit! Oh, Jimmy, dear Jimmy!" cried Kathleen, hurrying to him. "What is it, dear, what is it?"