"She said! You mean that she speaks English?" demanded the king.
"Yes, I speak English," said Rhonda; "and if I am not dreaming, and you are king, I demand that you send me back to the falls, so that I may find my people."
"Dreaming? What put that into your head? You are not asleep, are you?"
"I do not know," replied Rhonda. "Sometimes I am sure that I must be."
"Well, you are not," snapped the king. "And who put it into your head that there might be any doubt that I am king? That sounds like Buckingham."
"Your majesty wrongs me," said Buckingham stiffly. "It was I who insisted on bringing her to the king."
"It is well you did; the wench pleases us. We will keep her."
"But, your majesty," exclaimed the other of Rhonda's two captors, "it is our duty to take her to God. We brought her here first that your majesty might see her; but we must take her on to God, who has been hoping for such a woman for years."
"What, Cranmer! Are you turning against me too?"
"Cranmer is right," said one of the great bulls squatting on the floor. "This woman should be taken to God. Do not forget, Sire, that you already have seven wives."