[Exit Toinette in great distress. Mother
sits in silence. Enter Toinette without
cloak, throwing herself on her knees at her
mother's feet.
Toinette. Oh, Mother, Mother! [Buries her face in her mother's lap.]
Mother [trying to raise her]. Toinette, my child! Where have you been all this time?
Toinette [with great excitement, half crying]. Oh, I've been here—right here—all the time, only you couldn't see me.
Mother. Toinette!
Toinette. Yes, Mother, it's all true. I'll tell you. A fairy came and lent me the Cloak of Darkness—and—and—I thought it would be such fun, but it was horrid. And then the children—they said such cruel things. Mother, don't they love me at all?
Mother. Mercy, mercy, what is all this about? Fairies—cloak of darkness—the child must have a fever. [Feels Toinette's forehead and takes her hand as if to count her pulse.]
Toinette. No, no! I'm not sick at all. But, Mother, don't you love me?
Mother [puts her arm about Toinette]. Love you, my child? Mother always loves you.
Toinette. But you said I didn't help you. Oh, I wish the fairy had never given me the cloak.