‘He wouldn’t take you, and you can’t make yourself invisible, you see.’
‘But all the same, you must not go; it’s absurd.’
‘Why?’
‘You may be drowned, or anything.’
‘If I’m drowned or anything Wopole will have to be drowned or anythinged too, so that you’ll be safe in any case.’
‘But I don’t want to be safe if you are drowned.’
‘What difference will it make to you if I’m drowned or not?’
‘Oh, Ernalie, you are too bad,’ he said earnestly. ‘Can’t you see I love you more than all the world?’
The Princess looked at him in utter astonishment.