“Very well. The Princess came; but she did not go away.”

“How curious! Did she die of a peach-stone at the banquet?”

“Not at all. She became Princess of Este instead of Sheba.”

“Oh-h-h,” says Grace Plumer, in a long-drawn exclamation. “And then?”

“Why, Miss Grace, how insatiable you are!—then I came away.”

“You did? I wouldn’t have come away.”

“No, Miss Grace, you didn’t.”

“How—I didn’t? What does that mean, Mr. Moultrie?”

“I mean the Princess remained.”

“So you said. Is that all?”