Sybarina was brewing the tea with her own hands. Miss Elting stepped over to her.
“May I assist you?” she asked.
The Gipsy queen shook her head.
“Sybarina will make the tea for her friends, her good friends, the pretty ladies. Sybarina will have other guests this evening.”
“Oh, will you?” questioned the guardian, in a surprised tone.
“Yes. Pretty ladies will come to cross the Gipsy’s palm with silver. Sybarina will read the future and the past for them. Sybarina will read your future too, but you and your friends need not cross her palm with silver. Sybarina is your friend.”
Harriet had been an interested listener to the brief dialogue. She drew a little closer.
“I should like to learn to read the past and future, Sybarina. Will you teach me?” asked Harriet.
The old woman fixed her piercing eyes upon the eager face before her.
“The princess shall be taught to read the future this very night. The stars have said it.”