C.—But there is the music beginning again! We should be dancing, your highness.
P.—What delicious simplicity! Are you then so fond of dancing?
C.—I love it, but I so seldom get a chance.
P.—Of course, yes, you are hedged in, I daresay, by the etiquette of your court.
C.—Precisely.
(Dancers waltz in.)
P.—Come, then, let us join the dance too.
(They dance. The Mother, Lucy, and Mabel look enviously at the dancers. They curtsey as the Prince passes them. The clock begins to strike twelve. Cinderella starts.)
P.—What, tired already!
C.—No, no, but I must go at once! instantly!