"Oh?" said the King, excluding from his tone any indication of gratitude over the too long delayed discovery. "And pray, where is she?"
"I regret to say, sir, that her Royal Highness is at this moment in Stonewall Jail."
"Good Heavens!" exclaimed the King, startled out of his coldness. "Whatever took her there?"
"She was taken, sir, in a 'Molly Hold-all'[1] along with several others. And she has been there for the last ten days."
"Yes, yes; but what I want to know is what has she been doing? In this country one doesn't get put into prison for nothing, I should hope."
"The charge, sir, was for assaulting the police. No doubt there has been a very regrettable mistake; there was, unquestionably, in the magistrate's court, some conflict of evidence."
"Assaulting the police!" exclaimed the King petulantly.
"But what else are the police there for?—when there's trouble, I mean. And how many of them did she assault, pray?"
"I believe only one, sir," replied the Prime Minister; "at least only one of them gave any evidence against her, and there were five witnesses to say that she did not assault him. The magistrate who convicted, however, accepted the constable's evidence; he is, I believe, rather hard of hearing; and I am told that he thought the witnesses in her favor were all giving evidence against her. If that is so, it sufficiently accounts for the conviction. On the other hand there can be no doubt that the Princess did intend to get arrested."
"When did all this take place?"