The Masked Lady remarked almost dreamily: "When Everychild seeks the place where the Sleeping Beauty lies, forests always open and the steepest paths are easy to climb."
Everychild caught at the name. "The Sleeping Beauty—I have heard of her," he said. And he added, "Is she here?"
The Masked Lady did not reply in words, but the obscure smile on her lips was very significant.
It was Cinderella who clasped her hands in sudden ecstacy and cried, "She must be here. A place so lovely—it couldn't have been meant for any one else!" She spoke with such elation that all the other children looked at her with beaming eyes.
Everychild asked in perplexity—"But if she be here … ?"
"You haven't forgotten, have you?" asked Cinderella. "She was doomed to sleep a hundred years, until the prince came to waken her with a kiss."
"And is she still waiting?" asked Everychild.
"I haven't a doubt in the world that she is still waiting."
"She is always waiting," said the dreamy voice of the Masked Lady.
"But not—not here?" asked Everychild.