"Why did you do that?" asked the Princess softly. "To comfort me for not being a boy?"
"No," growled the sick man.
"Then why?" she persisted, drawing it away.
"Oh, I can't tell you," he groaned, "until I know whether I shall get well of this beastly wound."
But the Princess, taking both hands to arrange the wet handkerchief, suddenly found them prisoned and covered with kisses.
"It is because I love you," he moaned. "Don't you understand?"
Princess Victorine eyed him with curiosity, and shook her head.
"No," she answered, kneeling down and looking at him, "I'm afraid I don't. Nobody ever did before."
The Knight laughed out from the mossy green pillow.
"That's just what makes you so adorable."