“Ah, you see, my child, your mother doesn’t like—” She broke off. Jinny’s face was crimson now. “Never mind—she is perhaps right. I will leave you now. I go to the Casino. It is all so boring. Perhaps later—”
She did not look back at us as she trailed away. I thought to see toads jumping up from the imprint of her feet.
Upstairs, I said as quietly as I could:
“How is it that you know the Princess?”
“Papa introduced me to her long ago—when I was quite a little girl.”
“You have seen her since?”
“Yes.”
“Often?”
“Several times.”
“You admire her?”