“Forsooth, kind sir,” she hastened to say, “I only speak through hearsay. What I know my great-grandmother told my grandmother, who told my mother, who in turn told me. As you can plainly see I am different from other fairies. They call me a beauty of the old school.”
“Hasn’t school been out a good many years?” he asked.
“I fail to comprehend you,” she said, with a blush. “Mayhap you are not susceptible to beauty. Yet I have heard it often remarked that a beautiful woman can make the strongest man go down on his knees.”
The Dude gave his cuffs an admiring glance.
“So can a collar-button!” he said.
The day passed in sports and merry-making, followed by other days in which the Brownies remained in close proximity to the palace. During all this time Florimel and Titania were much together, and their attachment for each other was remarked by all.
The Brownies, growing uneasy over the thought that they might lose their new companion to whom they had become so friendly, were eager to move on in quest of fresh scenes and adventures.
King Stanislaus, with the belief that this might be a passing fancy on the part of Florimel, humored his wishes, and ordered the band to remain. When he reached the definite conclusion that it was not, he said:
“My son, we have been here now quite a long time. Do you not think we had better seek some other place where we can do good?”