"Queen Esther!" said Mrs. Sandford. "That will tax the utmost of our resources. Mrs. Randolph will lend us some jewels, I hope, or we cannot represent that old Eastern court."
"Mrs. Randolph will lend us anything—and everything," said Preston.
"Then we can make a beautiful tableau. I think Esther must be in white."
"Yes ma'am—it will lend to the fainting effect."
"And we must make her brilliant with jewels; and dress her attendants in colours, so as to set her off; but Esther must be a spot of brilliancy. Ahasuerus rich and heavy. This will be your finest tableau, if it is done well."
"Alfred will not be bad," said Preston.
"In another line. Your part will be easy, Daisy—you must have a pair of strong-armed handmaidens. What do you want Nora for, Preston?"
"Could she be one of them, Mrs. Sandford?"
"Yes,—if she can be impressed with the seriousness of the occasion; but the maids of the queen ought to be wholly in distress for their mistress, you know. She could be one of the princes in the tower, very nicely."
"Yes, capitally," said Preston. "And—Mrs. Sandford—wouldn't she make a good John Alden?"