"Yes ma'am it will add 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?"
"Daisy for Priscilla! Excellent!" said Mrs. Sandford. "If the two could keep their gravity, which I very much doubt."
"Daisy can keep anything," said Preston. "I will tutor Nora."
"Well, I will help you as much as I can," said the lady. "But, my boy, this business takes time! I had no notion I had been here so long. I must run."