The princess wiped her eyes, and her face grew so hot that they were
soon quite dry. She sat down to her dinner, but ate next to nothing.
Not
to be believed does not at all agree with princesses; for a real
princess cannot tell a lie. So all the afternoon she did not speak a
word. Only when the nurse spoke to her, she answered her, for a real
princess is never rude--even when she does well to be offended.
Of course the nurse was not comfortable in her mind--not that she
suspected the least truth in Irene's story, but that she loved her
dearly, and was vexed with herself for having been cross to her. She
thought her crossness was the cause of the princess' unhappiness, and
had no idea that she was really and deeply hurt at not being believed.
But, as it became more and more plain during the evening in every
motion
and look, that, although she tried to amuse herself with her toys, her
heart was too vexed and troubled to enjoy them, her nurse's discomfort
grew and grew. When bedtime came, she undressed and laid her down,
but
the child, instead of holding up her little mouth to be kissed, turned
away from her and lay still. Then nursie's heart gave way altogether,
and she began to cry. At the sound of her first sob, the princess
Madhuri Noah
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