When she stopped eating, her hostess knew exactly what she was
thinking; but it was one thing to understand the princess, and quite
another to make the princess understand her: that would require
time. For the present she took no notice, but went about the affairs
of the house, sweeping the floor, brushing down the cobwebs,
cleaning the hearth, dusting the table and chairs, and watering the
bed to keep it fresh and alive--for she never had more than one
guest at a time, and never would allow that guest to go to sleep
upon any thing that had no life in it All the time she was thus
busied, she spoke not a word to the princess, which, with the
princess, went to confirm her notion of her purposes. But whatever
she might have said would have been only perverted by the princess
into yet stronger proof of her evil designs, for a fancy in her own
head would outweigh any multitude of facts in another's. She kept
staring at the fire, and never looked round to see what the wise
woman might be doing.
By and by she came close up to the back of her chair, and said,
"Rosamond!"
But the princess had fallen into one of her sulky moods, and shut
herself up with her own ugly Somebody; so she never looked round or
even answered the wise woman.
Pages:
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48