Of course, a Queen could not even be
remotely interested in the Manor and the Mills--especially if she had to
worry over a whole kingdom herself. She had been silly to rattle on the
way she had!
Brina, quite unknowingly, came to the rescue with a tray of cakes and a
pot of cocoa.
Their hostess, her annoyance put aside, smiled graciously again, and
poured the cocoa into little cups while the firelight flashed from the
brooch on her dress. Brina went back and forth with heavy tread,
sullenly watchful of her mistress' smallest need. The girls sat close to
the table upon which still lay the book of cathedral prints and sipped
their cocoa and ate their cakes. The wintry sun shone in through the
curtained windows, giving the room, with its pale glow, a melancholy
cheerfulness.
"Must you really go?" asked their hostess, politely, when, a half-hour
later, Robin and Beryl exclaimed at the lateness of the hour.
"Why, we never meant to stay so long! It has been so nice." Robin
wondered, if she held out her hand, would the Queen take it? She
ventured it with such a shy, appealing movement that the old lady
clasped it in hers, then dropped it abruptly, as though annoyed by her
own impulsiveness.
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