Prince Ricardo of Pantouflia by Andrew Lang Read Free Book Online Page B

which you may read about in Sir Kenelm Digby, and which the Lady of Branxholme used, in
The Lay of the Last Minstrel
. But the secret of making it has long been lost, except in Pantouflia.
    "You are the best girl in the world, Jaqueline," said Ricardo. "You may give me a kiss if you like; and I won't call you 'Jack,' or laugh at you for reading books, any more. There's something in books after all."
    The princess did not take advantage of Dick's permission, but advised him to lie down and try to sleep.
    "I say, though," he said, "what about my father?"
    "The king need never be told anything about it," said Jaqueline, "need he?"
    "Oh, that won't do! I tell my father everything; but then, I never had anything like this to tell him before. Don't you think, Jaqueline, you might break it to him? He's very fond of you. Just tell him what I told you; it's every word of it true, and he ought to know. He might see something about it in the
Mercure de France
."
    This was the newspaper of the period.
    "I don't think it will get into the papers," said Jaqueline, smiling. "Nobody could tell, except the king and the princes, and they have reasons for keeping it to themselves."
    "I don't trust that younger one," said Dick, moodily; "I don't care for that young man. Anyway, my father
must
be told; and, if you won't, I must."
    "Well, I'll tell him," said Jaqueline. "And now lie down till evening."
    After dinner, in the conservatory, Jaqueline told King Prigio all about it.
    His Majesty was very much moved.
    "What extraordinary bad luck that family has!" he thought. "If I had not changed the rug, the merest accident, Prince Charles would have dined at St. James's to-night, and King George in Hanover. It was the very nearest thing!"
    "This meddling with practical affairs will never do," he said aloud.
    "Dick has had a lesson, sire," said the princess. "He says he'll never mix himself up with politics again, whatever happens. And he says he means to study all about them, for he feels frightfully ignorant, and, above all, he means to practise his fencing."
    These remarks were not part of the conversation between Ricardo and Jaqueline, but she considered that Dick
meant
all this, and, really, he did.
    "That is well, as far as it goes," said the king. "But, Jaqueline, about that mosquito?" for she had told him this part of the adventure. "That was a very convenient mosquito, though I don't know how Dick was able to observe it from any distance. I see
your
hand in that, my dear, and I am glad you can make such kind and wise use of the lessons of the good Fairy Paribanou. Jaqueline," he added solemnly, laying his hand on her head, "You have saved the honour of Pantouflia, which is dearer to me than life. Without your help, I tremble to think what might have occurred."
    The princess blushed very much, and felt very happy.
    "Now run away to the queen, my dear," said his Majesty, "I want to think things over."
    He did think them over, and the more he thought the more he felt the inconvenience attending the possession of fairy things.
    "An eclipse one day, as nearly as possible a revolution soon after!" he said to himself. "But for Jaqueline, Ricardo's conduct would have been blazed abroad, England would have been irritated. It is true she cannot get at Pantouflia very easily; we have no sea-coast, and we are surrounded by friendly countries. But it would have been a ticklish and discreditable position. I must really speak to Dick," which he did next morning after breakfast.
    "You have broken my rules, Ricardo," he said. "True, there is no great harm done, and you have confessed frankly; but how am I to trust you any longer?"
    "I'll give you my sacred word of honour, father, that I'll never meddle with politics again, or start on an expedition, without telling you. I have had enough of it. And I'll turn over a new leaf. I've learned to be ashamed of my ignorance; and I've sent for Francalanza, and I'll fence every day, and read like anything."
    "Very